It’s the morning after the night before in Hollywood on BEHIND THE LENS and we take a look at the good, the bad, and the very ugly from the Academy Awards, plus a look ahead to some of next year’s possible Oscar contenders with our exclusive interview with writer/director HANY ABU-ASSAD talking HUDA’S SALON and joining us live is writer/director ALESSANDRO GENTILE talking about his directorial debut with LODO.
First, a rundown on some of the big winners at the 94th Academy Awards, plus my thoughts on the slap heard ’round the world and the behavior of Will Smith. While #BTLRadioShow was live on air on March 28th, Smith issued an “apology”, with the Academy thereafter announcing an investigation into the madness and mayhem Smith caused during the live Academy Awards ceremony. Since that time, Smith resigned from the Academy and has been banned from attending the Academy Awards and any and all Academy events and programs for ten (10) years. SAG-AFTRA is also allegedly looking into the matter and may issue its own form of censure.
Then onto much happier things as you’ll hear my exclusive interview with writer/director HANY ABU-ASSAD talking about his latest film, HUDA’S SALON, “a feminist journey with controversial themes, a thriller with humor, a Shakespearean drama with a tragic love story.” It’s a story only Hany can tell in his own inimitable way – “Nadia, a young mother married to a jealous man, goes to Huda’s beauty salon in Bethlehem. But this ordinary visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Nadia in a shameful situation, blackmails her to have her work for the secret service of the occupiers, and thus betray her people.” A powerful drama that speaks to so many themes unfolding in our world today. As always, Hany is open and candid, talking about halting production due to the pandemic and then returning to complete the film, his own bout with Covid and how that has impacted his outlook on life, the importance of telling this story which is based on true events, and of course, as Hany and I always do, digging into the development of the story and the crafting of the visual design which is always metaphoric and adds just another layer of storytelling.
Still in a dramatic mode, take a listen as writer/director ALESSANDRO GENTILE joins us live and talks about his short film LODO, fresh off its world premiere at SBIFF and now on its journey towards Oscars 2023. Co-written with Marita De Le Torre, LODO marks Alessandro’s directorial debut. A beautiful little gem, Alessandro melds life, death, and the hereafter into a touching story that copes with grief, fueled by a young boy named Eru mourning the loss of his mother. But the driving force of LODO is the performance of Jayden Enamorado who stars as Eru. WOW! A non-actor making his debut in LODO, Alessandro tells us all about his search for the perfect Eru and what set Jayden apart from the rest, as well as making the leap into directing, the challenges of shooting and designing visual metaphor, including underwater sequences, and more.
