In this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone previews the 32nd French Film Festival UK in the company of its co-founder and director Richard Mowe.Pasquale and Richard look back at the festival's beginnings in the early 1990s before exploring the 2024 programme which includes a diverse range of titles from France, Belgium, Switzerland and beyond. New titles mentioned include Toni (Nathan Ambrosioni), Boléro (Anne Fontaine), The Marching Band (Emmanuel Courcol), One Year, One Night (Isaki Lacuesta) and Dog on Trial (Laetitia Dosch). Also discussed are the shorts and classics strands.The French Film Festival runs across the UK in various venues throughout November an December. Full information is available on their website www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk.

In this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone previews the 2024 Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival in the company of ESFF founder and director Marian A. Aréchaga and programming assistant Gustavo Herrera Taboada.Pasquale, Marian and Gustavo discuss the background to ESFF and explore some highlights from the programme, including opening night film, futuristic thriller Artificial Justice and music documentary Soy Rebelde. There is also discussion of the festival's guests and special events.The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival runs between 2nd and 26th October in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Tranent and Inverness. For more information, please go to www.edinburghspanishfilmfestival.com

In this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone looks back at some highlights from the 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival. Pasquale talks to writer-director Jack King about his film The Ceremony, the film that won EIFF's inaugural Sir Sean Connery Prize for Excellence in Feature Filmmaking. He also speaks to BAFTA-winning writer-director Daisy-May Hudson about her film Lollipop.Pasquale offers some thoughts on two of EIFF's In Conversation events, the first featuring Gaspar Noé, the innovative, boundary-pushing director of Irreversible (2002) and Enter the Void (2009), the other featuring Oscar-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, best known for her long collaboration with director Martin Scorsese on films such as Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) and, most recently, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Dr Sarah Artt (Lecturer in English and Film at Edinburgh Napier University) to discuss her new book Quiet Pictures: Women and Silence in Contemporary British and French Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2024).In the book, Sarah draws on the work of Lynne Ramsay, Joanna Hogg, Lucile Hadžihalilović and Céline Sciamma to explore the different uses of silence which, according to Sarah, leads to new ways of looking, staring, and gazing.  Sarah and Pasquale discuss the use of silence in film more broadly as well as the idea of silence as a ‘feminist aesthetic’.

In this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone previews the 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival in the company of Director Paul Ridd and Producer Emma Boa.Paul and Emma discuss their vision for EIFF and its position in the wider Film Festival landscape as well as the advantages of staging the event in August.Other topics covered include the choices of opening and closing night films, the Midnight Madness and Experimental strands as well as the new prizes named after Sean Connery and Thelma Schoonmaker.The 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 15th - 21st August 2024 in various venues across the city. For more information, please see their website edfilmfest.org.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by award-winning poet, author and editor Dr Sarah Stewart to discuss the links between poetry and cinema. Pasquale and Sarah discuss poems by May Swenson, Sharon Olds, Bill Sherman and Elizabeth Jennings on subjects ranging from James Bond to post-war Polish cinema, Orson Welles to Marilyn Monroe. The episode also includes recommendations of film-themed poetry by Robin Robertson, Michael Ontdaatje and Margaret Tait as well as an exclusive reading and discussion of Sarah's own film-themed poem 'Opening Scenes of a Never-Made 1980s Thriller'. Poems discussed:May Swenson - 'The James Bond Movie' (1978)Bill Sherman - 'Orson Welles, Are You Listening?' (1966)Sharon Olds - 'The Death of Marilyn Monroe' (2000)Elizabeth Jennings - 'Two Deaths' (1961)Main films discussed: Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958) Nosferatu (Werner Herzog, 1979) Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023)

On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Professor Catherine O’Rawe. Catherine is Professor of Italian Film and Culture at the University of Bristol. Her books include Stars and Masculinities in Contemporary Italian Cinema (2014).Catherine discusses her latest monograph The Non-Professional Actor: Italian Neorealist Cinema and Beyond (2023) where she provides detailed, engaging analysis of the role and function of the non-professional actor both during and after the neorealist era.

In this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Don Boyd, a Scottish-born filmmaker with more than fifty years experience working in both Hollywood and the UK. As well as directing his own successful features and documentaries, Don produced some of the most bold and boundary-pushing British films of the 70s and 80s - works as diverse as Alan Clarke’s borstal drama Scum (1979) and Derek Jarman’s flamboyant adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1979).In this fascinating, wide ranging conversation, Don talks to Pasquale about producing the 1987 film Aria. For this project, Don invited ten internationally acclaimed directors to make a short film based on an operatic aria. The stellar line-up  included Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Robert Altman and Jean-Luc Godard. As well as providing insight into his working relationship with these giants of world cinema, Don reflects on the enduring legacy of Aria and discusses some of the contemporary directors he would approach were he making a modern opera film.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by MSc Film Studies student Russell Shen to discuss two films by the great Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien: 1987 drama Daughter of the Nile and the director's final film, The Assassin (2015).

A special edition of the podcast dedicated to Filmhouse, Edinburgh's much-loved independent cinema. Host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Rod White, Professor Nacim Pak-Shiraz, Raymah Tariq and David Boyd.

In this Halloween special, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by current MSc Film Studies student Sebastian Gilling-Ulph to discuss dark filmic fairytales.Films discussed:Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009) https://edin.ac/47qqP6PEyes Without A Face (Georges Franju, 1959) https://edin.ac/47a3c1R

In this first episode of the new season, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Film Studies colleague Dr Ana Salzberg (Senior Lecturer in Film Studies) to discuss autumn in film.Main films discussed:Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jack Clayton, 1983) IMDb: https://edin.ac/45BaHOlThe Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973) IMDb: https://edin.ac/3PW21w5Staff pages:Dr Ana Salzberg https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-ana-salzbergDr Pasquale Iannone https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/piannone

Kat Zabecka speaks to Dr David Sorfa, the programme director of the MSc and PhD in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and his colleagues Dr Pasquale Iannone, Dr Chiara Quaranta and Dr Hoi Lun Law about their personal best of film and television in 2021.Films and TV mentioned (in order of mention):Celine Sciamma – Petite Maman (2021) Leos Carax – Annette (2021) David Lean – Brief Encounter (1945) Kar-Wai Wong - In the Mood for Love (2000) Paolo Sorrentino – Hand of God (2021) Wes Anderson – The French Dispatch (2021) Marta Kauffman, Howard J. Morris -Grace and Frankie (2015-2022) Paolo Sorrentino - The Young Pope (2016) Charters and Caldicott (1985) Mike Flanagan – Midnight Mass (2021) Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-) Leonardo Fasoli, Stefano Bises, Roberto Saviano - Gomorrah (2014-2021) Molly Smith Metzler – Maid (2021) Russell T. Davies – It’s a Sin (2021) Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi - Reservation Dogs (2021) Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car (2021) Peter Jackson - The Beatles: Get Back (2021) Pablo Larrain – Spencer (2021) Michael Caton-Jones – Our Ladies (2019) Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog (2021) Park Chan-wook – The Handmaiden (2016) Anthony Minghella - The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)

In early April 2022, Kat Zabecka spoke to University of Edinburgh MSc Film Studies students Niamh Carey-Furness and Yvonne Wang, founders of The Film Dispatch magazine, an exciting student-led initiative.

Kat Zabecka speaks to Mira Nemcikova and Rici Wenger, former MSc Film Studies students at the University of Edinburgh, about romantic comedies. They discuss You've Got Mail (Nora Ephron 1998), Ever After: A Cinderella Story (Andy Tennant 1998) and The Proposal (Anne Fletcher 2009). Please note this episode includes spoilers.Sources mentioned:Ruti, M., 2016. Feminist film theory and Pretty Woman. London: Bloomsbury PublishingShreiber, M., 2014. American Postfeminist Cinema: Women, Romance and Contemporary Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University PressVerevis, C., 2006. Film Remakes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University PressThree Wishes for Cinderella (Vorlicek 1973)

Kat Zabecka speaks to 3 current MSc Film Studies students Nick, Devika and Karen. They discuss their different film viewing experiences during the pandemic and debate the impact of film streaming platforms. (References: Variety; Vox)

Kat Zabecka talks to Dr Neil Fox, the writer of Wilderness (2017), now available to stream. They discuss the writing process, inspiration for the characters and the timeliness of the digital release of the film. Neil Fox is the co-host of The Cinematologists podcast, senior lecturer at Falmouth University and a screenwriter. 

Kat Zabecka talks to Dr Pasquale Iannone, Senior Teaching Fellow in Film Studies, about film noir. If you want to know how to recognise one or you are simply looking for watchlist inspiration, this episode, packed with examples, is for you. Some of the films we discuss are:Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres, Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969)Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan, 1981)Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)Le jour se lève (Marcel Carné, 1939)Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)Ossessione (Luchino Visconti, 1943)Pépé le Moko (Julien Duvivier, 1937)Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)The Conformist (Il conformista, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970) [There is an interesting video essay on this film by James Mooney here].The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973)The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino,  1953)The Port of Shadows (Le quai des brumes, Marcel Carné, 1938)The Wild Goose Lake (Nanfang chezhan de juhui, Yi'nan Diao)Nicolas Miller's neo-noir photographs of New York are on Instagram.

Kat Zabecka is joined by Dr Dario Llinares who is Principal Lecturer n the School of Media at the University of Brighton and co-host of the Cinematologists Podcast with Dr Neil Fox. We discuss Dario's latest article Cinema for the Ears: Imagining the Audio-Cinematic Through Podcasting published in the October 2020 issue of Film-Philosophy.We have an earlier episode about approaches to podcasting and the Cinematologists podcast with Dr Neil Fox, available on Media Hopper and iTunes.

Kat Zabecka talks to MSc Film Studies student, Elisa Teneggi. Join us for a discussion about Bruno Dumont, Unorthodox, Normal People, Dark, Bad People, The Lunchbox, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The True History of the Kelly Gang, Pain and Glory, The Hitch-hiker and much more.

Kat Zabecka talks to Dr Caire Boyle, lecturer in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Edinburgh. They discuss the life and work of Agnès Varda and consider Varda's approaches to cinema in terms of realism, feminism and documentary-making. Please note this episode was recorded in May of 2019. Agnès Varda FilmographyIf you are a member of the University of Edinburgh, you can stream a selection of Varda's films (requires login):Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)Vagabond / Sans toi ni loi (1985)Jane B. by Agnès V. (1988)The Gleaners and I / Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000)

Kat Zabecka is joined by Richard Mowe, the director of the French Film Festival and Cinefile, a distribution company based in Edinburgh. They discuss the process of distribution from start to finish, the history of Cinefile and witnessing the transition from analogue to digital. [Please note that Covid-19 has affected many of the events discussed here]

Kat Zabecka speaks to current 2019/20 MSc Film Studies students Betty, Elisa and Thaddeus. They discuss the controversy and cinematography of Antichrist (2009) while taking a trip down Lars Von Trier's filmography. [This podcast is not funded, endorsed or supported by MUBI in any way.]

Join us for a discussion of the best films from 2019 with Dr David Sorfa and Dr Pasquale Iannone, hosted by Kat Zabecka.Here is the list of films in the order of mention, all released in 2019 (with a few from 2018):Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell) Climax (Gaspar Noé) The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh) Marriage Story (Noach Baumbach) The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch) Booksmart (Olivia Wilde) The House That Jack Built (Lars Von Trier) Styx (Wolfgang Fischer) The Irishman (Martin Scorsese) Mid90s (Jonah Hill) Dolemite is My Name (Craig Brewer) Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke) Jiang hu er nü / Ash is Purest White (Zhangke Jia) Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (Ben Wheatley) Photograph (Ritesh Batra) Knives Out (Rian Johnson) Notti Magiche/Magical Nights (Paolo Virzi) Loro (Paolo Sorrentino) The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg) Joker (Todd Phillips)Varda par Agnès/Varda by Agnes (Agnès Varda) If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Vince Gilligan)Films we have seen this year but were released prior to 2019:Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett 1978)Three Colours Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski 1993)Ukigumo/Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse 1955)The Rebel/Call Me Genius (Robert Day 1961)Chinatown (Roman Polanski 1974)Moon (Duncan Jones 2009)Summer Stock (Charles Walters 1950)L'une chante l'autre pas/One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (Agnès Varda 1977)

Kat Zabecka speaks to Dr Alastair Bruce and Mat Vidmar from the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Moon landing. They discuss the role of the Moon in cinema, space exploration and women's history. 

Kat Zabecka talks to Dr Neil Fox, co-founder and host of the Cinematologists Podcast. They talk Fringe Festival, Dr Fox's film background and approaches to podcasting. They also reflect on the Film-Philosophy Conference that took place in Brighton in July and discuss the accessibility of academia. 

Kat Zabecka speaks to Dr Calum Neill, Associate Professor of Psychoanalysis & Cultural Theory at Edinburgh Napier University. They discuss Lacan in Scotland, a research group founded by Dr Neill, their work and seminar series they have been running regularly since December 2018. In the second half of the podcast, the discussion steers towards film, Lacan, Freud and psychoanalysis. 

Kat Zabecka is joined by Jessie Taylor and Patrick Callaghan, current MSc Film Studies students. They chat about dissertations, choosing topics, research process and academic writing. 

Kat Zabecka is joined by our current MSc Film Students Callum Simpson, Laura Tribaudino and Tina Kandiashvili. They discuss Wim Wenders' iconic Paris, Texas (1984) and explore the film's characters and themes of existentialism. They also touch on the students' film and academic background and discuss why we talk about films in the first place. 

In this episode, Kat and Dr David Sorfa are joined by Dr Pasquale Iannone, Teaching Fellow in Film Studies. They look back at 2018 and discuss some of the best films of the year, including The Favourite, Roma, Bumblebee, Apostasy, Cold War and many more.

Kat Zabecka spoke to Professor Stephen Lawrie, Chair of Psychiatry and Neuro-Imaging and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, about the portrayal of mental illnesses on film. Kat and Dr David Sorfa discuss some of the most common stereotypes and myths about mental illnesses as well as some films that have done it well. 

We were privileged to have Professor D. N. Rodowick come to Edinburgh on 27 November 2018 and he sat down with David Sorfa to discuss his career as an academic in Film Studies and beyond. Along the way, David Rodowick mentioned a new book on Austin film culture (Cinema Texas Notes: The Early Days of Austin Film Culture), George Ellis, Franklin Miller, moving to Paris, Gayatri Spivak, the importance of Jacques Derrida and Rodowick’s role in setting up various film programmes at King's College, Yale and Harvard. We ended by discussing the naming crisis in the contemporary visual arts. 

PhD students Eszter Simor and Chantal Bertalanffy talk to Kat Zabecka and Dr David Sorfa about their  new film festival News From Home 2018. More about the News from Home Festival is available here: http://www.film.llc.ed.ac.uk/news-from-home-film-festival/

Kat Zabecka and Dr David Sorfa discuss their reasons for starting a new season of the Edinburgh Film Podcast and highlight events, screenings and seminars that are happening in November.

Elizabeth and Emily discuss Antonia Bird's 1999 film, "Ravenous." A fantastic film that blends together the genres of horror, comedy, and the western.

A discussion of George Seaton's 1964 paranoid thriller 36 Hours which is being screened at Filmhouse as part of Edinburgh Spy Week.

Drew and Emily talk about Park Chan-Wook's film, "The Handmaiden."

Emily and Amanda discuss the Maysles' documentary "Grey Gardens," a film on the iconic Bouvier-Beale mother and daughter in their dilapidated home.

Emily and Marc talk about Peter Strickland's soundscape horror flick, "Berberian Sound Studio."

Nina and Emily talk about Claire Denis' incredible 1999 film, "Beau Travail."

Noah and Emily discuss Kurosawa's masterpiece, "Seven Samurai."

Jessie and Emily discuss why you should study film!

Leanne and Emily discuss Craig Gillespie's 2018 bio-pic, "I,Tonya."

Angus and Emily talk about Jodorowsky's semi-autobiographical film, "La Danza de la Realidad." 

Four students discuss James Cameron's 1986 film, "Aliens."

This week Patrick joins us to talk about his list-making and documenting the films he's watched.