FRED’s Simone Moraldi interviews Stephen Dunn, director of the film Closet Monster, which screened at the parallel and independent section of the 10th Rome Film Festival, Alice nella Città.
The young director of Closet Monster talks about how his film, which is also his feature directorial debut, tells a story with autobiographical traits and how it tries to make considerations about the complicated issue of homophobia.
CLOSET MONSTER tells the story of Oscar Madly (Jessup), a creative and driven teenager who hovers on the brink of adulthood. Destabilized by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay bashing he witnessed as a child, Oscar dreams of escaping the town he feels is suffocating him. A talking hamster, imagination and the prospect of love help him confront his surreal demons and discover himself.
"How to have sex" , the opening film of Alice nella Città 2023, is DOP Molly Manning Walker's directorial debut and is about the sexual pressure the teenage world is built around
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director, Huo Meng’s "Living the Land" captures rural China in transition, blending poetic visuals with a deep reflection on family, tradition, and modernization.
When the night stands still, at the 75h Berlinale, is a personal exploration of the silent, corrosive legacy that colonialism has left on the Filipino psyche.