A chat with Claire Belhassine about 'The Man Behind the Microphone' as the film prepares to screen at Manarat in Tunisia

E. Nina Rothe July 7, 2018

English-born filmmaker Claire Belhassine didn't know, for most of her young life, that her grandfather was Hédi Jouini, who is recognized as the Godfather of Tunisian music and the “Tunisian Frank Sinatra.” She spent summers in the company of her Tunisian extended family, yet they never talked of his historic past — and this is a man who was even featured on a Tunisian postage stamp! Until, one day in the back of a Paris taxi, she learned that her grandfather Hédi was a superstar.

So how is that possible, you may be thinking right about now? Well, I won't give the details of Belhassine's spellbinding and utterly pleasant to watch documentary away, but I will tell you that the filmmaker takes us on a personal journey with her, accompanied by Jouini's music and her own soothing narrative.

This coming week, 'The Man Behind the Microphone' premieres in Tunis at the Manarat Film Festival of the Mediterranean in Tunisia, a passion project by another wondrous woman, producer Dora Bouchoucha. The film originally world premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival where I watched it and it was probably the most interactive film there, complete with an impromptu concert on the beach by some of Belhassine's talented family.

The poster of Basil Khalil's 'Ave Maria'

Basil Khalil’s 'Ave Maria' : Questioning the Rules with Humor and Insight

E. Nina Rothe June 15, 2018

What would happen if the Israelis and Palestinians really needed each other? How would that change the world?

Well, I’m cheating a bit here, those are not really the questions that Basil Khalil asks through his charming, funny, beautifully made short film 'Ave Maria'. A short film with a hefty presence in Cannes in 2015, where it premiered in Competition. The film went on to be nominated for the 2016 Oscars in the Live Action Short category.

Mimmo Borrelli and Giuseppe D’Ambrosio in a still from Vincenzo Marra’s ‘Equilibrium’

“The courage to hang in there”: Vincenzo Marra Talks About His Quietly Brave ‘Equilibrium’

E. Nina Rothe June 3, 2018

I have noticed that we’ve lost the ability to stand up for ourselves. But, perhaps more tragically, we’ve forgotten how to stand up for the weaker and more vulnerable in our society. I believe that’s part of the reason why we crave violent entertainment where big burly men stand up to other big burly men and win after a blaze of car chases, noisy fights and assorted fireworks. They do what we can’t manage anymore.

To paraphrase the great Nelson Mandela, courage is not the lack of fear, rather being able to work through it and triumph above it. We all feel afraid of something, somewhere, just as we all possess courage. But the ultimate question is which will win in this eternal struggle within ourselves?

Julia Jedikowska in a still from 'Sicilian Ghost Story' by Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia

Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia on 'Sicilian Ghost Story': "It’s only this idea about love defeating all that let us do the film."

E. Nina Rothe June 2, 2018

There is nothing more savage in this world than violence perpetrated against a child. The inhumanity of striking a little girl, the cruelty of inflicting pain of any kind on a boy, those are undeniably the darkest moments for mankind.

It is within the realm of one such unbearable acts that ‘Sicilian Ghost Story’ takes place. Yet Antonio Piazza’s and Fabio Grassadonia’s follow up to their award winning, masterful ‘Salvo’ is a fantastical love story first, and a fact-inspired cautionary tale of violence second. And with those two impossible companions, love and violence, walking hand in hand, Piazza and Grassadonia have created a masterpiece.

Little Edie and Peter Beard in a still from 'That Summer'

Göran Hugo Olsson's 'That Summer' shows us how to fall in love at Grey Gardens

E. Nina Rothe May 16, 2018

Grey Gardens. We’ve heard of the Maysles documentary, we’ve watched the TV fiction film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, we may even have attended the Broadway musical about them. Lets face it, those Beales girls are American icons. The grand royalty of dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships yet touched by elegance and undeniable status.

But all through the narrative, Big Edie and Little Edie have somehow been made campy and unreal. Yes the original 'Grey Gardens' is a documentary, but I've never felt the true connection with its characters, even though their story shared so much of my own American history, in both time, events and place.

Now, Göran Hugo Olsson, one of my personal favorite filmmakers and an all around cool human being, has made a new film about Grey Gardens. It is new, in the sense that it will be released in the US this week, yet Olsson's 'That Summer' uses the oldest footage available of the Beales, the original film made by Andy Warhol and Peter Beard and in the process, shows us how to fall in love. Because at the center of 'That Summer' there exists a love story between the filmmaker and his muse Lee Ratziwill, a tale of summer romance with a twist bound by the grand illusion of an ambiance -- that magical moment in time when friends, location and a certain scent in the air creates the impression that everything is possible.

Khalid Abdalla in a still from 'In the Last Days of the City'

Tamer El Said's 'In the Last Days of the City': "What do you do when the world is collapsing around you and you only have a camera?"

E. Nina Rothe April 26, 2018

I believe there are two types of films. There are those that take you on an adventure -- meaning you go through a rollercoaster of emotions and excitement while sitting in the theater, surrounded by others who share the same thrills with you.

Then there are movies which bring you on a journey, one that can last you a lifetime. Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El Said's 'In the Last Days of the City' belongs to the latter category. Once you inhabit its well-shot landscapes and meet its unforgettable cast of characters, they never, ever let go of you. And that's a good thing! More than a year and a half later, after my first viewing they continue to color my dreams and tint my emotions, but most importantly, they have changed the way I think of Cairo, Egypt and its courageous inhabitants.

PHOTO BY LORENZO PIERMATTEITrine Dyrholm in Susanna Nicchiarelli’s ‘Nico 1988’ — PHOTO BY LORENZO PIERMATTEI
Trine Dyrholm in Susanna Nicchiarelli’s ‘Nico 1988’

Talking ‘Nico 1988’ with Susanna Nicchiarelli and Trine Dyrholm

E. Nina Rothe April 25, 2018

From a haunting first image of Christa Päffgen portrayed as a child watching Berlin burn in the distance with her mother at the end of the Second World War, to the core of her film ‘Nico 1988’ which concentrates on the last three years of the rockstar’s life, filmmaker Susanna Nicchiarelli keeps us, her audience, spellbound. ‘Nico 1988’ opened the Orizzonti section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and for me, the event started then and there, with this touching, moving, electrifying yet perfectly human masterpiece.

The life of Nico went from teenage model to Velvet Underground singer and Andy Warhol muse, to, as the artist himself famously stated, becoming “a fat junkie” and disappearing — all in the blink of an eye. Yet when the world wanted her to go away, as they do with pretty women once they turn, eh hum... older, say thirty, Nico found her second wind. She dyed her hair, started wearing head to toe black and became the original mistress of darkness, crooning songs about her existence that still send shivers down every woman’s spine, they are so true to life!

The film screens the weekend of April 26th in NYC, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. Book tickets on the TFF website.

“Because We Live in Unbearable Times”: Nandita Das Unveils ‘Manto’ in Cannes

E. Nina Rothe April 12, 2018

The wonder that is Indian filmmaker and actress Nandita Das first appeared on my radar through her performance in the film ‘Fire’ by Deepa Mehta. The story of two women trapped in respectively loveless marriages with brothers, who discover within each other the companion they crave, it was a film that created as much sizzle on as it did off the screen. It was passed uncut by India’s censor board which then gave into (sort of, then retracted it) religious zealots who started to burn down cinemas and attack audiences to protest its release.

Fast forward twenty years and Das once again flirted with controversy with her feature directorial debut ‘Firaaq’, an unsentimental account of the impact of the Gujarat riots on the Indian Muslim population. The film left such an impact on me, I could hardly think about anything else for weeks after viewing it. I remember researching articles about the riots and I craved to go back to Ahmedabad, which I’d visited the year before I watched the film, to revisit the city with Das’ haunting vision in mind.

These days, the beautiful, smart, and wonderfully strong Das is working on a film about Saadat Hasan Manto, an Indian-Pakistani writer and playwright who once wrote this hauntingly true phrase “If you cannot bear my stories, it is because we live in unbearable times.” Prophetic, wasn’t he.

Mariam Al Ferjani in a still from Kaouther Ben Hania's 'Beauty and the Dogs'

Forget Wonder Woman - I Found My Heroine Within ‘Beauty and the Dogs’ in Cannes!

E. Nina Rothe March 17, 2018

Films featuring strong women are what I crave. But I won’t buy that typical Hollywood fare, which sells the perfect package of a buff heroine dressed in a shiny costume doing stunts as the perfect woman’s film. Nope. I need a real-life wonder woman to fulfill my cravings.

In Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s latest ‘Beauty and the Dogs’, which world premiered at the Festival de Cannes in their Un Certain Regard section, I found her.

Within the role of Mariam (played to absolute perfection by first-time actress Mariam Al Ferjani), your typical run of the mill modern university girl wanting to have fun on a night out at a club event we learn she helped to organize, I discovered a heroine that transcends the Arab world — Mariam’s story takes place in Tunisia — and jumped off the screen straight into my subconscious. And remained there, juggling with my thoughts, until now.

'Faces, Places' in Cannes: “It’s the Miracle of Cinema!” -- Agnès Varda and JR Bring Us ‘Visages, Villages’

E. Nina Rothe February 25, 2018

“Did you like our little film?”

Agnès Varda grabs my hand and holds it between hers as I try to exit the room where I’ve just spent the last ten minutes interviewing her and artist JR about their cinematic collaboration ‘Visages, Villages’ (’Faces, Places’) which premiered “Out of Competition” in Cannes. We may have learned in the film that the filmmaker has cute little feet, but I now know she also has lovely, kind hands.

“Of course I did! Why would I have wanted to interview you otherwise?!” I hear myself say, but almost as soon as the words come out, I realize I’m telling a half truth. Yes, I loved this film, its simple premise and grand cinematography and I relished the mutual respect the legendary 88 year-old filmmaker and the anonymous 33 year-old photographer show for each other throughout their road movie around the French countryside. To me, they are the new Beatles, the rockstars of cinema’s here and now. But I also craved to be in the presence of Varda and JR and would have come to interview them even if I hadn’t enjoyed the film as much as I did. It’s Madame Varda, after all, and JR, the artist — wrap your head around this — with a million Instagram followers!

Breaking the Rules in Iran: Ali Soozandeh Talks ‘Tehran Taboo’

E. Nina Rothe February 15, 2018

‘Tehran Taboo’ is a spellbinding animated journey into the underbelly of Iranian society where nothing is what it seems from the outside. It would pay US media to watch films like Soozandeh’s once in a while. In fact, it would pay us all to do so, since we could walk away enriched by its wisdom. But the filmmaker’s genius here lies not in preaching, rather in thoroughly entertaining us, from the delicious rotoscope animation to the powerful use of characters that jump off the screen and into our conscience.

'The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975' : The Revolution Will Be Documented

E. Nina Rothe February 10, 2018

I think the reason I love cinema so much is that, as a medium, it possesses the most potential for uniting the world. While we watch a DVD of a French film at home, sit in a theater being washed over by the images of an Italian B & W classic, or surreptitiously check out the recent download of a Bollywood movie on our iPad, we are undeniably transported to other lands, other eras and, most importantly, other ways of looking at things. But while the promise is there every time we choose a title, few films achieve the grand objective of forever changing our mind and enriching our world permanently.

Swedish filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson’s documentary 'The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975' is one of those once-in-a-lifetime films which seamlessly reaches the full cinematic goal of changing its viewers’ world for good.

PHOTO BY GIORA BEJACHLior Ashkenazi and Sarah Adler in still from Samuel Maoz’s ‘Foxtrot’ — PHOTO BY GIORA BEJACH
Lior Ashkenazi and Sarah Adler in still from Samuel Maoz’s ‘Foxtrot’

Talking ‘Foxtrot’ with Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler and Samuel Maoz in Venice

E. Nina Rothe February 10, 2018

In a great film, there is always a moment when things change — that instance when the viewer is caught off guard, and left with an indelible feeling to take home. I consider it the cinematic equivalent of that famous Maya Angelou quote “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Personally speaking, a truly successful movie is one where that moment remains with me, hours later, casting a spell over my heart and soul.

Samuel Maoz’s ‘Foxtrot’ is that film. More than twelve hours after watching it at the Venice Film Festival where it is featured in the main Competition section, I’m still only barely able to process it emotionally. Even though the filmmaker created an artful, visually stunning, sonically powerful, perfectly acted, intellectually stimulating and utterly entertaining film — I can just remember how it made me feel. I doubt I will ever forget actually.

'Anna's War' photo courtesy of the filmmaker

With 'Anna's War' Aleksei Fedorchenko Takes the Audience to the Frontlines

E. Nina Rothe February 2, 2018

Just what is it like to survive as a little girl in a big World War?

That is the basic, deep and haunting question that Russian filmmaker Aleksei Fedorchenko asks in his latest 'Anna's War'. I've been a big fan of the director's work since his 2011 oeuvre 'Silent Souls' because somehow, in a very grand cinematic way Fedorchenko manages to portray the most intimate of emotions, the basic core fears and passions we all carry inside.

Phenomenal Man: Samuel L. Jackson Channels James Baldwin in ‘I Am Not Your Negro’

E. Nina Rothe February 1, 2018

In I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck manages to weave archival photos, video and even the odd space footage into a beautifully watchable, mesmerizing, can’t-tear-your-eyes-away-from-the-screen masterpiece of understanding, drawn out straight from Baldwin’s writing. Samuel L. Jackson narrates by reading from the 30 pages of notes for Remember This House, a book Baldwin never completed where he wanted to tell the story of his three murdered friends — MLK, Malcolm X and Evers. At times I had to remind myself that it wasn’t Baldwin talking me through his fascinating life, but Jackson instead. If ever someone channeled the spirit, courage and great humanity of the author, it’s the beloved Hollywood actor.

Favorite movies only need apply. Life is too short to write about what I didn't enjoy.