Category: Interviews

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Festivals Interviews Podcast

Interview: Caroline Bridges and Sameer Patel on BAFTA at Latitude

Two short films recently premiered at BAFTA in London as part of a project to support emerging talent.

Me and My Latitude is a collaboration between BAFTA and Festival Republic, organisers of Latitude, the yearly arts and music festival.

Last year two filmmakers were chosen to each make a short film about an artist preparing to perform at Latitude 2011, with the aim of reflecting the diversity and inventiveness of the UK arts scene.

Caroline Bridges has made Knife Edge, which shows dance theatre company Lost Dog in action at the festival, whilst Sameer Patel has directed She Want Soul, a portrait of poet and writer Sabrina Mahfouz.

Both films screened last night at BAFTA’s Run Run Shaw Theatre in London and will also feature in the line-up for Latitude’s Film & Music Arena in 2012, which is partly programmed in partnership with BAFTA.

I spoke with Catherine and Sameer about their experiences making the films and you can listen to the interviews by clicking below:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Caroline_Bridges_and_Sameer_Patel_on_BAFTA_at_Latitude.mp3]

You can also download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here or get the MP3 directly here.

The Latitude Festival takes place from July 12th – 15th and the Orange British Film Academy Awards is on February 12th

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> BAFTA
> Latitude Festival
> Follow @BAFTA and @Latitude on Twitter

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Interviews Podcast

Billy Bob Thornton on Bad Santa

Back in 2004 I spoke with Billy Bob Thornton about his role in Terry Zwigoff’s comedy Bad Santa (2003).

The film was produced by the Coen brothers and Thornton played the title character with Tony Cox playing his partner in crime.

It was a year after the US release and the film has since gone on to become something of a cult favourite as an alternative to traditional Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street.

For some reason, this interview never aired on radio back in 2004 but you can now listen to it here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Billy_Bob_Bob_Thornton_on_Bad_Santa.mp3]

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

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Buy Bad Santa on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK

Categories
Interviews Podcast

Interview: Andrew Rossi on Page One: Inside the New York Times

Page One: Inside The New York Times is a new documentary about the challenges facing the famous US newspaper in the digital age.

Director Andrew Rossi was granted access to parts of the paper during an eventful year, which included the Wikileaks affair, US troops pulling out of Iraq, the decline of US print journalism and the rise of Twitter.

As newspapers go out of business, the film also focuses on two contrasting media reporters, David Carr and Brian Stelter, as they report on the emerging realities of the Internet era and the struggle news institutions, such as their own, face as traditional advertising revenues decline.

Andrew Rossi previously directed the HBO documentary Le Cirque: A Table In Heaven (2007) and was was also associate producer on Control Room (2004).

I spoke with him recently in London about his new film and you can listen to the interview by clicking below:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Andrew_Rossi_on_Page_One_Inside_The_New_York_Times.mp3]

You can also download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here or get the MP3 directly here.

Page One: Inside The New York Times is released by Dogwoof at selected cinemas on Friday 23rd September

> Get details of screenings in your local area
> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Official website
> Reviews of Page One at Metacritic
> Find out more about the New York Times at Wikipedia

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Interviews Podcast

Interviews: September 11th Movies

Since the events of September 11th 2001, several films have come out about the events of that day.

I’ve had the opportunity over the last few years to interview people directly connected with what happened and some key films related to it.

The first major release to deal specifically with 9/11 was United 93 (2006), which dramatised the events surrounding United Airlines Flight 93, after it was hijacked during the attacks.

That year I spoke with Ben Sliney, the FAA national operations manager – the man responsible for grounding all air traffic that day – who director Paul Greengrass hired in an advisory capacity before letting him play himself in the movie.

Later that summer I also spoke with Will Jimeno, the Port Authority Police officer who survived the World Trade Center attack and was buried under the rubble for a total of 13 hours, along with fellow officer John McLoughlin.

Their story was the basis for Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center (2006), which starred Nicolas Cage as McLoughlin and Michael Pena as Jimeno, and we spoke about the day, his long rehabilitation process and the movie.

Two years later James Marsh directed the documentary Man on Wire (2008) about Frenchman Philippe Petit, who conducted an illegal wire walk between the Twin Towers in August 1974.

I spoke with Philippe about his extraordinary act and the subsequent film, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary.

You can listen to the interviews here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/September_11th_Interviews_Ben_Sliney_Will_Jimeno_and_Philippe_Petit.mp3]

You can also download our interview podcast via iTunes by clicking here.

Music Credits: ‘Dedication’ by John Powell from United 93; ‘Jimeno Sees Jesus’ and ‘Alison at the Spotlight’ from World Trade Center by Craig Armstrong; ‘Fish Beach’ by Michael Nyman from Drowning by Numbers; ‘Gymnopedie No. 1’ by Anne Queffélec and composed by Erik Satie

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Find out more about the September 11th attacks at Wikipedia

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DVD & Blu-ray Interviews Podcast

Interview: Duncan Kenworthy on The Eagle

The Eagle is a historical drama directed by Kevin MacDonald and adapted from Rosemary Sutcliff‘s 1954 historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth.

Set in Britain during 140 AD, it tells the story of a young Roman officer (Channing Tatum) and his slave (Jamie Bell), who venture to the North of England in order to find the eagle standard of an ill-fated legion who disappeared several years before.

Duncan Kenworthy has produced several British films, including Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Lawn Dogs (1997), Notting Hill (1999) and Love Actually (2003) and he has wanted to make this film for a number of years.

I recently spoke with him about its development, the historical accuracy of the piece, choosing Kevin MacDonald as director and the current state of the British film industry after the closure of the UK Film Council.

Listen to the interview by clicking below:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Duncan_Kenworthy_on_The_Eagle.mp3]

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

The DVD and Blu-ray is out in the UK on Monday and includes the following extras:

  • Audio commentary with director Kevin MacDonald
  • Alternate Ending
  • Deleted Scenes
  • The Eagle: The Making Of A Roman Epic
  • Pocket blu
  • The Eagle: Creating the Standard 45 Min Making Of Documentary

Universal Pictures release The Eagle on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 25th July

> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Buy The Eagle on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK
> Official website
> Find out more about Roman Britain at Wikipedia