May 23, 2013
International Feature Agency Amsterdam
The most reliable source to editors worldwide
IFA offers fresh features and up to date interviews. We specialise in music, film, and other entertainment interviews, but also carry features on topics ranging from lifestyle to travel and current affairs. On these pages please find a selection of what we have to offer. Don't hesitate to contact us if you're looking for anything specific.
New Features
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Michael Sandel on what we’ve lost in the market society
- Subject:
- What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
- Author:
- JP O’Malley
- Photography:
- Stephanie Mitchell
- Q&A,
- 1767 words
- Synopsis:
- Political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University Michael Sandel talks about how he thinks we might try and claim back a society that thrives on values over money, and where a transaction is not the final word on everything.
- Quote:
“There is something troubling about the idea of outsourcing war to private military companies. Part of the worry is that turning the sacrifice of war into a market transaction is corrosive to a sense of shared responsibility and civic virtue.”
-
Noah Baumbach
- Subject:
- Frances Ha
- Author:
- Erik McClanahan
- Photography:
- Publicity Photography
- Q&A,
- 2637 words
- Synopsis:
- Noah Baumbach talks about the upcoming release of his latest film, the sublime black-and-white character piece and uproarious comedy "Frances Ha," starring Greta Gerwig, liking his unlikeable characters, and what’s next.
- Quote:
“I understand to some degree what people mean when they refer to my characters as unlikeable, but I actually disagree with it.”
-
Blogging in Vietnam
- Subject:
- Internet cencorship in Vietnam
- Author:
- Maartje Duin
- Photography:
- Maartje Duin
- Narrative,
- 2963 words
- Synopsis:
- In communist Vietnam, freedom of expression is severely limited. Just how much, journalist Maartje Duin experiences personally when she visits the country to interview dissident bloggers. They speak openly about their work and their ideals for democracy. Many of them have been imprisoned and now live under surveillance. Like priest Phan Van Loi, who has been living an isolated life for twelve years. When leaving the priest's house, Maartje walks straight into the camera lens of the secret service – and can’t get rid of them anymore! NB: Thursday 18 April 2013, the European Parliament took on a resolution on human rights and digital freedom in Vietnam.
- Quote:
“By now I understand. I might be here for an article, but the bloggers see me as an emissary from a world that touches on their ideal.”
Recent Features
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Great Gatsby
- Sixto Rodriguez, Searching for Sugar Man
- Noomi Rapace, Dead Man Down
- Jared Diamond - Traditional Societies vs State Societies of today, The World Until Yesterday
- Neil Shubin - We Are All Stardust, The Universe Within; the future of the human species
- Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man 3
- James Franco, Oz The Great And Powerful
- Jessica Alba, Escape From Planet Earth; Sin City: A Dame To Kill For; A.C.O.D.
- The Myths Of Microfinance - Hugh Sinclair, Is Microfinance a Ponzi scheme?
- Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob
- Robert De Niro, Forty Years of De Niro
-
Emma Watson
- Subject:
- The Bling Ring; MTV’s Trailblazer Award
- Author:
- Paul Sheehan
- Photography:
- Publicity photography
- Q&A,
- 2004 words
- Synopsis:
- The young English beauty talks about playing an American bad girl in "The Bling Ring," leaving "Harry Potter" behind and why she almost gave up acting.
- Quote:
"I didn’t realize how little I knew about everyday things until I went to college."
-
Morgan Freeman
- Subject:
- Oblivion
- Author:
- Sheila Roberts
- Photography:
- Publicity photography
- Q&A,
- 1831 words
- Synopsis:
- Morgan Freeman talks about Oblivion, working with Tom Cruise, being drawn to the film’s awesome technology, the love theme that’s central to the story, shooting a 50 caliber machine gun, and what the world would like if he was build own version of a future Earth.
- Quote:
“[If I was to create a future Earth] we would all live in trees.”
-
Riding the Afghan snow
- Subject:
- The 3rd annual Afghan Ski Challenge
- Author:
- Adam Valen Levinson
- Photography:
- Adam Valen Levinson
- Narrative,
- 1931 words
- Synopsis:
- One morning in Finland, Sima Haidary was searching for music in her mother tongue, Hazaraki. In one video, she saw pictures of snowboarders on the bare mountains of Afghanistan, a country she fled as a five year old at the height of the Afghan Civil War. Mesmerized, she found the website of the Afghan Ski Challenge. This was all it took: Haidary bought a snowboard, made a plan with her husband and baby son, and booked a plane ticket home for the first time in nearly two decades.
- Quote:
“You cannot stop people from worrying, but this is our country and we’re ready for anything.”
-
Margaret Thatcher admired by Meryl Streep
- Subject:
- Margaret Thatcher passed away (April 8, 2013)
- Author:
- IFA
- Photography:
- Movieposter
- Quotes,
- 922 words
- Synopsis:
- Meryl Streep about the late Margaret Thatcher.
- Quote:
"I think that anybody that stands up and is willing to be a leader, who is as prepared as she was and as smart as she was, it's admirable on a certain level."