BEHIND THE LENS #376: Featuring Michael Koch and Sebastian Lelio

First up, take a listen as writer/director MICHAEL KOCH talks about A PIECE OF SKY, Switzerland's submission for the 95th Academy Awards as Best Foreign Language Film. A quiet, reflective, and thoughtful film that tacitly explores the relationship between man and nature, life and death, A PIECE OF SKY is one of the most emotionally beautiful films of the year; not to mention that stunning multi-season imagery of the Swiss mountains. Set in a remote alpine village, (Michèle Brand) works both as a waitress and mail carrier to support her young daughter. She has fallen deeply in love with the village newcomer, Marco (Simon Wisler), a strong and silent farmhand from the lowlands. But soon after their wedding, Marco is diagnosed with a brain tumor. As the seasons change, his behavior grows increasingly erratic, leading up to a severe transgression that threatens to tear the young family apart. Then listen to writer/director SEBASTIAN LELIO discuss the award-worthy film THE WONDER. Directed by Lelio and co-written with Alice Birch based on Emma Donoghue's acclaimed novel and inspired by the 19th-century phenomenon of the "fasting girls", THE WONDER is a stunning psychological thriller set in The Irish Midlands in 1862 where eleven-year-old Anna has stopped eating for months but remains miraculously alive and in relatively well state. Tourists have flocked to the small village to bear witness to Anna, believing her to be a miracle destined for sainthood. In an effort to discover the truth, the village council brings in English nurse Lib Wright to observe Anna and report her findings. Is this a miracle or is there something else afoot? http://eliasentertainmentnetwork.com