Interviews with Directors and Artists
Four hundred years since William Shakespeare’s death–Part 2
And a conversation with James Shapiro of Columbia University
By David Walsh, 20 December 2016
It is four centuries since the death of dramatist William Shakespeare. Arts editor David Walsh spoke to James Shapiro, the author of numerous remarkable books on the playwright and his times. The second of two articles.
New study of American novelist
A conversation with Tony Williams, author of James Jones: The Limits of Eternity—Part 2
By David Walsh, 2 December 2016
Tony J. Williams has written a new study of the American novelist, James Jones (1921–77), best known for From Here to Eternity, Some Came Running, The Thin Red Line and the posthumously published Whistle.
New study of American novelist
A conversation with Tony Williams, author of James Jones: The Limits of Eternity—Part 1
By David Walsh, 1 December 2016
Tony J. Williams has written a new study of the American novelist, James Jones (1921–77), best known for From Here to Eternity, Some Came Running, The Thin Red Line and the posthumously published Whistle.
Toronto International Film Festival 2016
Ma’ Rosa from the Philippines: Small-time drug dealers set upon by the police
By Dylan Lubao, 5 October 2016
The 14th film from Filipino director Brillante Mendoza was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and earlier premiered at Cannes.
“Ordinary people truly imbibed the principles of the American Revolution”
An interview with Victoria Bynum, historian and author of The Free State of Jones—Part 2
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 13 July 2016
This is the second part of a conversation with Victoria Bynum, whose research helped inspire the film Free State of Jones, about an insurrection by Southern Unionists against the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Anohni speaks on war, inequality and Obama
By George Marlowe, 6 June 2016
The World Socialist Web Site spoke to Anohni about her new album.
An interview with Babak Jalali, director of Radio Dreams
By David Walsh, 17 May 2016
The WSWS spoke to Babak Jalali during the recent San Francisco International Film Festival.
A conversation with Stephen Parker, author of Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life
By David Walsh, 19 April 2016
WSWS writers Sybille Fuchs, Stefan Steinberg and David Walsh recently spoke to the author of a valuable new biography of the famed German playwright and poet.
Michigan lead expert exposes misinformation and delays in Flint crisis
By Tim Rivers, 4 February 2016
Ed Wenz, a lead expert who provides training to abatement contractors, spoke with the WSWS about the efforts to cover up and delay efforts to address the Flint water crisis.
An interview with performer, educator and archivist of the Great American Songbook, Michael Feinstein
By Barry Grey, 23 December 2015
“I feel that this body of work is timeless, because it has a level of craft, inspiration and quality that transcends the era in which it was created.”
An interview with Ted Dawe, author of Into the River
By Tom Peters, 9 December 2015
Dawe’s novel has been attacked in the media and by fundamentalist Christians because of its realistic depiction of New Zealand society, from the point of view of a working-class Maori teenager.
Interview with Indian filmmaker Rahul Roy, director of The Factory
By Lee Parsons, 7 December 2015
Roy’s film chronicles the struggle of autoworkers at the assembly plant operated by Maruti Suzuki India, in Manesar, northern India.
Interview with Denny Tedesco, director of The Wrecking Crew
“Everybody loves this music around the world”
By Joanne Laurier, 5 December 2015
The WSWS recently spoke with Denny Tedesco, son of legendary guitarist Tommy Tedesco and director of The Wrecking Crew, a documentary about the 1960s’ musical scene in Los Angeles.
“Cinema must have a social conscience”
Veteran filmmaker Paul Cox discusses his latest feature
By Richard Phillips, 16 November 2015
Australian writer and director speaks about Force of Destiny, his artistic approach, concerns about militarism and the commercial pressures on filmmakers.
“Artists have the capacity to expose the reality of war”
Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage speaks with the World Socialist Web Site
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 13 October 2015
Vithanage discusses With You, Without You and the political difficulties facing contemporary Sri Lankan filmmakers.
FICUNAM 2015
I Remember You: A comment on the history of his film by director Ali Khamraev
28 March 2015
Filmmaker Ali Khamraev explains the difficulties surrounding the making of his remarkable film I Remember You in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
FICUNAM 2015
An interview with Alejo Moguillansky, co-director of The Gold Bug
By David Walsh, 20 March 2015
David Walsh spoke to Alejo Moguillansky, the co-director of The Gold Bug, in Mexico City during the FICUNAM film festival.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 6
Art and commerce: Austrian documentary The Great Museum
By Bernd Reinhardt, 7 March 2014
Austrian director Johannes Holzhausen’s film is a fond, and at the same time scathing documentary about the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) in Vienna.
Juno and the Paycock at the Irish Repertory Theatre: An interview with J. Smith-Cameron and Ciarán O’Reilly
By David Walsh, 21 December 2013
The actors who play the title roles in the current production of Juno and the Paycock in New York, J. Smith-Cameron and Ciarán O’Reilly, spoke with David Walsh recently about the play and other issues.
“The struggle to tell the truth through stories”: An interview with British film and television producer Tony Garnett—Part 2
By our reporters, 24 October 2013
Reporters from the WSWS sat down with Tony Garnett and asked him a number of questions about his life and career, and in particular the political and artistic conceptions that have informed his work.
“The struggle to tell the truth through stories”: An interview with British film and television producer Tony Garnett—Part 1
By our reporters, 23 October 2013
Reporters from the WSWS sat down with Tony Garnett and asked him a number of questions about his life and career, and in particular the political and artistic conceptions that have informed his work.
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Interview with Hany Abu-Assad, director of Omar
By David Walsh, 27 September 2013
David Walsh spoke to Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, director of Omar, at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
San Francisco Film Festival 2013
An interview with Jem Cohen, director of Museum Hours: “Art is something people do like breathing.”
By David Walsh, 24 May 2013
David Walsh spoke to Jem Cohen, director of Museum Hours, during the recent San Francisco film festival.
A comment and an interview with filmmaker Minda Martin
Free Land: American dreams and realities
By Joanne Laurier, 15 November 2012
Minda Martin’s 2010 film Free Land, at the same time a documentary-essay and personal memoir, poetically and evocatively connects a variety of social and personal events.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012
A comment from Robert Connolly, director of Underground: The Julian Assange Story
By Joanne Laurier, 6 November 2012
Robert Connolly, director of Underground: The Julian Assange Story, responds to questions from Joanne Laurier of the WSWS.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012
Interview with Damien Ounouri, director of Fidaï, and Mohamed El Hadi Benadouda
By David Walsh, 18 October 2012
The WSWS spoke to Damien Ounouri, director of Fidaï, and Mohamed El Hadi Benadouda, a veteran of the Algerian revolution and subject of Ounouri’s film.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012—Part 6
Interviews with five filmmakers about life and art in India, Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Angola and Haiti
By David Walsh, 9 October 2012
A good many honest and intriguing films screened at the recent Toronto film festival. The WSWS interviewed a number of directors about their films and the conditions in their respective countries.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012—Part 5
Detroit’s belated “renaissance”—on film
By Joanne Laurier, 5 October 2012
A number of films about Detroit have suddenly emerged … including now a fiction work about the complicated interactions between the city’s Arab and African American populations.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012
Interviews with John Gianvito, Minda Martin and Travis Wilkerson—co-directors of Far From Afghanistan
By David Walsh, 2 October 2012
The WSWS spoke to three of the five directors of Far From Afghanistan.
Toronto International Film Festival 2012
An interview with Mahdi Fleifel and Patrick Campbell, director and co-producer of A World Not Ours
By David Walsh, 26 September 2012
The WSWS spoke to Mahdi Fleifel, writer and director of A World Not Ours and Patrick Campbell, co-producer (along with Fleifel) of the film, during the recent Toronto film festival.
“I want to have people influenced by John Heartfield”: An interview with the German artist’s grandson
By Paul Bond, 11 September 2012
The WSWS recently interviewed John J. Heartfield, grandson of the left-wing German artist and master of the political photo montage, John Heartfield.
Filmmaker Oliver Hermanus discusses Beauty
By Richard Phillips, 4 August 2012
Beauty is about a married middle-aged Afrikaans businessman whose life has become a lie.
Interview with Jack Shepherd, British actor and playwright
By Vicky Short and Antoine Lerougetel, 11 July 2012
Award-winning actor and playwright Jack Shepherd was born in Yorkshire in October 1940. As well as acting, writing, producing and directing, he also plays the saxophone and jazz piano.
An interview with Helen Edmundson, author of Mary Shelley
By Barbara Slaughter, 13 June 2012
The WSWS recently spoke to playwright Helen Edmundson, whose play on the life of Mary Shelley is currently running in London.
Stormbelt exhibition in Toronto—a dark journey through America’s Sun Belt
An interview with photographer Robert Leslie
By Lee Parsons, 29 May 2012
Raised in Canada, now living and working in Europe, Robert Leslie is an artist of genuinely humane sensibilities, as his recent photographic work illustrates.
An interview with writer Nick Flynn: “The job of an artist is to look at the realities of existence”
Being Flynn with Robert De Niro based on Flynn's memoir
By Joanne Laurier, 2 April 2012
Joanne Laurier of the WSWS recently spoke to writer Nick Flynn, whose memoir formed the basis for the recent film, Being Flynn. The film was unusual in its sensitive treatment of both social and psychological issues.
62nd Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
Interview with Rainer Rother, director of a Soviet-German film retrospective: “These films are a pledge that things can be different”
By Bernd Reinhardt and Stefan Steinberg, 6 March 2012
This year’s Berlin Film Festival featured a fascinating retrospective of films resulting from the collaboration between German and Soviet film producers and directors in the 1920s and 1930s. The WSWS spoke to its organiser.
An interview with Chad Freidrichs, director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
By Fred Mazelis, 17 February 2012
The director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, a documentary about public housing in the US, speaks to the WSWS.
In defense of Shakespeare—a conversation with veteran Australian actor and director John Bell
By David Walsh, 13 December 2011
A conversation with distinguished Australian actor and director John Bell, who founded the Bell Shakespeare theatre company in 1990.
“Emotional truth and social truth are what I’m interested in”
An interview with Bryan Wizemann, director of Think of Me
By David Walsh, 12 October 2011
David Walsh spoke to Bryan Wizemann, the director of Think of Me, during last month’s Toronto international film festival.
Interview with Detroit Symphony violinist: “We went on strike because we didn’t want the orchestra to be destroyed”
By Shannon Jones, 10 October 2011
On the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the strike by Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians, the WSWS interviewed DSO violinist Marian Tanau.
Sydney Film Festival: Filmmaker Ivan Sen speaks to WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 26 July 2011
Writer/director Ivan Sen spoke with the World Socialist Web Site about Toomelah, his latest feature, during the Sydney film festival.
An interview with Christopher Newton, director of the Shaw Festival’s Heartbreak House
By Joanne Laurier, 23 July 2011
The director of the current production of George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, speaks to Joanne Laurier of the WSWS.
“They look at the arts as a luxury item”
An interview with Greg Near, Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra musician
By Shannon Jones, 10 May 2011
WSWS reporter Shannon Jones and arts editor David Walsh recently interviewed Michigan Opera Theatre musician Greg Near.
Musicians’ strike entering sixth month
A conversation with Detroit Symphony Orchestra violist Jim VanValkenburg
By Shannon Jones, 9 March 2011
Jim VanValkenburg, assistant principal violist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, recently invited WSWS reporters into his home to discuss the lengthy strike by DSO musicians.
The Guerilla Orchestra and the struggle to defend the arts from funding cuts
An interview with Heather Bird
By Jackie Warren, 25 January 2011
Heather Bird, a Manchester, England-based classical double bassist, created the “Guerilla Orchestra” in response to the savage cuts being made in music performance and education.
An interview with photographer Andrew Moore, author of Detroit Disassembled
By Tim Tower, 5 January 2011
Tim Tower of the WSWS recently spoke to photographer Andrew Moore, whose Detroit Disassembled link to review reveals the devastation of the city as “a multi-faceted metaphor of America.”
Toronto International Film Festival 2010
A conversation with Ken Loach
By David Walsh, 21 October 2010
David Walsh and Joanne Laurier spoke to director Ken Loach—accompanied by screenwriter Paul Laverty—about his latest film, Route Irish, and his career as a whole at the recent Toronto film festival.
Toronto International Film Festival 2010—Part 5
What does it mean to take reality seriously?
By David Walsh, 14 October 2010
Films from Iran, China and Romania, including a conversation with Iranian filmmaker Rafi Pitts, director of The Hunter.
“I wonder about this inequality and how it’s impacting on my country”
Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik speaks to WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 5 October 2010
Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik spoke with the World Socialist Web Site following screenings of her feature at this year’s Melbourne Film Festival
Brillante Mendoza discusses Lola
By Richard Phillips, 10 July 2010
Philippines director talks about his latest film with the WSWS
An interview with Dawn Mikkelson, co-director of The Red Tail
6 July 2010
The WSWS recently spoke to Dawn Mikkelson, co-director of The Red Tail, who was in the Detroit area for a showing of the film.
An interview with Melissa Koch, co-director of The Red Tail
6 July 2010
Joanne Laurier recently spoke to Melissa Koch, co-director of The Red Tail, about the making of the documentary.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2010
An interview with Woo Ming-jin, director of Woman on Fire Looks for Water, and a comment
By David Walsh, 3 June 2010
An interview with the young Malaysian film director, Woo Ming-jin, and a comment on his new film, Woman on Fire Looks for Water.
Jan van der Marck, former chief curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts, dies
Interviewed by WSWS on “Art, museums and society” in 2000
By David Walsh, 30 April 2010
Jan van der Marck, the former chief curator of the Detroit Institute of Arts and a remarkable figure in the world of art, died April 26 after a long battle with cancer.
An interview with Philippe Lioret, director of Welcome
By Richard Phillips, 17 April 2010
French filmmaker Philippe Lioret speaks about his latest movie, which explores the human impact of increasingly repressive French immigration laws on undocumented refugees and French citizens.
“What’s necessary is a vibrant film culture not just a formula”
Lucky Country scriptwriter Andy Cox speaks with the WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 10 March 2010
The WSWS recently spoke with Lucky Country scriptwriter Andy Cox, who explained some of the film’s themes, and commented on the increasing demands for Australian filmmakers to be animated by commercial considerations.
Film critic Robin Wood dies at 78
By David Walsh, 21 December 2009
British-born film critic Robin Wood died December 18 at the age of 78 in Toronto, where he had lived since the late 1970s. We repost the interview we did with him in 2000.
A conversation with Austin Chu, co-director of The Recess Ends
A film about the impact of the economic crisis in the US
By Marge Holland, 9 December 2009
Earlier this year Austin and Brian Chu traveled to every state in the US in an effort to capture the reality of the recession, which was being so under-reported by the American media. The WSWS spoke to Austin Chu recently in San Francisco.
Toronto International Film Festival 2009
An interview with Asli Özge, director of Men on the Bridge
By David Walsh, 10 October 2009
Asli Özge is the director of Men on the Bridge, a Turkish film screened at the recent Toronto film festival. We spoke during the festival.
“The Balibo deaths represented part of the broader tragedy that befell East Timor”
Director Robert Connolly speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 17 August 2009
Robert Connolly discusses Balibo, his latest feature about the military execution of five television reporters in East Timor in 1975.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2009
An interview with He Jianjun, director of River People
By David Walsh, 25 June 2009
He Jianjun’s River People from China is a serious and honest work about young fishermen on the Yellow River. The film depicts a harsh, almost entirely joyless existence. The WSWS conducted an e-mail interview with He.
An interview with Joseph McBride, author of What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?
Orson Welles, the blacklist and Hollywood filmmaking—Part 2
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 17 June 2009
This is the second part of an interview with Joseph McBride, author of What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career (2006). The first part was posted June 16.
An interview with Joseph McBride, author of What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?
Orson Welles, the blacklist and Hollywood filmmaking—Part 1
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 16 June 2009
While in the Bay Area for the recent San Francisco Film Festival, David Walsh and Joanne Laurier had a lengthy conversation with Joseph McBride, author of What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career (2006), an unusual and valuable book.
Samson and Delilah: a searing portrait of life for Central Australian Aboriginal youth
By Richard Phillips, 14 May 2009
Samson and Delilah touches on many social issues—poverty, homelessness and substance abuse in Aboriginal communities—questions that Australian feature filmmakers have, up until now, largely chosen to ignore.
“Cinema is a lie that tells the truth about life”
Warwick Thornton discusses Samson and Delilah with the WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 14 May 2009
Samson and Delilah writer, director and cinematographer Warwick Thornton spoke with the World Socialist Web Site this month when his film screened at the Message Sticks film festival in Sydney.
“To show the beauty of this reality”
Film director Sergey Dvortsevoy speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 6 May 2009
Sergey Dvortsevoy, director and co-writer of Tulpan, spoke with the World Socialist Web Site during his recent visit to Australia.
An interview with former East German director Rainer Simon
“We wanted to make realistic films about the GDR”
By Bernd Reinhardt, 29 April 2009
At the Berlinale 2009 the WSWS had the opportunity to speak with Rainer Simon about his work as a film director in the GDR.
An interview with Jennifer Venditti, director of Billy the Kid
By Joanne Laurier, 31 March 2009
The WSWS spoke recently with Jennifer Venditti, director of Billy the Kid.
Australian writer protests new censorship measures
Frank Moorhouse speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 9 February 2009
“The Australia Council’s job is not to develop protocols but to argue for freedom of expression as a basic right and to raise concern about anything that impedes that right.”
“Filmmakers have real responsibilities to their audiences”
Bertrand Tavernier speaks with the WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 22 January 2009
Veteran filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier is one of a handful of humane and intelligent filmmakers of the post-WWII generation still working in contemporary cinema. He spoke with Richard Phillips during a visit to Australia late last year as part of the “On the Set with French Cinema” lecture program
Film director Matt Norman speaks with WSWS
By Ismet Redzovic, 20 January 2009
Filmmaker Matt Norman discusses Salute with Ismet Redzovic.
Video: “The Writer and Revolution” Part 2
12 December 2008
We are posting excerpts from the November 12 discussion on the subject of “The Writer and Revolution” in two parts. We posted the first clips yesterday.
The Writer and Revolution: WSWS arts editor David Walsh in conversation with Trevor Griffiths—Part 2
12 December 2008
On November 12 WSWS arts editor David Walsh and screenwriter-playwright Trevor Griffiths held a discussion on the subject of “The Writer and Revolution.” This is the second part of an edited version of the event; Part 1 was posted yesterday.
Video: “The Writer and Revolution” Part 1
11 December 2008
On November 12, at the University of Manchester, WSWS arts editor David Walsh and screenwriter-playwright Trevor Griffiths held a discussion on the subject of “The Writer and Revolution.” We are posting excerpts in two parts. Part one is comprised of 4 clips.
An interview with British filmmaker Mike Leigh
By David Walsh, 5 December 2008
Mike Leigh is perhaps the most interesting British filmmaker of the past two decades. WSWS arts editor David Walsh recently spoke to him at his office in London.
Uncovering the truth about Trotsky and the Russian Revolution “continues to run my life”
A conversation with the remarkable David King
By David Walsh, 4 December 2008
David King--artist, designer, editor, photohistorian and archivist--is about to publish a new book, Red Star Over Russia, a visual history of the Soviet Union. WSWS arts editor David Walsh recently spoke to King in London.
“Good theatre makes you ask questions”
An interview with Khalifa Natour and Ofira Henig
By Richard Phillips, 24 November 2008
In Spitting Distance, a one-man show performed by Khalifa Natour and directed by Ofira Henig, was recently staged at the Sydney Opera House. Henig and Natour discussed the production with Richard Phillips.
An interview with Ying Liang, director of Good Cats
By David Walsh, 15 November 2008
The WSWS reviewed Chinese director Ying Liang’s Good Cats in the first part of the series of articles on the recent Vancouver film festival. We recently conducted an interview with the filmmaker via email.
An interview with Azharr Rudin, director of This Longing
By David Walsh, 27 October 2008
The WSWS commented on This Longing, directed by Malaysian filmmaker Azharr Rudin, in the first part of the series on the Vancouver film festival. The movie takes place in Johor Baharu, in southern Malaysia.
An interview with Li Yifan, director of The Longwang Chronicles
By David Walsh, 20 October 2008
We spoke to Chinese filmmaker Li Yifan, through a translator, in Vancouver on October 1.
Interview with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors of Lorna’s Silence
By David Walsh, 29 September 2008
The WSWS interviewed Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne at the recent Toronto film festival.
An interview with Chus Gutiérrez, director of Return to Hansala
By David Walsh, 24 September 2008
The WSWS interviewed Chus Gutiérrez at the recent Toronto film festival. (See “Toronto International Film Festival 2008--Part 3: Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, Terence Davies’ Of Time and the City: What the filmmakers now see”)
55th Sydney Film Festival—Part 5
Yung Chang speaks with WSWS about Up the Yangtze
By Richard Phillips, 22 September 2008
This is the fifth in a series of articles on the 2008 Sydney Film Festival. Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 appeared on September 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively.
“Something in the Commune has an impact on culture as a whole”
An interview with J. Michael Friedman, co-writer of Paris Commune
By Sandy English and Peter Daniels, 4 June 2008
World Socialist Web Site: Let’s start with your theater company, The Civilians.
An interview: Filmmaker Jules Dassin, witch-hunting and Hollywood’s blacklists
By David Walsh, 7 April 2008
American-born film director Jules Dassin, a target of the anti-communist frenzy of the late 1940s and early 1950s, died in Athens March 31 at the age of 96. (See: “Jules Dassin, victim of the anti-communist witch-hunt, dies at 96”)
An interview with Richard Pare, co-author and photographer of The Lost Vanguard: Russian Modernist Architecture, 1922-1932
By Tim Tower, 6 March 2008
Born in Portsmouth, England, in 1948, Richard Pare studied graphic design and photography at Winchester and Ravensbourne College of Art before going to the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received an MFA in 1973.
An interview with JoJo Henrickson, screenwriter of Ladrón que roba a ladrón
By Ramón Valle in Los Angeles, 18 October 2007
World Socialist Web Site: Ladrón que roba a ladrón is a heist movie and reminds us of previous ones. Ocean’s Eleven is one. Why did you decide to write it?
An interview with Philippe Faucon, director of Dans la vie
By David Walsh, 4 October 2007
David Walsh spoke to Philippe Faucon during the Toronto film festival.
An interview with Ramin Bahrani, director of Chop Shop
By David Walsh, 26 September 2007
David Walsh spoke to filmmaker Ramin Bahrani during the Toronto film festival
Dee McLachlan writer/director of The Jammed speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 21 September 2007
The Jammed, a low-budget feature written and directed by Dee McLachlan about sex trafficking in Australia, was ignored by this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival. Eventually given a 10-day screening five weeks ago at a Melbourne cinema, support for the movie has forced local cinemas to screen it in Australian state capitals. McLachlan recently spoke with the World Socialist Web Site about her film.
“We need to create some artistic space”
Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sri Lankan filmmaker, speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 2 October 2006
Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara recently visited Australia for screenings of his first feature The Forsaken Land (Sulanga Enu Pinisa) at the Brisbane International Film Festival. A visually striking and poetic work, the film is set in rural Sri Lanka following the 2002 ceasefire of the 20-year ethnic war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It won a Certain Regard prize at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival, the first time a Sri Lankan director has ever won this award.
Iranian director Tahmineh Milani speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 29 September 2006
Director Tahmineh Milani recently visited Australia to introduce her feature The Hidden Half (2001) at the 15th Brisbane International Film Festival. One of Iran’s best-known female filmmakers, Milani has made nine features, including Children of Divorce [1989], The Legend of a Sigh [1991], What Else Is New? [1992], Kakadu [1996], Two Women [1999], The Fifth Reaction [2003], The Unwanted Woman [2005] and Ceasefire [2006].
An interview with Bahman Ghobadi, director of Half Moon
“If I only want to say what the government wants me to, then I have to be a government employee, not a filmmaker”
By David Walsh, 26 September 2006
David Walsh and Joanne Laurier spoke to Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi at the Toronto film festival
Honour Bound director Nigel Jamieson speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 23 August 2006
Honour Bound director Nigel Jamieson is best-known for his large-event productions—Tin Symphony at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the closing ceremony of the Manchester Commonwealth Games. But before migrating to Australia from Britain in 1992 he worked with the Royal National Theatre and founded and directed the acclaimed Trickster Theatre Company and several other theatre groups. In 1985, he was awarded the Greater London Arts Award for outstanding contribution to the fields of Dance and Physical Theatre.
Fred Breinersdorfer, writer of Sophie Scholl-The Final Days, speaks with the WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 17 August 2006
Sophie Scholl—The Final Days is currently screening at Australian cinemas. Directed by Marc Rothemund and written by Fred Breinersdorfer, the film powerfully dramatises the activities of the White Rose student group in Germany, an anti-Nazi organisation formed in 1942. Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans and another member of the group were arrested in early 1943, after distributing leaflets at the University of Munich.
An interview with James Longley, the director of Iraq in Fragments
By Joanne Laurier, 29 June 2006
American filmmaker James Longley’s remarkable documentary, Iraq in Fragments, screened recently at the San Francisco Film Festival (see WSWS review).
The conflict between the desire for freedom and backward religious traditions
Deepa Mehta speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, 15 May 2006
India-born director Deepa Mehta spoke with World Socialist Web Site journalist Richard Phillips during a recent visit to Australia to promote Water, her latest film. As the accompanying links explain, production of the movie began in India six years ago but was shelved following a vicious political campaign by right-wing Hindu extremists. The film was completed last year and premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. It is currently screening in several countries, including the US, Canada and Australia, with others to follow.
“My film is not a national propaganda tool”
An interview with Tolga Ornëk, director of Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience
By Richard Phillips, 20 December 2005
Turkish director Tolga Ornëk has made six major documentaries since he began filmmaking in 1998. These include, Atatürk (1998), Mount Nemrud: The Throne of the Gods (1999), Eregli: The Heart of Steel (2002) and The Hittites (2003).
An interview with Sigfrido Ranucci, director of The Hidden Massacre
By Marc Wells, 14 December 2005
On November 8, the Italian public television network RAI aired the documentary film The Hidden Massacre, which exposes the use by US forces of white phosphorous bombs on the civilian population of Fallujah in the November 2004 assault on the Iraqi city. This chemical weapon is prohibited by international law, except when used for illumination purposes.
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