Soundtracking With Edith Bowman

A couple of weeks after we.brought you Dev Patel and Jordan Peele talking Monkey Man, we're delighted to say we have another live Soundtracking Everyman Film Club for you. Today it's the turn of director Sam Taylor Johnson, producer Giles Martin and Music Supervisor Iain Cooke to discuss Sam's Amy Winehouse biopic, Back To Black. Starring Marissa Abela in the lead role, it predominantly charts the influence of Amy's family, her early years in the music industry and her troubled relationship with Blake Fielder Civil, encompassing her triumph at the 2008 Grammys, at which she won 5 awards including Best Album. Sam, Giles and Ian joined Edith in front of an audience at The Screen On The Green in Islington, north London.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Alex Garland, joining Edith to discuss his latest film as a writer / director, Civil War, scored by our old pals Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow. The narrative follows a group of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating second American Civil War, with Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Nick Offerman among the cast. It also features some tremendous needle-drops, as discussed by Edith and Alex

Our latest guests are Dev Patel and Jordan Peele, who joined Edith for the first Soundtracking Everyman Film Club of 2024 to discuss Dev's debut feature, Monkey Man, recorded live at Screen On The Green in north London. As well as writing and producing the film (with a little help from Jordan), Dev also directed - on what was, as you'll hear, an extremely challenging shoot. Monkey Man is ostensibly a revenge thriller, drawing from the rich tradition of classic kung-fu movies. But peel back the layers and you'll find so much more - not least razorsharp socio-political commentary.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Neo Sora, son of Ryuichi Sakamoto and director of a final gift to the Japanese composer's fans, Opus. Recorded in late 2022, with just Ryuichi and a Yamaha grand, Opus sees him perform his most haunting, and delicate melodies in equally haunting and delicate black and white. It is a wonderfully tender, meditative and moving film, which we recommend you all to go and see.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Issa Lopez, creator, writer and director of True Detective: Night Country, which is available to watch in its entirety on Sky and Now TV - in the UK at any rate. Starring Jodie Foster & Kali Reis, it's set in a remote Alaskan town during a winter spell of perpetual darkness, and follows an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of eight men at a research station. The visuals are stunning ... the performances are stunning ... the music is stunning. As well as boasting a suitably chilling score by Vince Pope, it also features a range of incredible needle drops and a title track by none other than Billie Elish.

Our guest this week is Max Richter - composer extraordinaire who has provided the music for Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan's new film, Spaceman. Directed by Johan Renck, it tells the story of a Czech astronaut sent to the end of the solar system who encounters a creature that helps sort out his issues back on earth. We love having Max on the podcast, so brilliant is he at articulating the intricacies of composing a score. Enjoy!

What a treat we have for you today, as Denis Villeneuve & Hans Zimmer join me to discuss Dune 2. Denis and Hans were on cracking form as they discussed their second outing together adapting a book they both loved as children.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is director Thea Sharrock, who joins me to discuss her hilarious new film, Wicked Little Letters. Based on a true story, Wicked Little Letters stars Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, and sees the residents of Littlehampton start receiving missives filled with profanity, prompting a group of the town's women to investigate. It's scored with her usual aplomb by Isobel Waller-Bridge. 

We have a bonus episode for you, as director Fernando Meirelles and composer Ed Cortes join me to discuss the 21st Anniversary of City Of God. This is a film that was hugely important to Edith in her journey as a film fan - as she, like many other people, had never seen anything quite like it when it hit cinemas. In addition to Fernando's visual flair, Ed's score (which he put together with Antonio Pinto) is outstanding and super-cool.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is composer Laura Karpman, who joined Edith to discuss her Oscar nominated score for American Fiction. Written and directed by first-timer Cord Jefferson (who picked up a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay), it follows a frustrated novelist-professor who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical 'black' books, only for it to be mistaken by the liberal elite for serious literature.

We have finally netted one of our white whales on Soundtracking, as after literally years of trying, Edith finally managed to get an opportunity to sit down with the one and only Martin Scorsese. Martin joins us to discuss Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is available to watch right now on Apple TV - though we ended up covering so much more than that - including Taxi Driver, Casino, Raging Bull, Mean Streets and The Last Waltz ... Mean Streets to 

We have a very special bonus episode of Soundtracking for you today, as Matthew Vaughn, Lorne Balfe, Giles Martin, Gary Barlow and Stuart Price join Edith to discuss the music of Argylle. As you'll hear, each made very specific contributions to the film, but channelled the spirit of collaboration to provide score, original songs and that new Beatles track! 

We have a Poor Things double-header for you today, as first Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone join me to discuss their collaboration on the film, before their composer Jerskin Fendrix. As well as producing the film, Emma stars as Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London , who is resurrected by a scientist following her suicide and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery. It's the first time Yorgos has used a composer in the conventional sense, and also the first time Jerskin has written for film.

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are writer / director Andrew Haigh and composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, who joined Edith to discuss their work on Andrew's film, All Of Us Strangers. We don't want to say to much about it if you haven't seen it yet, but it stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy, and tells the story of a lonely gay man who mysteriously meets his parents on visiting his childhood home, despite the fact they died in a car crash when he was a young boy.

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are childhood friends Jamie Childs and James Drummond, who joined Edith to discuss Jamie's debut feature as a writer / director, Jackdaw. Set in Hartlepool, it follows an eventful night in the life of former motocross champion and army veteran, Jack, whose decision to take a job from a criminal results in all kinds of mayhem. Jamie enlisted James, who has a background in the music industry, as music supervisor, while the score is provided by Deadly Avenger & Si Begg. 

The last time we had our latest guest on the podcast, he was up for an EE BAFTA Rising Star award, which he duly won. How far Daniel Kaluuya has come since then? although, to be fair, he was quite some distance down the road alread. Now Daniel joins Edith to discuss his debut as a writer/director, The Kitchen. Music for the film is provided by Labrinth and Alex Baranowski, to whom we owe huge gratitude for providing us with as-yet unreleased cues of a Sunday morning, when he should have been reading the paper and eating croissants. Thank you, Alex! 

Our latest guest on this bonus episode of Soundtracking is Alexander Payne, who joined me to discuss his new film, The Holdovers. Set in the early 1970s, it stars Paul Giamatti as a strict teacher at a New England boarding school, who is forced to chaperone a handful of students with nowhere to go on Christmas break.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is the wonderful Jodie Comer, who joined Edith to discuss her role in Mahalia Belo's new film, The End We Start From. Based on the book by Megan Hunter, it tells the story of a mother and her baby who flee London after an ecological crisis, and sees Jodie star alongside the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Katherine Waterstone and Mark Strong. They also talk about the music moments in Killing Eve, Free Guy & her stage play, Prima Facie.

2024 is rolling on in fine style here on Soundtracking - after Sofia Coppola kicked it off - as director George Clooney and his leading man Callum Turner join Edith to discuss The Boys In The Boat. Based on a true story, The Boys In The Boat is a classic sporting underdog tale, with the narrative charting a rowing crew from the University of Washington on their journey to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. It's scored by previous guest on the podcast, the genuinely great Alexandre Desplat 

Our first guest of 2024 is the wonderful Sofia Coppola, who joined us for a Soundtracking Everyman Film Club in front of a live audience to discuss her latest film, Priscilla. Based on her Priscilla's memoir, Elvis & Me, this tells the story of her complex relationship with the iconic musician.