Stream Close Up

In this episode of Stream Close Up , we continue our coverage of the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival with Czech writer and director Šimon Holý. Šimon joins us to discuss his new film Chica Checa , which had its world premiere in the festival’s main competition. The film follows a woman working in a small-town post office whose dying mother has one final wish: to see a beloved Czech p...

Swiss director Jan-Erik Mack joins Stream Close Up to discuss his new feature film A Happy Family , which premieres at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival as part of the Crystal Globe competition. The film follows Niki, a single mother working two jobs while trying to keep her family afloat. After an accident brings her into conflict with the authorities, her life begins to spiral as she...

In this episode, Brian speaks with Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel about his feature debut The Guest , a tightly controlled family drama built around a deceptively simple event, a naming ceremony for a young couple’s new son. What begins as a celebration soon becomes something much more fragile when Carl’s estranged mother arrives unexpectedly, forcing the family to confront old pain, broken trust an...

In this episode of Stream Close Up , Brian speaks with Ukrainian filmmaker Roman Liubyi about his latest film, Time Machine Maidan . Roman is part of the filmmaking collective Babylon’13, which came together during the first days of the Maidan Revolution in 2013. What began as an urgent effort to film, subtitle, and share short videos from inside the protest movement has grown into a larger cinema...

In this episode of Stream Close Up, Brian speaks with Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi about her documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk . The film follows Farsi’s remote collaboration with Fatma Hassona, a young Palestinian photographer and poet living in Gaza. Unable to enter Gaza herself, Sepideh began speaking with Fatma through video calls. Those conversations became the heart of the f...

In this episode of Stream Close Up , Brian speaks with Swedish actor, writer, and director Malin Barr about her short film Sauna Sickness . The conversation explores Malin's journey from dance and acting into writing and directing, her decision to stay behind the camera for this project, and how her experience as a performer shapes the way she works with actors. They also discuss the film’s tense...

Dawood Hilmandi, director of Paikar In this episode of Stream Close Up , Brian speaks with Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Dawood Hilmandi about his award-winning feature documentary debut Paikar . The film is a deeply personal journey through family, exile, memory, and the inheritance of war. Dawood reflects on his relationship with his father, the emotional strength of his mother, and the silence that ca...

Des Lombardo & Badr Mastrouq are the co-creators of the comedy film "Skit" which is a mockumentary set in 2007 that follows three students as they attempt to create an early internet viral video. Produced by media cartographer Evan Shapiro, "Skit" is a both a love letter to early internet creators as well as a proof of concept for making film in the creator environment. It is a creator led fea...

In this episode of Stream Close Up , Brian sits down with comedians and creators Sissela Benn and Jonatan Unge to talk about Popular Problems , their sharply observed new comedy series for SVT. Based on their own former relationship and breakup, the show turns co-parenting, therapy, social services, and modern Swedish anxieties into painfully honest and often hilarious television. Benn and Unge di...

At the Stockholm Film Festival, Brian sits down with Dutch writer director Sven Bresser to talk about his debut feature Reedland , the stunning and meditative drama that has become the Netherlands’ official Oscar submission. Sven reflects on the film’s unusual blend of murder mystery and disappearing rural tradition, the influence of the reed landscape he grew up with, and the central performance...

Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani on "Reflection in a Dead Diamond" On this episode of Stream Close Up, Brian sits down at the Stockholm Film Festival with filmmaking duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani to talk about their psychedelic spy film "Reflection in a Dead Diamond" The couple discuss twenty five years of working and living together, creating a twisted love letter to James Bond and sixties I...

Five years ago Julia Decournau won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for her film “Titane”.  We caught up with her on her recent visit to the Stockholm International Film Festival where she presented her latest work “Alpha”. It’s a multi-layered story of love and fear where a mother must navigate the possible exposure of her daughter to a virus that once killed her brother.  As...

Coming to you from the Stockholm International Film Festival. In this episode Brian is joined by legendary documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee. Known for his deeply personal and quietly funny explorations of family, memory, and the passage of time, Ross has shaped the language of first person documentary for more than four decades. His films include classics like "Sherman’s March", "Time Indefinite...

Award winning filmmaker and journalist Auberi Edler joins us as we dive into our coverage of the Stockholm Film Festival. We discuss Auberi's latest film "An American Pastoral" which covers a school board election in Elizabethtown Pennsylvania. What unfolds will surprise and possibly scare you. It’s an even handed portrayal of a battle that pits right wing MAGA republicans, including a married cou...

Writer and director Mattias J Skoglund has been traveling the world presenting his latest project the horror film "Hemmet" (The Home) and joins us today to celebrate the Swedish theatrical release. Based on Mats Strandberg's novel, "Hemmet" tells the story of a young man who returns to his childhood home in order to move his mother into an assisted living facility. Once there, her condition takes...

We are digging into our coverage of the 36th Annual Stockholm Film Festival. Ella Rae Rappaport joins us to talk about "Egghead Republic" which will have its European debut on November 8th as part of the festival. "Egghead Republic" is a surreal peek behind the curtain at the machinations of a modern media empire and the madness of power. But as you will learn, this doesn't even begin to describe...

Beatrice Karlsson is the Program Director of the Stockholm International Film Festival. Beatrice and her team are the architects of the schedule and are responsible for sorting through the over 3000 titles submitted for consideration this year.   Last week they finalized and presented the impressive lineup of over 130 films from 60 countries for this year's festival where Isabella Rossel...

Norwegian-based Swedish director Fanny Ovesen joins us to talk about her debut* feature Live A Little / Leva Lite. The film is a thoughtfully written coming of age story about friends Laura and Alex who are taking a long planned girls’ trip. Along the way there is a night of partying and blackout sex. The story follows them as they couch surf across Europe and try to unravel what happened.&nb...

Hampus Linder, known for his documentary film "Gudrun Konsten Att Vara Människa" (The Feminist) joins us to talk about his latest work "Confessions of a Swedish Man" which takes viewers on a journey through parts of the manosphere that you normally only see when you are doom scrolling. The film provides a very interesting counterpoint to “Gudrun” both in subject as well as style.   “Conf...

🎙 Stream Close Up — Wrap-Up: The Crystal Globe Competition at KVIFF 59 After nine in-depth conversations with filmmakers from around the world, we’re closing the curtain on the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This wrap-up episode connects the threads that ran through this year’s Crystal Globe competition from Lisbon to Kabul, from the Carpathians to New York. Across fiction, documen...

Catalan filmmaker Pere Vilà Barceló joins us as we continue our coverage of the Crystal Globe Competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.  We talk about his latest film “When The River Becomes A Sea” starring Claud Hernández. The curators at Karlovy Vary describe it as “ An uncompromising, introspective probe into the soul of a girl who is sexually abused. The heroine of...

Magic is the word I keep coming back to when I try to describe “Better Go Mad In The Wild”, the latest film from director Miro Remo. Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way.  He was just awarded the Crystal Globe for Best Film at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where the jury called it, “a funny valentine to the fading art of being true to yourself". Miro joins u...

Welcome to a warm chat with a serious filmmaker.  Wunderkind, screenwriter, director Nathan Ambrosioni joins us to talk about his latest film Out of Love (Les enfants vont bien) which recently earned him a Crystal Globe award for Best Director at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Nathan is one of cinema's most promising young voices. In addition to exploring Out of Love we will to...

Filmmaker Gözde Kural joins us to discuss her latest work "Cinema Jazireh".  It is her second feature set and shot in Afghanistan. It depicts the journey and struggles of a young mother attempting to track down her missing son. Moving solo as a woman in a world controlled by the Taliban is not an option so she dresses as a man. At the same time we are introduced to a young man who was groomed...

Director João Rosas joins us to talk about his work with a focus on his feature debut “The Luminous Life”. It's a beautiful exploration of youth that evolved in a very particular way from three of his earlier shorts. We’ll dive into those connections, examine the role of Lisbon in his movies and explore the current climate for filmmaking in Portugal. We will also take a few moments to discuss his...