Interview with filmmaker Charlie Shackleton at Documenta Madrid 2026

Erin Moriarty, interview with the actress Filming Italy Women Power Award

At the ninth edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival 2026 [https://www.filmingitalysardegnafestival.it/], Erin Moriarty receives the Filming Italy Women Power Award. Known for her role in the hit series “The Boys”, the American actress has become a vocal advocate for gender equity in the entertainment industry and for a more honest, human conversation about the struggles that come with life in the spotlight. A FEMALE-CENTRIC AWARD WITH A PROFOUND MEANING Receiving an award is always surreal, Erin Moriarty says, but this one carries particular weight. “The fact that it happens to be specifically female oriented is really poignant for me, because as a woman in the industry who’s faced a lot of the gender oriented adversities, I think it’s so important to highlight women.” At a certain point in a career, she explains, resilience stops being optional and becomes mandatory, especially in the entertainment industry. “To specifically have it be female-centric is very full circle, very poignant for me.” A PRIVILEGE, NOT JUST A RESPONSIBILITY When asked whether she feels a responsibility as an artist to bring up issues of female empowerment and to say no to projects that don’t represent women well, Erin Moriarty reframes the question in a way that says something important about where she is in her career. “It feels like a privilege for me, because when you first start out as an actor, you just have to say yes to everything, no matter what the role is.” The ability to be selective, she says, comes with its own obligation. “If I’ve gotten this far and I’m able to be selective about the work that I do, then of course I’m going to utilize that in terms of making sure that I choose roles that feel mindful towards the female experience and not reductive of it.” RIPPING OURSELVES DOWN FROM THE PEDESTAL Perhaps the most powerful moment of the conversation comes when Erin Moriarty reflects on her choice to speak publicly about her own struggles and illness. For her, the decision was straightforward: anything that humanizes public figures is good for others. “We’re put on this pedestal that frankly we don’t deserve to be on. It dehumanizes us when we put other humans on pedestals and the implication is they are superior to us.” Being isolated while going through difficulties, she adds, makes them a million times worse. “It felt like I just needed to be honest about my experience if it helps one person feel less isolated and that was achieving a goal.” The playing field, she believes, needs to be leveled, and it is on artists themselves to make that happen. The post Erin Moriarty, interview with the actress Filming Italy Women Power Award [https://www.fred.fm/erin-moriarty-interview-with-the-actress-filming-italy-women-power-award/] appeared first on Fred Film Radio [https://www.fred.fm].

Olga Kurylenko, interview with the actress Filming Italy International Award 2026

At the ninth edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival 2026, Olga Kurylenko receives the Filming Italy International Award. Born in a small town in Ukraine, former model, Born in a small town in Ukraine, former model, Bond girl in “Quantum of Solace” and actress in films ranging from “Oblivion” to “The Death of Stalin”, Olga Kurylenko has built an international career that she herself still struggles to fully take in. The award, she says, is as much a surprise as it is an honor. A LONG WAY FROM WHERE SHE STARTED For Olga Kurylenko, receiving an international award carries a weight that goes beyond the recognition itself. “If someone told me as a little girl that I would be an international actress and that I would ever be getting these type of prizes, I would never believe it, because I come from so far away, from such a small town.” The path, she says, was never written for her the way it might be for others born closer to the world of cinema. “Normally it’s impossible for people like me and that come from where I come from.” The prize brings her back to appreciate what she has accomplished, something she admits she tends to underestimate. “It’s very humbling.” ACTING AS THERAPY, THEN AS A CALLING Long before Paris and the modeling career, acting began as something much more private. As a shy child, Olga Kurylenko asked her mother to enroll her in an acting class, not to become an actress but as a way to open up. “It was more like a therapy for me. I had to stand on stage and I was shaking and I was scared and I was freaking out. Each time I had to step over the barrier, it was a violence I was doing to myself because it was against my nature, until it became my nature.” The transformation worked. “A lot of actors will tell you that they are by nature shy and then they just somehow go up there and they blossom.” EMILY WATSON AND THE DECISION TO CREATE COMPLEX CHARACTERS The ambition to truly act, rather than simply appear on screen, came later, in Paris, through long hours spent in cinemas discovering performances that moved her. One above all stayed with her: Emily Watson in “Breaking the Waves”. “Movies like that persuaded me that I really should try and follow that path.” Not for fame, she clarifies, but for something harder to define: the desire to experience those feelings and to create characters that are complex. The post Olga Kurylenko, interview with the actress Filming Italy International Award 2026 [https://www.fred.fm/olga-kurylenko-interview-with-the-actress-filming-italy-international-award-2026/] appeared first on Fred Film Radio [https://www.fred.fm].

James Franco, interview with the actor/director at the Filming Italy Sardegna 2026

At the 9th edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival 2026 [https://www.filmingitalysardegnafestival.it/], James Franco receives the Filming Italy Creativity Award and sits on the jury for the short film competition. Actor, director, writer and now co-founder of a fashion company, James Franco has built a career defined by constant reinvention. WHAT CREATIVITY REALLY MEANS Asked what creativity means to him today, James Franco doesn’t hesitate. The answer comes from experience, not theory. “One of the main lessons I’ve learned is that when I’m open, when I’m open to outside influence, when it’s a weird combination of working hard but also being open, all these things that I would never have planned happen.” It was openness that led him to co-found Pali, a fashion company born from a friendship with someone who came from fashion school, something he never would have imagined for himself. “If I had stayed right where I thought, ‘I’m only a dramatic actor and I can only do this,’ it would never have happened.” PINEAPPLE EXPRESS AND THE RETURN TO COMEDY One of the turning points James Franco recalls most vividly is the moment he stopped trying to be the next James Dean. After a period of depression, a chance encounter at a film festival with his old friend Judd Apatow changed everything. “He said, ‘Why did you leave comedy? We did Freaks and Geeks together. Come back. I’ve got a project, it’s called Pineapple Express.’” James Franco said yes, and that single decision opened up a whole new side of his career. “James Dean never did Pineapple Express. But I was open.” DESERT FILMS: A NEW THEATER PROJECT COMING TO ITALY James Franco is also bringing to Italy a theater play he wrote, directed and acts in, called Desert Films. A dramedy based on the true story of American actor Robert Blake, known for his roles in David Lynch‘s “Lost Highway” and the Truman Capote adaptation “In Cold Blood”, who was tried and exonerated for the murder of his wife. “It’s a tricky, tricky subject. So it’s about this, but it’s also about more.” THE MOMENTS THAT LED HERE Looking back at a career full of pivots, James Franco identifies a handful of key decisions. Dropping out of university to go to acting school against his parents’ wishes. Saying yes to comedy when he thought he was a dramatic actor only. Going to film school when he realized he wanted to direct. And then, perhaps the most important shift of all: “There was the moment when I had to learn that movies and success were not my god. When I got rid of the thinking that I would only be worthwhile if I did good projects, it made me a much happier person.” The post James Franco, interview with the actor/director at the Filming Italy Sardegna 2026 [https://www.fred.fm/james-franco-interview-with-the-actor-director-at-the-filming-italy-sardegna-2026/] appeared first on Fred Film Radio [https://www.fred.fm].

“Other side of fame”, interview with director Erik Bernard and actress Sveva Alviti

Presented as a world premiere at the ninth edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival 2026 [https://www.filmingitalysardegnafestival.it/en], “Other Side of Fame” is directed by Erik Bernard and stars Sveva Alviti in the role of Rachel, a young woman whose life changes during the Cannes Film Festival after a romantic encounter with an elusive American forces her to choose between the allure of fame and the promise of real love. The film arrives at the festival with the Women Power Award going to Sveva Alviti, in recognition of a career built around giving voice to women’s stories. A FILM ABOUT THE CHOICES WE HOPE TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO MAKE For Erik Bernard, “Other Side of Fame” was born out of conversations he had in Cannes with aspiring actors navigating the risks and consequences of chasing a career in the spotlight. “It is about a woman who makes a hard choice and has to find her way back to where she started, and in the middle of all that, the hardest choice is love.” From that starting point, the story grew around a question that feels particularly relevant today: what does it mean to want to be famous, and can fame and love ever truly coexist? AN INSTAGRAM MESSAGE THAT BECAME A FILM The collaboration between Erik Bernard and Alviti started in an unexpected way. His publicist, who had previously worked with Sveva Alviti on “Dalida” [https://www.fred.fm/sveva-alviti-madrina-della-81-mostra-internazionale-di-arte-cinematografica-di-venezia/], suggested her name when Erik Bernard was looking for a European actress fluent in French. He reached out to her on Instagram, not the most conventional of beginnings. “Usually, when you have this kind of connection on Instagram, it’s not real”, Sveva Alviti admits, “but I gave him a chance because what he wrote was very deep.” After reading the script in two hours, she knew she wanted to do it. Erik Bernard, for his part, quickly discovered she would bring “value and depth to the character” that went well beyond what he had imagined. A STUBBORN, STRONG AND SOMETIMES FRAGILE WOMAN What drew Sveva Alviti to Rachel was the complexity of the role and the weight of its message. “There is a message about the power men can have and how they play with your dreams.” Rachel, she explains, shares something with Sveva Alviti herself: stubbornness, strength, and moments of fragility. The character goes through a great deal before finding her moment, and that journey, for Alviti, is what makes the story worth telling. Every role she chooses, she says, comes with a purpose: “I want to communicate something that stays.” THE WOMEN POWER AWARD AND A CAREER BUILT AROUND WOMEN’S VOICES Receiving the Women Power Award on the same night as the world premiere of “Other Side of Fame” felt to Sveva Alviti like a natural alignment. “I always choose characters where I can give voice to women or stories that don’t have one.” Beyond acting, she is now also directing her own documentaries about women, a path that Tiziana Rocca [https://www.fred.fm/tiziana-rocca-intervista-alla-general-director-del-9-filming-italy-sardegna-festival/] recognized and wanted to celebrate, honoring not just the film but the vision behind an entire career. The post “Other side of fame”, interview with director Erik Bernard and actress Sveva Alviti [https://www.fred.fm/other-side-of-fame-interview-with-director-erik-bernard-and-actress-sveva-alviti/] appeared first on Fred Film Radio [https://www.fred.fm].

Interview with filmmaker Charlie Shackleton at Documenta Madrid 2026

This interview explores the creative journey behind some of Charlie Shackleton‘s most acclaimed works and offers invaluable insights into the art of storytelling, with a twist. What happens when you create new works from existing footage or when things don’t go according to plan? We talk to the winner of the NEXT Innovation Award at last year’s Sundance, while in Spain for a retrospective of his work as part of this year’s Documenta Madrid [https://www.documentamadrid.com/en]. THE ART OF RE-TELLING STORIES Charlie Shackleton’s work is characterised by a deliberate exploration of form and content. Whether creating a film that exists as a single 35-millimetre print by constructing an intricate collage of archival footage or a documentary based on a failed film project, his work challenges traditional cinematic boundaries. In this interview, he emphasises the importance of fragility and impermanence, characteristics that add a poetic layer to his creations. This innovative mindset turns each film into a reflection on mortality, time, and memory, inviting viewers to reconsider the meanings of cinema. AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO FILMMAKING Charlie Shackleton‘s approach often involves working within constraints, which paradoxically fuels creative innovation. For example, “The Afterlight” (2021), one of the films shown at Documenta Madrid, exists as a single 35mm print that deteriorates with each screening, inevitably leading to its eventual disappearance. This emphasises the fleeting nature of existence and of the art object, making every viewing a unique experience. This dedication to experimentation cements his reputation as a visionary in contemporary filmmaking. This feature-length experimental film is a collage composed of hundreds of fragments from early 20th-century fiction films from around the world. The piece delves into the archival and fragile nature of film history, highlighting the importance of preservation and the passage of time. WHEN A FAILED FICTION FILM PROJECT BECOMES A DOCUMENTARY Another notable film selected for Documenta Madrid this year is “Zodiac Killer Project” (2025).  When Charlie Shackleton found out that the true-crime documentary film he had been working on for years would never be made because clearing the rights to the book it was based on was impossible, he was frustrated but decided to make a documentary about his experience instead.  Consisting of a series of long takes on would-be film locations, fragments from various true-crime TV series, Charlie Shackleton‘s voiceover (and some behind-the-scenes footage), the film is a humorous account of the process of making a true-crime documentary that ultimately never materialised. By blending elements of documentary and video essay, the film critiques genre conventions while maintaining a personal and reflective tone. Another example of how his work consistently pushes the boundaries between traditional filmmaking and experimental media, showcasing their versatility and depth as a filmmaker. The post Interview with filmmaker Charlie Shackleton at Documenta Madrid 2026 [https://www.fred.fm/documenta-madrid-2026-interview-with-filmmaker-charlie-shakleton/] appeared first on Fred Film Radio [https://www.fred.fm].