SOUNDS OF FILM with Tom Needham

On this episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes writer, director, editor, and Iraq War veteran Micah Stathis along with actor, writer, producer, and editor Clare Louise Frost to discuss their new feature film The Art of Quitting Gracefully. The film, a featured selection at the Stony Brook International Film Festival on Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 9:30 PM, is an intimate drama about cre...

Skywalkers: A Love Story is a thrilling romantic film that follows a daring couple as they push their relationship to new extremes by attempting to climb the world’s second-highest skyscraper and perform a breathtaking stunt on its spire. Angela and Vanya, Russia’s top rooftoppers, risk everything to conquer the globe’s tallest buildings. As their acrobatic feats become internet sensations, amassi...

Josh Fox joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss his latest documentary and his career as one of the most distinctive independent filmmakers working today. An Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director, Fox is best known for Gasland, Gasland Part II, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change, and The Truth Has Changed. In this conversation,...

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss his powerful new documentary, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie. Widely regarded as one of the most important documentary filmmakers of his generation, Gibney has earned acclaim for such films as Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear, and In Rest...

The Wall Street Journal Opinion Doc The Lockdown Dissidents Director Michael Pack on SOUNDS OF FILM Michael Pack joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss The Lockdown Dissidents, the latest documentary from Palladium Pictures and WSJ Opinion Docs. Pack is an award-winning filmmaker whose career spans decades and includes documentaries on subjects ranging from American history...

Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine join Tom Needham on Sounds of Film to discuss their acclaimed documentary PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN. The directing team, whose previous works include Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, and Ballets Russes, has built a reputation for creating compelling documentaries that illuminate ext...

In honor of the New York Knicks winning the championship, we’re revisiting a classic episode of The Sounds of Film. Host Tom Needham sits down with Knicks legend, Hall of Famer, and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley to discuss Rolling Along, a moving film that reflects on his remarkable journey from small-town Missouri to Princeton, the New York Knicks, the United States Senate, and a presidential...

In this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with acclaimed writer-director Ash Mayfair about her new feature film SKIN OF YOUTH. Mayfair, best known for her award-winning debut The Third Wife, brings a deeply personal perspective to her work, blending intimate storytelling with urgent social themes drawn from her experiences and research. SKIN OF YOUTH is a bold and emotionally...

This episode of the Sounds of Film features directors Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell discussing their new documentary Groundswell, the final installment in their regenerative agriculture trilogy following Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. The film is executive produced and narrated by Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore, and expands the trilogy’s global storytelling approach by following far...

On the next Sounds of Film Tom Needham is joined by filmmaker Yana Alliata, director of the SXSW breakout feature Reeling, executive produced by Werner Herzog. The film has drawn attention for its immersive storytelling, emotional intensity, and striking exploration of memory, identity, and family set against the backdrop of an Oahu luau. Reeling follows a young man returning to his Hawaiian famil...

Alexander Hammer is the director, producer, and editor of the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival world premiere Room to Move, a deeply personal documentary about choreographer Jenn Freeman as she navigates a late autism diagnosis and channels that experience into the creation of a new evening-length solo performance. Through an intimate observational lens, the film traces Freeman’s artistic process while...

On this “Classic” episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes acclaimed songwriter and Magnetic Fields founder Stephin Merritt for a wide-ranging conversation about music, film, and his latest silent film project. Merritt, who was recently named to the New York Times’ list of the Top 30 Living American Songwriters, discusses premiering his original songs and score for a live screening of...

This episode of Sounds of Film features host Tom Needham in conversation with filmmaker Jing Ai Ng about her debut feature Forge, a stylish crime caper set in Miami’s art world. The discussion explores the film’s blend of suspense, character drama, and cultural identity, as well as its focus on a brother-and-sister duo navigating forgery, ambition, and belonging in a system where authenticity is b...

Director Raymond Telles joins Sounds of Film to discuss his new documentary American Agitators, which explores the life and legacy of pioneering community organizer Fred Ross Sr. Telles brings decades of experience in documentary filmmaking focused on labor, civil rights, and social justice to a conversation about how grassroots organizing continues to shape American political life. American Agita...

The latest episode of Sounds of Film features an in-depth conversation with acclaimed filmmaker Elizabeth Lo, discussing her powerful new documentary Mistress Dispeller. The film has been featured at the Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Festival. Known for her intimate and visually arresting storytelling, Lo joins host...

On this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Maria Diane Ventura and Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia about Eraserheads: Combo on the Run, an intimate and revealing documentary that captures the story of one of the Philippines’ most influential bands. Together, they discuss the creative process behind the film, the emotional journey of revisiting the band’s history,...

Director Nicholas Ma joins The Sounds of Film to discuss his debut feature Mabel, a thoughtful and visually rich coming-of-age story opening in New York at the Cinema Village on April 17. Ma, known for producing the acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, brings a deeply personal and intellectually curious perspective to his first narrative feature. Mabel follows Callie, a biracial middle...

On this edition of Classic Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham presents a rare and exclusive conversation with author and filmmaker Bart Sibrel, released here for the first time. In MOON MAN, Sibrel details his real-life espionage experiences investigating what he believes to be one of the most closely guarded secrets of the modern era. Central to his account is his discovery of privately recorded au...

Tom Needham’s Classic Sounds of Film presents a rare and exclusive conversation with Dr. Steven Greer, offering listeners a compelling deep dive into one of the most provocative subjects in modern documentary filmmaking. Airing on WUSB, the episode explores the ideas, controversies, and intrigue surrounding extraterrestrial contact through an engaging and thought-provoking discussion. This episode...

On this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes author Wynton Hall, a Distinguished Fellow at Government Accountability Institute, to discuss his new book CODE RED: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI. In CODE RED, Hall examines the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, exploring concerns about ideological influence in AI systems, the intensifying U...

Director Cindy Meehl joins Sounds of Film to discuss her latest documentary Jimmy & The Demons, an intimate and visually rich portrait of celebrated artist James Grashow. Known for her deeply human storytelling style, Meehl brings audiences inside both the creative process and emotional world of her subject, capturing a once-in-a-lifetime artistic journey with honesty, warmth, and insight. Jimmy &...

On the next episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Hannah Berryman and trailblazing astronaut Eileen Collins about the powerful new documentary SPACEWOMAN. SPACEWOMAN tells the remarkable true story of Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft. From her working-class roots in Elmira, New York, to her groundbreaking career at NASA, the film traces a journe...

“The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” is a documentary about Mark Bittner, a homeless musician in San Francisco who forms a deep bond with a flock of wild parrots living on Telegraph Hill. The film explores his relationship with the birds, their unique behaviors, and his personal journey of self-discovery and connection to nature. “Wild Parrots” was first screened in 16mm in festivals in 2003. Mark...

On this Classic Sounds of Film, veteran actor and director Eric Stoltz joins host Tom Needham to revisit his long and varied career in film and television, including his work as a director and the making of his feature Class Rank. Stoltz reflects on the many roles that have defined his journey—from breakthrough performances in dramatic films to memorable appearances in genre favorites—offering lis...

Filmmaker Kerry Mondragon is the featured guest on an upcoming episode of the Sounds of Film podcast, hosted by Tom Needham. Mondragon’s work is marked by a fearless blend of cultural insight and cinematic daring, and his latest film Wetiko tells the story of a young Maya man drawn into the shadowy currents of a New Age ecovillage deep in the Yucatán jungle. The film moves between languages and wo...