Blondie singer Debbie Harry and filmmaker Amanda Kramer team up for Rotterdam’s talks strand
screendaily.com
By YASMIN VINCE – 17th January 2024
DEBBIE HARRY AND AMANDA KRAMER
US singer and actress Debbie Harry and Give Me Pity! filmmaker Amanda Kramer are the latest to join the line-up of talks at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which runs from January 25-February 4.
Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, will join the US filmmaker for a discussion on Kramer’s new sci-fi documentary, So Unreal. The film is narrated by Harry, and examines the relationship between cinema and technology in the format of a long-form video essay. Kramer uses footage from the likes of Lisberger’s Tron and Trumbull’s Brainstorm to explore technical evolution as a key theme in cinema at the end of the millennium. The pair will also discuss their respective career developments across film and music.
Kramer’s feature Please Baby Please! was the opening night film at IFFR’s online edition in 2022. Her film Give Me Pity!, starring Sophie von Haselberg, also world premiered at the 2022 edition.
So Unreal makes its European premiere at IFFR after premiering at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. It is being sold by New York and LA-based outfit Yellow Veil which launched the project at Cannes last year.
Also speaking in the IFFR Talks Programme is Grimm Vandekerckhove. The Belgian cinematographer is this year’s recipient of the Robby Müller Award, which celebrates filmmakers who work behind the lens. Vandekerckhove, who worked on Bas Devos’ features Ghost Tropic and Here, will be discussing his cinematographic approach and inspirations.
Guests previously announced for IFFR Talks include Sandra Hüller and Marco Bellocchio.
