Interview: Director Eran Kolirin on Israel’s Oscar Submission "Let It Be Morning"

By Abe Friedtanzer

The winner of Israel’s Oscars, the Ophir Awards, automatically goes on to become the country’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature. This year, that film is Let It Be Morning, which made headlines at Cannes because its Palestinian cast refused to attend, objecting to it being labeled an Israeli film. Those who have seen the film will surely appreciate that this attitude is expected and and very much in the spirit of the film’s content. I had the chance to speak with the film's Israeli director, Eran Kolirin (pictured left) who is best known for writing and directing The Band’s Visit. His new film premieres this week in New York City at the Other Israel Film Festival… 

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NewFest Interview: Colby Minifie on ‘Homebody’

We're covering a few titles from the 2021 edition of NewFest, the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

 

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Body swap comedies aren't all that rare, but it's not common that they manage to delve into complex subjects like gender identity. That is very fortunately the case with Homebody, an entertaining 75-minute adventure that finds nine-year-old Johnny (Tre Ryder), who is already in the process of questioning their gender, transplanted into the body of babysitter Melanie (Colby Minifie). We got to chat with the delightful and enthusiastic Minifie about what drew her to this project, the fun experience of making it, and even got some details on what's ahead for her character on The Boys!  Watch the full conversation below...

Homebody is screening virtually as part of NewFest through October 26th, with an in-person screening in Prospect Park this Tuesday.

Interview: Michael Shannon on his new Hulu series “Nine Perfect Strangers”

By Abe Friedtanzer

Michael Shannon's onscreen career deserves more recognition. Yes, he is a two-time Oscar nominee thanks to Revolutionary Road and Nocturnal Animals, but he wasn’t even nominated for his best roles, including Take Shelter, 99 Homes, The Shape of Water, and The Iceman. He also deserved Emmy recognition for his first regular TV role on Boardwalk Empire, which he strangely didn’t get. 

Now, the talented always busy actor of stage and screen, who at one point debuted a whopping ten films in a single year (2016), is returning to television for the limited series Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the book by Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies...

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Locarno Diary #3: Phil Tippett, the "Mad God" of special effects

by Elisa Giudici

Being a prestigious European movie festival but not one of the crowded and powerful ones, Locarno is the perfect size to showcase the work of  artisans. Every year there are one or two guests who are legends in peculiar, unseen, less discussed niches of the movie industry. I am confident that meeting Phil Tippett, a legendary special effects creator, animator and supervisor, will be one of the most vivid memories of this edition of the festival.

Before Locarno and the opportunity to meet Tippett, I knew close to nothing about his career other than that he was a collaborator and close friend of Paul Verhoeven's. So much so, he said, that on the set of RoboCop they asked each other, with dry humour, who they were forced to be nice to...

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Interview: Nadia Stacey, Cruella's Hair and Makeup Designer

by Nathaniel R

Nadia Stacey talks "Cruella"

When I sat down with Cruella's Hair and Makeup designer Nadia Stacey over Zoom we just had a few minutes to talk. To break the ice quickly, a true story. When I first saw the image of Emma Stone as Cruella, my mind immediately lept to Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite and her disgruntled "I look like a badger" quip. I had no idea why. Only when prepping for our Cruella interview did I realize the films had the same makeup designer. Stacey laughs, fondly remembering her BAFTA-winning film. "I feel like there’s a theme going on with me doing mask-kind of faces!"

And with The Favourite (a beloved favourite) duly cited, we jump right in to our conversation about her impressive filmography and her biggest assignment yet, designing Disney's live-action Cruella. [This interview is edited/condensed for clarity]

NATHANIEL: You've done a few movies with Olivia Colman and two with Emma Stone. Are you just going to keep The Favourite-ing from now on?  

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