interview

Twilight is the upcoming film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.

The book is a bestseller, which has been translated into over 20 langauges worldwide, and is one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year. 

It is directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart as Bella, a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson.

I recently spoke to Cam Gigandet, who plays James, the leader of a group of nomadic vampires who intends to kill Bella.

Listen to the interview here:

You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here

Twilight is out in UK cinemas on Friday 19th December and in the US on November 21st

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Cam Gigandet at the IMDb
> Official site for Twilight
> Find out more about the novel at Wikipedia

Liam Cunningham is one of the actors in the new film Hunger, which deals with the 1981 IRA hunger strike and marks the feature film debut for director Steve McQueen.

Although he only appears in one scene, it is an extraordinary unbroken sequence in which plays a priest who questions Sands about the wisdom of his actions.

The film premiered to great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival and recently screened at the London Film Festival, which was when I spoke to Liam.

You can listen to it here:

Download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

Hunger opens at selected UK cinemas on Friday 31st October

> Download the interview as an MP3 file
> Official UK site for Hunger
> Liam Cunningham at the IMDb
> Read our recent LFF piece on Hunger and a longer review from last month
> Green Cine Daily with the reactions to Hunger at Cannes earlier this year
> Find out more about the 1981 Hunger Strike at Wikipedia

Not Quite Hollywood is a new documentary exploring the world of Australian exploitation cinema that began in the early 1970s. 

Directed by Mark Hartley it shows how a new generation of maverick filmmakers capitalised on the relaxing of censorship laws to create wilder films on smaller budgets.

Whilst more refined directors like Peter Weir achieved worldwide acclaim with films like Picnic At Hanging Rock, more maverick directors and actors created a crazier breed of exploitation movie. 

This is the trailer:

Many of the titles were sloppily made, politcally incorrect and outraged critcs but some also made money in their home country and abroad.

One of the pleasing aspects of the documentary is Hartley’s irreverent approach, which allied to a huge ammount of clips and interviews with the likes of George Miller, Quentin Tarantino, Barry Humphries and many others, makes for a thoroughly entertaining examination of Australian film culture.

I spoke with Mark recently about the film which is screening at the London Film Festvial this week. 

You can listen to the interview here:

You can also download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

Not Quite Hollywood screens at the London Film Festival on Saturday 24th and Tuesday 28th before getting a UK release in March.

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Mark Hartley at the IMDb
> Official website for the film
> Buy tickets for the film at the LFF website

Dean Spanley is a new film based on the novella by Irish author Lord Dunsany.

Set in the Edwardian era it is the story of a father (Peter O’Toole) and son (Jeremy Northam) who attend a lecture by a visiting Hindu Swami (Art Malik).

There they encounter Dean Spanley (Sam Neill), with whom, after a series of chance encounters, Henslowe strikes up an unlikley friendship.

It screened at the London Film Festival last Friday and I spoke to the director Toa Fraser earlier that afternoon.

You can listen to the interview here:

You can also download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

Dean Spanley is out at UK cinemas on December 12th 2008

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Dean Spanley at the IMDb
> Toa Fraser at the IMDb
> Rotten Tomatoes UK visit the set

Reservoir Dogs was a gangster film that landed like a bombshell in the early 90s, making an instant star of writer-director Quentin Tarantino.

The tale of a heist gone wrong it starred Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi and Lawrence Tierney as a gang of criminals struggling to find the traitor within their group.

The innovative flashback structure, pop-culture laden dialogue, clever soundtrack and unnerving violence all marked it out as a major film of the decade even though it wasn’t initially a major success at the box office.

It is being re-issued on DVD in the UK this week and I recently spoke to Ian Freer of Empire Magazine about the film.

We discussed various aspects, including the importance of Harvey Keitel in getting it made, its impact and how it compares to Tarantino’s other work.

Listen to the interview here:

You can also download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

Reservoir Dogs is out now on DVD and Blu-ray disc from Lionsgate

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Buy Reservoir Dogs on DVD or Blu-ray at Amazon UK
> Reservoir Dogs at the IMDb
> Official site for Empire Magazine
> Ian Freer’s entries on the Empire blog

AdULTHOOD is the sequel to the 2006 hit Kidulthood and follows the story of Sam Peel (Noel Clarke) six years on from the events of the last film. 

After returning home, Sam struggles to deal with life on the outside and is pursued by Jay (Adam Deacon)

The film was also written and directed by Noel and I recently spoke to him and Adam about the film which is out on DVD this week.

Listen to the interview here:

You can also download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

AdULTHOOD is out on DVD now from Pathe

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Noel Clarke and Adam Deacon at the IMDb
> Official UK website for AdULTHOOD
> Buy AdULTHOOD on DVD at Amazon

[Image courtesy of Pathe © 2008]

Eliot Grove is the founder and director of The Raindance Film Festival, which is the UK’s largest independent film festival. 

He founded it in 1993 and since then it has premiered films such as Pulp Fiction, The Blair Witch Project, Capturing the Friedmans, Memento, and Oldboy.

The Raindance organisation also offers advice and support for independent filmmakers.

Although based in London they are open for anyone who might want to work with them in another city or country.

In addition, Eliot also helped start the British Independent Film Awards in 1998.

The current Raindance festival is currently on in London until October 12th and I recently spoke with Eliot about what’s been happening this year. 

You can listen to the interview here:

You can also download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

For the full Festival programme go to www.raindance.co.uk

Tickets can be booked online at their site or by telephone on 0871 200 2000

Raindance.tv will host further exclusive material via www.raindance.tv with trailers and filmmaker interviews.

> Download this interview as an MP3
> Official Raindance site
> The British Independent Film Awards
> Join the Raindance Facebook group 
> Eliot’s MySpace page