Indie Interviews
Shanghai 2026 Interview: 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN Director Sompot Chidgasornpongse on His Debut Feature and Thai Independent Cinema
Independent Thai cinema has been rising on the international festival circuit in recent years. Following the success of A Useful Ghost in 2025, Thai independent filmmaker and longtime collaborator of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Sompot Chidgasornpongse, premiered his feature debut, 9...
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM - 1980s Director Mark Cousins on Cinema Canons, Generative AI, Docs in the Post-truth Age
Mark Cousins reflects on the political urgency of documentary, the limits of the established canon, the creative possibilities of the hybrid form and the existential challenge posed by artificial intelligence.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: INCINERATOR Filmmaker Shuntaro Uchida on Childhood, Memory and the Luxury of Slow Time
Japanese filmmaker Shuntaro Uchida discusses the creative and production choices behind 'Incinerator,' from adapting Kaori Ekuni's short fiction and directing first-time performers to constructing a distinctly cinematic vision of childhood through rhythm, sound, light and shadow.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: THE FRIEND'S HOUSE IS HERE Directors Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz
Directors Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz discuss the clandestine production, collaborative method and international trajectory of their film, a Tehran-set drama about artistic freedom, friendship and resistance under political pressure.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: A HAPPY FAMILY Director Jan-Eric Mack and Star Anna Schinz on Poverty, Motherhood, Breaking the Rules of Social Drama
Swiss director Jan-Eric Mack and actress Anna Schinz discuss how they shaped the film as a socially engaged thriller, approached its moral ambiguities, and worked with two first-time child actors.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: THE GUEST Director Mads Mengel on Family Trauma and Finding Humor in Pain
Danish director Mads Mengel discusses his feature debut, Denmark's tradition of family dramas, the film's restrained microaggressions, and creating the conditions for productive chaos on set.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: THE GUEST Star Trine Dyrholm on Playing Beyond Diagnosis and Embracing Creative Risk
The acclaimed Danish actor discusses embracing first-time filmmakers, finding the human being behind mental illness, improvising within a rigorously conceived script and refusing to pass judgment on the volatile mother at the center of Mads Mengel's family drama.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: RAIN CATCHER Filmmaker Michele Fiascaris on Voyeurism and Building a Neo-Noir on a Limited Budget
The Italian-born, London-based filmmaker discusses casting Dudley O'Shaughnessy, drawing on David Fincher and Brian De Palma, and transforming the Barbican into a psychological maze.
Karlovy Vary 2026 Interview: MY FRIEND THE PORN STAR Filmmaker Rosa Friedrich on Deepfake and Intimacy
Austrian filmmaker Rosa Friedrich discusses the making of the unconventional documentary.
CHILDREN OF THE WICKER MAN Video Interview: Dominic Hardy Sheds Further Light
Some films never die. They just keep demanding sacrifices. In the case of The Wicker Man (1973), those sacrifices have been many and varied: Those made in the service of shooting and releasing the film, and dealing with financial fallout....
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK Interview: Harry Dodge and Silas Howard Look Back on Their Landmark Film in Advance of Restoration Tour
In the time since By Hook or by Crook premiered at the 2001 Frameline Film Festival and established itself as a landmark of queer cinema, the two writer/director/stars behind the film have gone in very different directions. Silas Howard has...
THE TASTE OF TEA Interview: Katsuhito Ishii Talks Family Dramas and FUNKY FOREST 2
Katsuhito Ishii discusses domestic dramas, arthouse positioning, and how that 'Funky Forest' sequel is coming along.
FACES OF DEATH Interview: Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei on IP, Censorship, and Horror History
Turning a maybe not quite beloved but certainly important cult object like 1978's faux-snuff/faux-documentary Faces of Death into a multiplex-friendly narrative film with aspirations of taking on major social media companies is no small endeavor, creatively or culturally. That's part...
Visegrad Film Forum 2026 Interview: Alexander Nanau on Shooting Without a Script, Building Trust, Discovering the Story in the Edit
Romanian filmmaker Alexander Nanau examines the working methodology behind his observational documentaries, from character discovery and long-term filming to editing as the primary stage of narrative construction.
European Film Awards 2026 Interview: ON FALLING Director Laura Carreira Talks Reframing Social Realism for the Algorithmic Age
Laura Carreira talks about translating lived research into formal precision, articulating a contemporary vision of social realism shaped by migrant labour, algorithmic control and structural precarity.
European Film Awards 2026 Interview: Liv Ullmann on Cinema as Legacy, Responsibility and the Soul Before the Camera
On the occasion of receiving the European Lifetime Achievement Award at the 38th European Film Awards, Liv Ullmann reflects on cinema as legacy, moral responsibility and the enduring mystery of performance in a conversation that speaks directly to the ethical and artistic stakes of filmmaking today.
European Film Awards 2026 Interview: Alice Rohrwacher on Cinema as Future Archaeology and the Politics of Experimentation
Alice Rohrwacher reflects on her collaborative practice, myth-infused realism and the production realities shaping contemporary European auteur cinema.
Oscars 2026 Interview: 100 LITERS OF GOLD Teemu Nikki on Addiction Without Moralism, Comedy Without Templates, Making a Finnish "Beer Western"
In this candid Oscars-season conversation, Finnish director Teemu Nikki unpacks the personal roots, genre subversions, and unexpected global momentum behind '100 Liters of Gold', offering a clear-eyed look at how a deeply local story became one of the year's international contenders.
KING IVORY Interview: Ben Foster, James Badge Dale, and Michael Mando on Neo-Westerns, Playing Family, and Graham Greene
Peter Martin put it perfectly when he summed up King Ivory with a focus on its three leads in his article on this weekend's new releases: "James Badge Dale, who brings simmering intensity to every role, Ben Foster, who has...
Video Interview: FREAKED Special Makeup Effects Wizard Bill Corso
I almost freaked out when I found out I was going to talk to special effects makeup legend Bill Corso. That’s not a pun, although you might think so, given that the interview was in support of Umbrella Entertainment's incredible...
