SOUNDS OF FILM with Tom Needham

The Sounds of Film features an interview with Jeremy Power Regimbal, director of Between the Mountain and the Sky , a powerful new documentary about humanitarian Maggie Doyne. The film follows Doyne’s journey from a young American traveler to the founder of a children’s home, school, and women’s center in Nepal. Her inspiring partnership with Tope, a Nepalese orphan, leads to global recognition wh...

The Sounds of Film will spotlight Ari Selinger, the writer-director of On The End, as the film makes its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 4th. The feature debut is a moving love story and a powerful David vs. Goliath tale, inspired by the real-life struggles of Montauk mechanic Tom, who fought to keep his home and repair shop from being taken by the town of Eas...

Academy Award Winner Marshall Curry Talks NEW YORKER AT 100 & Hamptons International Film Festival on SOUNDS OF FILM The Sounds of Film welcomes Academy Award–winning filmmaker Marshall Curry for a conversation about his new Netflix documentary The New Yorker at 100. The film offers unprecedented access inside the offices of The New Yorker during its centennial year, revealing the obsessive craft...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with journalist and author David J. Lynch about his new book, The World’s Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong and What Would Make It Right. Lynch joined The Washington Post in 2017 after covering white-collar crime for the Financial Times. He has also served as cybersecurity editor at Politico and as a senior writer at Bloombe...

The latest episode of The Sounds of Film spotlights Ask E. Jean, a powerful new documentary directed by Ivy Meeropol. The film takes viewers on a journey through the extraordinary life of journalist, advice columnist, and cultural icon E. Jean Carroll. Known for her fearless voice and sharp wit, Carroll has lived a life that reflects both the struggles and triumphs of women redefining their roles...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes writer, director, and producer Jacqueline Christy, whose feature debut Magic Hour will screen October 4th and 5th at 5:30 p.m. at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Starring Miriam Shor (American Fiction, Younger), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes, Never Have I Ever), and Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny), the film follows Harriet Peters...

On this week’s Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with award-winning filmmaker and biotech entrepreneur Bill Haney, director of Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution. Narrated by Mark Ruffalo, the documentary traces the extraordinary journey of Phil Sharp, a Kentucky farm boy born in a one-room, dirt-floor house who overcame severe dyslexia to win the Nobel Prize for his gr...

On this week’s episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with Annie Roney, founder of the In Real Life (IRL) Movie Club. Roney’s national nonprofit is dedicated to strengthening communities and bridging America’s political divides through the simple act of gathering together for films and conversations. The club’s upcoming nationwide screening of My Omaha will take place on October 12...

Legendary drummer John Densmore of The Doors is joining host Tom Needham on The Sounds of Film for a special conversation about his role in the acclaimed documentary “Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary.” A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Densmore is celebrated not only as the founding—and sole—drummer of The Doors, but also as a respected songwriter, actor, and author. With the...

This week on Classic SOUNDS OF FILM, Tom Needham welcomes Governor Jesse Ventura, one of America’s most unconventional political figures and cultural voices. Ventura served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, making history as the only member of the Reform Party ever elected to a major government office in the United States. Beyond politics, he has built a reputation as a provocat...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Andreas Zerr about his new documentary, Sane Inside Insanity: The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror. The film arrives just in time for the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the cult classic that transformed midnight screenings into a worldwide cultural ritual. Zerr’s documentary goes far beyond nostalgia, tracing Rock...

This week on The Sounds of Film, Tom Needham welcomes Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of the most influential legal minds in America. Politico has described him as “one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America,” while Newsweek has hailed him as “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defen...

Academy Award®–nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Connie Field joins The Sounds of Film to discuss her urgent new documentary Democracy Noir. The film examines how Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán systematically dismantled democratic institutions while maintaining power through popular support, nationalist rhetoric, and constitutional manipulation. Field highlights the stories of three wome...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper about his acclaimed documentary Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf. The film immerses viewers in the work of Piet Oudolf, the world’s most celebrated garden designer, whose visionary projects include New York’s High Line and Chicago’s Millennium Park. Through stunning cinematography and rare ac...

The latest episode of The Sounds of Film spotlights director Yeo Siew Hua, whose new film Stranger Eyes is a gripping meditation on voyeurism, surveillance, and the fragility of family. Known internationally for his Locarno Golden Leopard–winning A Land Imagined, Yeo returns with a story that begins as a mystery about a missing child but evolves into a profound reflection on intimacy and identity...

Acclaimed actor, writer, and director John Turturro will be a featured guest on The Sounds of Film this week to discuss the 20th anniversary screening of his musical dramedy “Romance & Cigarettes.” The special event takes place on Thursday, August 21 at 6:30pm at the Southampton Playhouse, marking the theater’s first-ever 35mm screening. Turturro has long been recognized as one of the most ver...

The Sounds of Film welcomes best-selling author and literary icon Lee Child, the creator of the Jack Reacher series, for a captivating conversation with host Tom Needham. Often hailed by The New York Times as “the best thriller writer of the moment,” Lee Child joins the show to discuss the intriguing new short film, “If Jack Reacher Could Sing,” which will be featured at the Long Island Music &amp...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Gala Gracia about her powerful debut feature, The Remnants of You. Set against the backdrop of a rural Aragonese Pyrenees life, the film tells the story of a young jazz musician who returns home following the sudden death of her father. What unfolds is a poignant exploration of grief, self-discovery, and the quiet strength of w...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Vlad Bolgarin about his award-winning short film Place Under the Sun, a poignant story of a father and son trying to survive in Moldova’s largest market during the 2000s. The film, which blends stark realism with emotional depth, screens at the Stony Brook Film Festival on Saturday, July 26 at 7:00 p.m. For more information abo...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Billy Shebar about his powerful new documentary, Monk in Pieces. The film explores the groundbreaking life and work of composer and performance artist Meredith Monk, a singular force in the world of contemporary music and interdisciplinary art. Premiering at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, Monk in Pieces makes its...

This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with screenwriter Brigit Grant about Midas Man, the highly anticipated biopic of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Known as the “Fifth Beatle,” Epstein was the visionary who discovered The Beatles and helped launch them into global superstardom. The film, directed by Joe Stephenson and featuring a standout performance by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Th...

On this episode of The Sounds of Film, director Justin Schein joins host Tom Needham to discuss his powerful new documentary, DEATH & TAXES: My Father, Our Family and the Cost of the American Dream. The feature-length film, co-directed by Schein and Robert Edwards, will open in U.S. theaters on July 18 at New York’s IFC Center, presented by 8 Above. With deeply personal roots, the film explores th...

On this episode of The Sounds of Film, Swiss filmmaker Ramon Zürcher joins Tom Needham to discuss his haunting new feature, The Sparrow in the Chimney. As the final installment in his acclaimed “animal trilogy” — following The Strange Little Cat and The Girl and the Spider — this powerful psychodrama delves into the emotional undercurrents of a family reunion that unearths long-buried trauma and t...

This classic SOUNDS OF FILM podcast presents an intimate and thought-provoking conversation between host Tom Needham and acclaimed author Robert Greene, best known for his bestselling book The 48 Laws of Power. In this wide-ranging discussion, Greene shares insights into genetics, Buddhism, and the dynamics of power that shape human behavior. Robert Greene is the New York Times bestselling author...

This episode of The Sounds of Film features an in-depth conversation with filmmaker Thomas Halaczinsky, director of the three-part documentary series Archipelago New York. Loosely based on his book of the same name, the series follows a poetic and urgent journey by sailboat through the often-overlooked island world that surrounds New York City. The discussion focuses on Episode 2: Wildlife in the...