Bullhead
A look at one unusual young man and his involvement with the Belgian hormone mafia.
Belgian director Michael Roskam wanted to make a gangster film with a distinctly local flavour – although rural west Flanders is more “livestock” than “Lock Stock”.
But the murder of a policeman investigating illegal steroid use in cattle farming provided Roskam with the local angle he had been seeking. And the result is Bullhead, a sui generis look at one unusual young man and his involvement with the Belgian hormone mafia.
Bullhead was a surprise hit of this year’s Berlin Film Festival, and filmmaker Michael Roskam joins Amanda Palmer, Al Jazeera’s head of entertainment, and the FPS audience for a beefy Q&A session.
A Separation
A Separation |
Also ringing all the bells at Berlin this year was A Separation, an Iranian drama that won the top prize, the Golden Bear.
A Separation looks at the deterioration of an Iranian marriage, but its subtext is a message about modern Iranian society.
Iranian cinema was only recently regarded as amongst the world’s finest, but the current political situation has had a devastating effect.
FPS speaks to director Asghar Farhadi about A Separation, and looks at the current generation of Iranian filmmakers – some of whom, like Jafar Panahi, have been imprisoned for their work, plus others who have been banned and threatened.
Even the Rain
Even the Rain |
What would you do if your government told you that all the water in your area was privately owned – and you were not even permitted to collect rainwater?
Well, this actually happened in Bolivia, and the film Even the Rain offers a dramatic account of what happened when the people tried to rise up against this aqua-tyranny.
Mexico’s Gael Garcia Bernal stars alongside indigenous non-professionals as a filmmaker who stumbles into this sad situation.
The script was by Paul Laverty, a long-time screenwriter for British filmmaker Ken Loach.
FPS speaks to Laverty about the centuries-old inspiration behind this stirring new feature.
This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Friday, June 3, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1930; Saturday: 1430; Sunday: 0430; Monday: 0830.