DREAM WEAVER: THE MICHEL FRANCO INTERVIEW

The films of Michel Franco get in your head, if the titles are any indication. In 2023, he directed Peter Sarsgaard to the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award for MEMORY; he's directed Tim Roth in CHRONIC (2015), and Mónica Del Carmen in THROUGH THE EYES (2012). His latest, DREAMS, reunites him with Sarsgaard's co-star, Jessica Chastain, in a film that is, says the director, "a study of human interaction, where power, vulnerability, and chemistry between the characters intertwine in an emotional and visceral narrative."

Coming off a year-long festival rollout that began with a World Premiere in Berlin and ahead of it's U.S. theatrical launch in February, Michel Franco revealed some truths about the complexities of his sexually-charged, politically incendiary drama, and how his friendship with Chastain helped both artists through the shoot...   

SCREEN-SPACE: DREAMS looks at the world through a love story, a family drama, social inequality – but like all your films it also deals with power and acts of violence and cruelty, often within the context of family structures and relationships.

MICHEL: Cinema is a very good medium to understand the dynamics of families and societies. And violence is something that when it's not glamorized is interesting to see on the screen. It's something that I never shoot in a way that is enjoyable. So it's not a glorification of violence. And it probably has to do with the fact that I grew up in Mexico. We witness how violent acts are committed almost on a daily basis. But it's not something exclusive to Mexico. It happens all over the world. I appreciate filmmaking that instead of escaping the complex realities we have to live and analyze and confront them.

SCREEN-SPACE: After MEMORY in 2023, DREAMS is your second film with Jessica Chastain as female lead and producer. Can you tell us more about your collaboration with her?

MICHEL: MEMORY was fairly traditional; she read the script, she was familiar with my work, she liked it and we just thought we'd give it a chance and work together, and we had such a good experience. And during MEMORY on a lunch break, without realizing, I talked to her about the next movie. At the time it had no ballet in it, but the other elements were pretty much in place. And she said yes, I'll do it, because we were both enjoying ourselves very much. We had no conflicts at all shooting MEMORY. I give actors a lot of space to work. I'm respectful and try to not overdirect, and actors appreciate that. With someone like Jessica, why would I micromanage such a good actress when I want her to expand herself? DREAMS was a different experience because we had lots of conversations before, during and after writing the script. Now we're close friends, so it's a very different dynamic than what we had on MEMORY.

SCREEN-SPACE: Most of your characters in your films are conflicted. How would you characterize Jennifer as a character? How did you discuss that with Jessica?

MICHEL: Jessica likes a challenge, and that's why she likes shooting with me. Because we're not making movies that show only the best side of the characters we're doing, often quite the opposite. To explore the dark side of people. Jennifer, her character in DREAMS is a good person, or so she believes. But then it's easy to be good when you're wealthy and everything is fine and you have no real problems in life. But what happens when you have to face challenges? That's what normal people in the world have to do. Suddenly, Jennifer is troubled. And she doesn't react well. Jessica is at a point in her career where she likes these challenges.

SCREEN-SPACE: How much of the way Jessica portrays her character was determined by the script, and how much emerged during the shoot?

MICHEL: The script is pretty much the script, but how she talks, moves, dresses, that is all pure Jessica. We often discussed how to play a certain scene, and I trust her a big deal because she knows better than me how to represent her character. So why not take advantage of all that experience she has? Especially because she wasn't born into it. And that's exactly, I think, why she understands this role so well. This privileged universe, the universe of privileged people. Jessica is not like that at all. But she knows that world inside out by now. Because, you know, she's a Hollywood star, a celebrity. She's done her bit of research, to say the least.

SCREEN-SPACE: Let’s talk about Isaac Hernández. As a dancer, he is a huge star already. So how did you cast him as an actor?

MICHEL: I had the idea to make the film without the ballet, and then became friends with his sister. She invited me to see him, and I was sitting at an auditorium with 10,000 people. Isaac came on stage before the show in what was supposed to be an improvised way and takes the microphone and says to the audience:  “I don't know why I'm doing this. I just felt like it, but I wanted to thank you all for coming tonight. I'm very shy, so I don't know how I gathered the courage to take the microphone. Thank you for being here, and thank you for making ballet popular again.” And I look around and everyone's smiling and they're into the emotions already, before any dancer has danced. And I said to myself: “He's a terrific actor, and also, he's full of it, because I'm a film director, so I know when you're acting. I may not believe for a moment that this is all improvised, but all the same I'm deeply moved by what you said.” So even before I saw him dance that night, I thought this guy's going to be an actor of my movie. The charisma that he has when he dances really translate to the screen. He naturally communicates emotions and energy. So I also thought, why wouldn’t I give a young Mexican who hasn't acted in a feature before the opportunity to appear with Jessica Chastain?

SCREEN-SPACE: Another challenge for the actors is the general physicality of DREAMS, notably the explicit sex scenes. Why do you feel those scenes were necessary for your narrative?

MICHEL: When I had the initial conversations with Jessica, we understood that these scenes are a central part of the film. She was fascinated by how these things would tell more than just an intimate moment. The story keeps moving forward because of them. There's a lot more going on than just love-making, they are not voyeuristic. They are central for understanding the characters and serve the story.

SCREEN-SPACE: Getting to a level of comfort must take some time.

MICHEL: Shooting such scenes is always challenging. I trust the actors. I don't tell them exactly how to play this in the same way that I don't tell them how to play other stuff. But of course, there's some sort of choreography, and the three of us discussed it until we were all comfortable. And for me, it’s important to rely on my team. I like working with the same set of people over time. The cinematographer has a huge part in making this work, both aesthetically and atmospherically. Yves Cape has been in that role for my last seven movies already, so we understand each other blindly at this point. And that transmits to the actors, too.

SCREEN-SPACE: DREAMS also tackles the complicated issue of immigration. Did that feel like a daunting task?

MICHEL: I have always been concerned about social disparity, economic injustice, how unjust the world is. I'm sensitive to this because I'm Mexican, but because of that social disparity, there's also a large number of Mexicans that try to cross the border looking for a better life, contributing to the American economy and society and cultural life in many ways. And yet they're often portrayed as parasites or criminals, as taking something away from the country, when the truth is the very opposite. These negative reactions are normally related to the lack of opportunities and to social disparities that ironically also exist in the U.S. Critics of immigration often point their fingers in the wrong direction and often look for someone to blame that has no connection at all with the problems that originate in

SCREEN-SPACE: Do you see DREAMS as a criticism of the role of the mega-rich in today’s society? 

MICHEL: I speak on behalf of the vast majority, and we're all tired of how unbalanced the world is. Privileged people seem to be above the law. And they're also constantly preaching but not practicing. This small percentage of the world bringing more trouble than solutions and getting in way beyond what they know when meddling in politics just because they can – because of their money, not individual merit.

DREAMS is in U.S. theatres from February 27, 2026 from Greenwich Entertainment

With thanks to 42 WEST

ANGST AT 25: AUSTRALIA'S TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY TEEN ODYSSEY IS BACK.

"Write what you know," is any mentor's most sage advice, and Anthony O'Connor took it very seriously. The Australian screenwriter was an inner-city cool kid when he penned the script for ANGST, the raucous, rude and genuinely endearing comedy-drama that turns 25 this year. To coincide with the remastered re-release of the cult film, O'Connor reflected upon the ANGST experience with SCREEN-SPACE editor Simon Foster...:

SCREEN-SPACE: There's an authenticity to the film - its characters; it's understanding of the contemporary teen scene - that suggests you were writing from experience. Were these your people, your life?

ANTHONY: Angst was very much a reflection of my life, with a few changes here and there. I was nineteen when I wrote it and up until that point everything I’d churned out had been basically bad, derivative versions of the horror movies I loved (The Evil Dead, Shivers, Brain Damage etc.) With Angst (at the time called Angst For the Memories) I tried something a bit more personal, although obviously heightened and made more over-the-top for comedic purposes. A lot of the vignettes in the video shop really happened and some of the characters were loosely based on friends and loved ones. Mainly, though, I wanted to get across what it felt like to be young in the late 90s, working in video shops, living in Kings Cross, getting into shambolic misadventures and occasionally stumbling into love. It was a unique time in my life and, looking back, a unique time in the history of Sydney and I suppose Australia in general.

SCREEN-SPACE: Angst makes me think of the edgier, more authentic teen fare, Aussie films like Dogs in Space or He Died With a Felafel in His Hand or Fast Talking. Were there works that inspired you, that you looked to as a kind of mood-board during your writing (from any country)?

ANTHONY: Felafel came out the year after Angst, although I adored the book by John Birmingham, and Dogs in Space is such a classic - both were absolutely influences. I was also a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Linklater’s Dazed and Confused. Pretty much any film that had a lot of walking and talking. Some of Woody Allen’s early stuff, Hal Hartley, Jim Jarmusch; I worked in many video shops all across Sydney so I had unfettered access to the best indie cinema had to offer and I just ate it up. I was also obsessed, like OBSESSED, with horror movies so I tried to channel some of that into the script as well, making Dean (named for Dean Cundey, the cinematographer of John Carpenter’s The Thing, just quietly) write a screenplay set in the Cross where he saw everyone as zombies.

SCREEN-SPACE: When momentum built for the script, and production began to feel like a real possibility, what do you recall of that time? Relate for us the 'young screenwriter' experience...

ANTHONY: I spent a lot of time working on the script over a few years with Daniel Nettheim (director) and Jonathon Green (producer), so it was always just a part of my life to one degree or another. And then it got development funding and everything changed. We were suddenly greenlit and things seemed to move so fast. I remember one night, after attending a goth club (which was something I liked to do back when I had cheekbones and a lower back that didn’t ache), I was staggering home though the Cross and the exterior of the video shop where I worked, IN VIDEO, had been redressed as Video Boy (the store’s name in the movie). Now, I’m sure Dan and Jonno had told me this was going to happen but I’d completely forgotten, and I distinctly remember gaping up at the sign and wondering if I’d slipped inside my own subconscious. It was a wild time, honestly, that was both outrageously exciting and genuinely scary. I got to meet legends like director Alex Proyas who literally called me into his office to say he loved the script and wasn’t at all mad that I made fun of goths and The Crow. I ended up doing some work with Alex and quite a few others, dialogue punch-ups for various TV and movie projects. It was surreal how quickly and dramatically my life changed.

SCREEN-SPACE: Were you there for the shoot? Often writers farewell their words and have no input when the director and actors take over; did you have a say in how the final film was formed?

ANTHONY: I was there for the shoot quite a bit. I played Toaster Junkie who appears in a few of the Kings Cross scenes and because I lived nearby I’d come onto set, or various locations, and watch it all happen. I also lobbed up for some of the exteriors in Strathfield when Dean (Sam Lewis) breaks into the home of his ex, Heather (Lara Cox), with May (Abi Tucker). In terms of my input, I’d worked with Daniel for a few years by the time the film was done (on various other projects), so he sought my opinion and I gave it, but final say was absolutely his, which is as it should be. Daniel brought such richness and emotional depth to so many of the things that could have been just funny and prickly. I remember the late, great David Stratton said of the film that it was “sympathetic, engaging comedy reminiscent of a French relationship pic”, which thrilled all of us.

SCREEN-SPACE: The decision to remaster Angst suggests the film has a legacy, that for a generation of teens there was a truthfulness in the portrayal of their lives that is lasting. How does that make you feel...?

ANTHONY: It’s been quite a journey for how I feel about Angst. I loved writing it and then it came out and didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, which was a bummer. However, it did crazy numbers in video stores and we were told it was Australia’s “most stolen movie” (this is in the days before internet piracy was a thing). However, various companies collapsed or shifted and the DVD release never happened, which was also a bummer. Years passed and I would regularly have people asking me about Angst at parties or events, this little film that was basically impossible to find anywhere (unless you had a dusty old VCR player and a stolen copy). And then last year the good people at the Inner West Film Fest screened the old 35mm print and it went gangbusters! Really great screening, and not everyone who liked it was a crusty Gen-X’er like me! These days I see it as the work of a very young man that is naive but heartfelt and truthful and sometimes pretty funny. The fact that audiences still connect with it, arguably more so now, brings me a great deal of joy. The fact that it can now be watched in a brand spanking new remaster that looks genuinely gorgeous is so amazing. This thing was almost lost media! I’m incredibly grateful to Jonathon Green and the good people over at Screen Inc./Defiant for making sure that didn’t happen. Maybe it can be discovered by a whole generation of new people who want to know what life was like in those strange, heady days of the late 1990s.

PREVIEW: 2025 SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

The 2025 Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF) hits Sydney next month for its annual celebration of bold, boundary-pushing independent cinema. The madness unfolds for the 19th time at Dendy Newtown from the 11th to 14th September.

“Underground film at its best doesn’t just break rules — it reimagines what cinema can be,” says Festival Director Nathan Senn. “This year, SUFF celebrates the artists who are doing just that: fearless female filmmakers, radical Australian auteurs, and emerging voices who aren’t asking for permission — they’re forging new cinematic languages. At a time when sameness dominates, SUFF takes pride in being a home for the strange, the subversive, and the gloriously unclassifiable.” 

Opening Night kicks up its heels with the Australian Premiere of Queens Of The Dead (pictured, right) from breakout director Tina Romero, daughter of zombie cinema royalty George A. Romero, whose riotous, blood-splattered horror-comedy  slays with equal parts camp, rage, and community.

Closing Night presents the Australian Premiere of the award-winning Fucktoys (pictured, below) with special post-screening Q&A from director/writer Annapurna Sriram, whose candy-coated descent into chaos proves that sexploitation can have heart, glamour, and soul – while still being totally unhinged.

Retrospectives play a huge role in this year’s line-up. The scratch n’ sniff experience returns with Scented Storytelling and Snivure co-presenting Jay Levey’s wacky cult comedy UHF (1989), starring “Weird Al” Yankovic as a dreamer with a wild imagination and zero direction – until he’s handed the keys to a failing UHF television station; roller-disco renegade and Olivia Newton-John devotee MAYNARD presents the 45th Anniversary special remastered screening of the psychedelic fantasy Xanadu (1980); and, the 30th anniversary of Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion (1995) has inspired a special Movie Bingo screening of this sharp, surreal satire of indie filmmaking gone hilariously off the rails.

Documentaries celebrating fearless voices, radical creativity, and stories that challenge the status quo include Yellow House Afghanistan, capturing art’s survival under Taliban rule; The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan resurrecting grindhouse icon Andy Milligan in a special double-feature; Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt diving into punk chaos; Food Delivery revealing frontline defiance in the West Philippine Sea; Exorcismo exploring Spain’s taboo-smashing cinema; and, Coexistence, My Ass! (pictured, top), following Israeli-Persian actor-turned-activist-comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi’s one-woman show in the face of the deepening Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Features include Anything That Moves, a psychosexual dark comedy thriller soaked in sex, style and splatter; blood-drenched and brain-melting retro exploitation horror Pater Noster and the Mission of Light; Craig Alexander & Shelly Higgs’ ambitiously dark comedy Snatchers;  Yoshihiro Nishimura’s explorative fever dream of Japan’s darkest urban legend, Tokyo Evil Hotel; Jim Hosking’s surreal odyssey of absurdity and chaos, Ebony And Ivory; and Joe Begos’ hallucinatory grindhouse inspired splatterfest, Jimmy And Stiggs (pictured, left).

The festival’s iconic short film sidebars return, including mini-movies to warp your mind in LSD FACTORY; a package not for the faint-of-heart in WTF!; expressions of sexuality in all its forms in LOVE/SICK; genre-crossing shorts from the vanguard renegades of Australian independent cinema in HOMEBAKED SHORTS; and eye-opening bite-sized documentaries that traverse the personal to the global in STRANGER THAN FICTION.

Ticket details and session times for 19^th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival are available at the event’s official website.

PREVIEW: 2025 AFRICA FILM FEST AUSTRALIA

Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) and a dedicated team of African Australian curators have announced the full program for the 2025 Africa Film Fest Australia (AFFA). The expansive showcase of contemporary African cinema, culture and creativity unfolds September 4-7 at iconic venues including the Sydney Opera House and Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres.

“This year’s program is a celebration of creativity and resilience across the continent and its diaspora,” said Festival Co-Director Safia Amadou. “We’re thrilled to share a bold and wide-ranging selection of films that honour the joy, complexity and cultural power of African storytelling. These are stories that stay with you - urgent, emotional, imaginative, and always grounded in lived experience.”

The Festival opens at the Sydney Opera House with the Australian premiere of I Do Not Come to You by Chance (pictured, above), by Ishaya Bako, a gripping Nigerian comedy-drama based on Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s acclaimed novel. The film follows Kingsley, a university graduate pulled into a morally complex world where opportunity and exploitation go hand-in-hand.

Also at the Sydney Opera House is the Australian Premiere of the feature Fanon (pictured, right) directed by Jean-Claude Barny, which explores the radical political awakening of renowned post-colonial Martinican-born philosopher and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon in 1950s Algeria.

The program of features includes Yasemin Samdereli’s Samia, winner of the best feature film and best actress at Morocco’s Dakhla International Film Festival, a stirring biopic of Somali Olympic runner Samia Yusuf Omar; multi award winning film Nawi: Dear Future Me, which tackles child marriage and the fight for education in rural Turkana; and Imran Hamdulay’s The Heart is a Muscle, a South African film in which a father’s violent past resurfaces after a harrowing case of mistaken retribution.

The festival’s documentary program includes French-Tunisian filmmaker Hind Meddeb’s Sudan, Remember Us (pictured, right), featuring a poetic and urgent chorus of Sudanese youth activists whose words fuel the 2019 revolution; and Manuel Loureiro’s and Roger Mo’s Nteregu, a lyrical documentary that traces Guinea-Bissau’s rich musical lineage, from ancestral drum traditions to diaspora soundscapes, with women firmly at its centre.

The festival also presents Creating New Worlds, a two-day comics and visual storytelling workshop for African Australians aged 16–25, hosted by the University of Technology Sydney. Led by Nigerian animation director Somto Ajuluchukwu and Sydney-based illustrator Steph Martei, participants will explore the principles of world-building, character development and African futurism, while learning how to craft authentic visual narratives.

The festival will close with the Australian Premiere of Zoey Martinson’s comedy The Fisherman, in which a retired coastal fisherman finds an unlikely companion in a talking fish. The film made history at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024 as Ghana’s first official selection at the festival and received the prestigious Fellini Medal.

AFFA 2025 runs from 4 September to 7 September at venues across Sydney. Tickets and program information are available at the event’s official website.

PREVIEW: 2025 HURTIGRUTEN SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL

The 2025 Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival will present new cinema from the Nordic region to Australian audiences, unveiling a diverse and thought–provoking selection from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

Opening the 2025 Festival is NUMBER 24 (Nr. 24), from multi award-winning director John Andreas Andersen. This gripping Norwegian spy drama depicts the extraordinary true story of an ‘every-man’ drawn into the resistance movement during World War II.

Direct from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the coveted Grand Prix, is SENTIMENTAL VALUE, from director Joachim Trier. Reuniting him with star Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World), the intimate drama also stars Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in a moving exploration of family, memories, and the reconciliatory power of art.   

2025’s Special Presentation is QUISLING: THE FINAL DAYS (Quislings siste dager). Set in 1945 Norway, this provocative drama from acclaimed director Erik Poppe follows the post-liberation trial of the country’s infamous and controversial head of state, Vidkun Quisling.

A box office sensation in Iceland, black comedy GRAND FINALE (Fullt hús) is this year’s Closing Night film. Featuring an all-star Icelandic ensemble cast, this entertaining tale revolves around a near-bankrupt chamber orchestra in Reykjavik who try to secure their future with a world-famous cellist. 

Also from Iceland is the visually stunning drama THE MOUNTAIN (Fjallið), starring Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney (daughter of singer Björk and artist Matthew Barney) in her first feature role - a coming-of-age story that explores how a road trip to the Icelandic highlands offers comfort to a family whose life has been upended. And ODD FISH (Ljósvíkingar) in which two childhood friends get a long-awaited opportunity to run their seafood restaurant all year round yet face unexpected personal challenges.

From Denmark comes the drama SECOND VICTIMS (Det andet offer), starring Festival favourites Trine Dyrholm and Özlem Saglanmak, which follows a neurologist on a shift that will change her life forever. Direct from the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival, the poignant drama THE LAST PARADISE ON EARTH (Seinasta paradís á jørð; pictured, right) is a moving exploration of identity, grief, and longing set against the majestic Faroe Islands. 

Based on the incredible true story of Denmark’s biggest-ever robbery, THE QUIET ONES (De lydløse) follows a group of criminals in their heist preparations and stars Gustav Giese, Reda Kateb, Christopher Wagelin and Amanda Collin. From director Charlotte Sieling and starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, WAY HOME (Vejen hjem) is a gripping drama set in war-torn Syria that posits how far a Danish father is willing to go to save the people he loves.

From Finland, debut director Paula Korva’s comedy/drama SUDDEN OUTBURSTS OF EMOTIONS (Kenraaliharjoitus; pictured, top) is the story of an ordinary couple who decide to open their relationship to reignite their passion. The entertaining comedy from Mika Kaurismäki LONG GOOD THURSDAY (Mielensäpahoittajan rakkaustarina) sees the return of Finnish comedy icon Heikki Kinnunen as the fur-hatted ‘The Grump’, whose life is awakened when he falls in love. Also guaranteed to deliver a laugh is Finnish box office hit 100 LITRES OF GOLD (100 litraa Sahtia), the story of a pair of beer-brewing sisters and a tribute to the small provinces, local pride and the liquid gold traditional brew of Finland.

From celebrated director Klaus Härö comes gripping true story NEVER ALONE (Ei koskaan yksin; pictured, right), shining a light on the plight of Jewish refugees who sought sanctuary in Finland during WWII. From Norway is the delightful debut feature from Egil Pedersen, MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER, (Biru Unjárga), in which a Sámi teenager’s life dramatically shifts when her true father emerges; while MY UNCLE JENS (Onkel Jens), follows the upending of a young teacher’s life in Oslo when his Kurdish uncle comes to stay.

Sweden’s LIVE A LITTLE (Leva Lite) follows two friends on a couch surfing adventure across Europe, navigating uncertainty and intimacy as they strive to find themselves. And in a tale of cultural clashes, love and arranged marriage, Swedish romantic comedy JALLA! JALLA! celebrates its 25th anniversary, following Roro and Måns as they navigate life – still as fresh as ever in 2025!

Finally, the Festival is thrilled to be screening special encores of WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS (Ljósbrot) which recently won Best Nordic Film at the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival. The poignant drama follows a young woman whose conscience and resilience are tested over the course of a long summer's day in Iceland.

The 2025 Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival will take place from July to August. Tickets are now on sale.