Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

We have a proper legend for you on our latest episode of Soundtracking in the shape of the great Sir Kenneth Branagh, who also happens to be one of the loveliest people you could ever wish to interview. Edith caught up with him a few months back to discuss Belfast, a coming-of-age comedy drama and beautiful ode to his hometown, which he both wrote and directed. It really is a very special movie, a...

Our latest guest is a composer who's perhaps best known for his work with the Coen Brothers, though he's collaborated with plenty of other great filmmakers too. Carter Burwell was something of a punk rocker before landing the gig to score Joel and Ethan's first feature, Blood Simple. He's since provided the music for virtually all of their films - including the latest, The Tragedy Of Macbeth.

Our latest episode sees the welcome return of Nicholas Britell - with us on this occasion to discuss his score for Adam McKay's Don't Look Up.  Heading up the extraordinary cast are Leonardo Di Caprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers attempting to warn mankind about an approaching comet that will destroy civilization.  It's fair to say the film has strongly divided opinions, but Edithfor one r...

Our first guests of 2022 are two brothers who've formed a formidable creative partnership since being given the opportunity to shine. Will and Arthur Sharpe have taken on directorial and compositional duties on several joint-projects, with The Electrical Life of Louis Wain their latest collaboration. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, the biopic tells the story of the eccentric artist o...

Edith's latest guest on Soundtracking is without doubt one of the most exciting fresh talents at work in the industry today. Julia Ducournau burst into the popular consciousness with Raw, and follows it up with the equally scintillating Titane, which won the Palme d'Or  We don't want to tell you too much about it, as it defies a fleeting summary. Suffice to say it absolutely blew us away, and we h...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a screenwriter who's proved extremely adept at adaptations of books, including The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Snowman, The Goldfinch and - the main reason we have him with us on this episode - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the film of which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Peter Straughan was a delight to spend a little time with as we explored the ways music...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking needs no introduction, other than to say we are absolutely over-the-moon to welcome Steven Spielberg to the podcast to discuss his jaw-dropping adaptation of West Side Story. We'd have loved to have got a few more minutes with him, if we're honest, but anyone who follows us on social media will know there's potentially some exciting news on that front ... And Edit...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is an Italian filmmaker Edith absolutely adores, who's brought us 20th century classics The Consequences Of Love and The Great Beauty among his many offerings. His latest movie is also his most personal, the semi-autobiographical The Hand Of God, which you can watch on Netflix from December 15th and is in selected cinemas now. He's an absolute hoot - enjoy.

Edith's latest guest on Soundtracking is another giant of film music composition, who she was lucky enough to catch up with at Abbey Road Studios as he was recording his work on the latest Fantastic Beasts movie. James Newton Howard has scored well over 100 films across all genres, including The Fugitive, Pretty Woman, The Sixth Sense, Prince Of Tides, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, My B...

Who doesn't watch their own films? Well, our latest guest for one - a hugely versatile actor and musician most presently to be seen as Paolo in Ridley Scott's House Of Gucci. Jared Leto first gained recognition in My So Called Life, went on to form 30 Seconds To Mars with his brother, Shannon, and has also landed numerous notable cinematic roles, including The Joker in Suicide Squad and Niander Wa...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a very dear friend of Edith's who we're delighted to say has done an absolutely superb job with his feature film debut. The friend in question is writer / director Reggie Yates, and the film is Pirates. Starring Elliot Edusah, Jordan Peters and Reda Elazouar , Pirates tells the story of 3 young friends trying to get into a club night on New Year's Eve in 1999....

Our latest guest on soundtracking is the actor, songwriter, playwright, producer, rapper and now feature film director, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Not fair, really, is it?! Lin-Manuel is perhaps most well known for writing the script, music and lyrics for Hamilton, which has been a global phenomenon since its Broadway premiere in 2015. He's since done all manner of wonderful things, including the songs f...

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are two friends who've come together to create something quite unlike anything I've ever seen. The Nowhere Inn sees Carrie Brownstein and Annie Clark - aka St Vincent - play themselves in what appears to be a documentary about St Vincent's life as a musician. However, the film is entirely scripted, and in fact transforms into what one critic describes as a Lynchi...

Our latest guest in this bumper run on Soundtracking is the Chilean director, Pablo Larraín, who's brought us many gems including Tony Manero and Jackie. Pablo's latest film is Spencer, which tells the story of Princess Diana's decision to end her marriage to Charles. Kristen Stewart is brilliant in the lead role, and gets able support from Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins and Sean Harris. And as if t...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking returns to the podcast to discuss a very different film than the one she spoke about previously. Chloe Zhao quite rightly landed critical acclaim and awards aplenty for Nomadland at the start of the year - and now ends it by co-writing and directing Eternals for Marvel Studios. Starring Gemma Chan, Barry Keoghan, Kit Harrington, Selma Hayek and Angelina Jolie to n...

Our latest guest has undoubtedly had more mentions on this podcast than anyone else by quite some distance - and now we finally have him in person. Hans Zimmer has scored in excess of 150 films and been instrumental in developing the careers of numerous composers, including Lorne Balfe and Harry Gregson-Williams. He's worked with just about everyone who's anyone in the film business, and joins us...

Our latest guests on this bumper run on Soundtracking are Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who have formed a fine screenwriting partnership on Edgar's latest film, Last Night In Soho. We're not going to tell you what it's about, as it really is one of those movies that benefits from seeing with next-to-no prior knowledge. What we will tell you is that it stars Thomasin McKenzie , Anya Taylor...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a composer we've been trying to pin down since day one of the podcast, back in 2016. Alexandre Desplat is a true giant of the film scoring business, having been nominated for numerous Oscars and winning one for his work on Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel and one for the The Shape Of Water. And if you were in any doubt as to his credentials, he's worked with...

We're really excited about our latest episode of Soundtracking, seeing as it does the return of Denis Villeneuve. The French-Canadian director joins Edith to discuss his adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic Dune - which boasts a stellar cast including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin and many, many more. Dune is scored by Hans Zimmer, who we're thrilled to an...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking has been on twice before, and returns for a third time to discuss his documentary about one of the most influential bands of all time. The Velvet Underground is Todd Hayne's idiosyncratic love letter to the visionary punk-rockers, featuring beautiful footage and contributions from founding members John Cale and Maureen Tucker, among others. It's available on Apple...

This latest episode of Soundtracking is another live outing for the podcast, with a man who we've no doubt is thoroughly sick and tired of being described as a national treasure. But, let's be honest, he is ... Sir Michael Palin's CV is simply too long to run through - but we all know and love him from Monty Python, the accompanying films and his truly wonderful travelogues for the BBC. Michael wa...

We have two guests for you this week, who have formed a hugely close and productive creative partnership over the course of a number of films. David Lowery is returning for his third visit to the podcast, while composer Daniel Hart is making his debut having been discussed at length on several previous occasions. David and Daniel are with us to discuss The Green Knight, David's adaptation of the 1...

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are members of a band I hugely admire, who have done plenty sterling work on film and television in addition to their studio albums. Stuart Braithwaite and Barry Burns are half of Mogwai, whose screen work includes The Returned, Atomic, Zidane, The Fountain, Before The Flood and ZeroZeroZero. Their latest album, meanwhile, is As The Love Continues, which reached...

This week's episode of Soundtracking sees us joined by a fantastically gifted and humble screenwriter, whose work includes Skins, This is England 86, 88 & 90, His Dark Materials, The Eddy and Enola Holmes,  Jack Thorne's latest offering is Help, a show which Edith absolutely loved and is available on All 4 now. Starring Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham, Help tells the story of Sarah, a care home...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a producer and director who has worked extensively in theatre and film, most famously (in cinematic terms, at least) on Mamma Mia and The Iron Lady, which saw Meryl Streep win an Oscar for best actress. Phyllida Lloyd's latest offering is Herself. Written by and starring Clare Dunne, Herself tells the story of Sandra - a struggling single mum who decides to bui...