Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

Our latest episode of Soundtracking is another live event, recorded at the British Film Institute in London with writer, director & actor Andy Serkis and musician Nitin Sawhney. The pair have collaborated on several occasions, most recently on Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle, Andy's performance capture reimagining of The Jungle Book. It's available to watch now via Netflix, and if you haven't see...

You wait months for a guest to talk with authority about scary movies, then two come along at once. Following Jordan Peele's fine turn in our previous episode, we're delighted to welcome Eli Roth to the show this time round. Eli is a writer, director, actor and producer who came to prominence with films such as Cabin Fever and Hostel. While much of his work is not for the faint hearted, his latest...

We haven't featured as much horror as we'd like on Soundtracking, so it really is a great thrill for us to welcome the man of the moment in that particular field, Jordan Peele. Having forged a hugely successful career as a comedian and actor, Jordan won an Oscar and numerous other accolades for his debut feature, Get Out, which blended traditional genre tropes with social observation to create som...

Two extremely talented gentlemen join us for our latest episode of Soundtracking, better known for their work in fields other than cinema.  But in Benjamin, writer / director Simon Amstell and composer James Righton of Klaxons fame have collaborated on a film that is tender, moving and also very funny. Starring Colin Morgan and Phénix Brossard, Benjamin tells the story of a filmmaker who is forced...

There is a fine tradition of female singers who have made the successful transition to cinema - from Barbara Streisand and Queen Latifah to Diana Ross and Lady Gaga. And we can certainly include R&B goddess Mary J Blige on that list. Having sold over 80 million records, Mary has a string of impressive acting credits to her name too. She played Malcom X's widow Dr Betty Shabazz in Betty and Cor...

Genius though he is, Martin Scorsese would be the first to admit the enormous debt of gratitude he owes to one Thelma Schoonmaker. For Thelma is the woman who has edited over 20 of his movies, from Raging Bull and Casino to Gangs Of New York and The Departed. So it's truly an honour to welcome her to Soundtracking, the weekly screen music podcast. As you'd hope, she has some great stories to share...

If the release of If Beale Street Could Talk gave us a much needed excuse to get Barry Jenkins onto our screen music podcast, Soundtracking, then it also provided the perfect opportunity to invite his composer Nicholas Britell back for a second time. Nicholas's turn in episode 46 was a delight, illuminating the nuances of his Oscar-nominated score for Moonlight in ways that were quite beyond anyth...

It's been the best part of eight years since Joe Cornish released his directorial debut Attack The Block. And in our humble opinion, his follow up The Kid Who Would Be King has been well worth the wait. That's not to say Joe hasn't been busy, co-writing the Adventures Of Tintin with Edgar Wright, Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson, and Ant Man with Edgar and Paul Rudd, among others. But it's grea...

We have another polymath for you in the latest episode of Soundtracking - this time in the shape of Australian actor, writer and director Joel Edgerton. Joel's latest project is Boy Erased - in which he admirably deploys all three of these skills. Based on a memoir by Garrard Conley, the film stars Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Troye Sivan, and tells the story of the son of devout...

Ever since meeting him prior to the release of Moonlight, Edith has been longing to get Barry Jenkins onto Soundtracking. So it's an absolute pleasure to welcome him along ahead of the UK opening of his latest movie - the magnificent If Beale Street Could Talk. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, it tells the story of a young African-American woman who seeks to clear the name of her imprisoned lo...

When the opportunity to interview the Canadian writer, director and animator Dean Deblois presented itself, we just had to say yes, even though our schedule is choc-a-block. For alongside Chris Sanders, Dean is the man behind the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy - a series of films that have brought Edith and her two boys an immense amount of joy. They're also responsible for Lilo And Stich, anoth...

18 years after he brought us the lo-fi superhero thriller Unbreakable - and a mere 3 since the surprise sequel Split - M Night Shyamalan finally completes his so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy with Glass. All the key players from the pervious films return, led by Bruce Willis's blue collar vigilante and Samuel L Jackson and James McEvoy's super-villains. Much of the action takes place in the mental i...

You may not be familiar with her name, but you will certainly know her films. For Elizabeth Karlsen has produced a whole host of cinematic gems - including The Crying Game, Little Voice, Made In Dagenham, Great Expectations and Carol. And having spoken to her husband Stephen Woolley on this show previously, it's a pleasure to welcome her to Soundtracking, Edith's weekly podcast about screen music....

Two episodes of Soundtracking in 2019 - two five-star films. Following Yorgos Lanthimos's appearance to discuss his subversive period drama The Favourite, Jon S Baird joins us for our latest show to talk us through the music in his much-vaunted Laurel & Hardy biopic, Stan & Ollie. Starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly, Stan & Ollie tells the story of their theatre tour of the British...

Our latest episode of Soundtracking couldn't be better timed, what with Olivia Coleman having just landed a Golden Globe for her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite. If you haven't heard it already, her acceptance speech is particularly amusing - and will most likely be one of several she has to deliver during this awards season. Telling the story of two ambitious women (played by Rachel We...

Happy New Year, one and all, and welcome to this bonus episode of Soundtracking, as we kick off 2019 by celebrating the nominees for the EE Rising Star Award at February's British Academy Film Awards. Now in its 14th year, the EE Rising Star Award is the only category at the ceremony voted for by the public. Previous winners include Tom Holland, James McAvoy, Eva Green, Tom Hardy, Kristen Stewart,...

Robert Zemeckis is an absolute legend. From Back To The Future to Polar Express and Forrest Gump, he makes the kind of movies you can watch over and over again. So it's a great honour to welcome him to Soundtracking for our very last show of 2018. Robert's collaborator-in-chief is composer Alan Silvestri, who has scored every one of his films since Romancing The Stone, which came out in 1984. And...

54 years after she first lit up the lives of the Banks family - not to mention cinema-goers the world over - everyone's favourite nanny is back. Mary Poppins Returns sees Emily Blunt in the title role, reunited with the household in the wake of a tragedy three decades after events of the original. It's directed by Rob Marshall, and we're delighted to say that Rob is our guest on this festive editi...

Epic is a word oft-applied to cinema, but rarely can it have been more appropriately used than to describe the work of Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens. For along with writing partner Fran Walsh, it is they that brought us both the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies, not to mention King Kong. Their latest project is the equally ambitious Mortal Engines, which they wrote and produced. Based on...

In recent weeks, we've been asking for suggestions for your favourite example of guitar-playing in film with a view to winning a Fender from their new Player Series range. As you might imagine, we've been inundated - receiving shouts for everything from Morricone to The Blues Brothers and Wayne's World. For this bonus episode, we invited composer Daniel Pemberton and music supervisor Kle Savidge t...

It's with a slightly heavy heart that we welcome you to our latest episode, given that the film we're discussing is almost certainly the great Robert Redford's last. That film is The Old Man And The Gun, and the writer / director behind it is David Lowery. David first appeared on the show in August 2017, where we covered A Ghost Story, Pete's Dragon and Ain't Them Bodies Saints among many other th...

If you want a masterclass in how to score an action movie, you've come to the right place. Because in this episode, director Christopher McQuarrie and composer Lorne Balfe talk us through their stellar work on the genuinely brilliant Mission Impossible: Fallout. As you'll hear, Chris and Lorne are, quite simply, tremendous company. We cover a lot of ground too - from the intricacies of scoring a c...

Over 100 episodes have passed since writer / director David Mackenzie first joined us on Soundtracking. On that occasion, we talked about his critically acclaimed thriller, Hell Or High Water, and much of his back catalogue. He returns to discuss Outlaw King, a passion project about Robert The Bruce which is available to watch now on Netflix. As well as a score by Tony Doogan (on which David is cr...

Our latest episode of Soundtracking comes off the back of a very special day Edith spent at Abbey Road Studios in London as the score for JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Gindelwald was being recorded. She was there as the guest of director David Yates and producer David Heyman, both of whom join us this week to discuss what she heard and saw - and how James Newton Howard's stunning co...

Our latest episode of Soundtracking in association with the White Company marks the first appearance for a man Edith has long admired. Steve McQueen is a British writer, director and producer. who had critical big-screen success with Hunger and Shame before scooping an Academy Award for 12 Years A Slave. His latest project is the ensemble heist thriller Widows. Based on the 1983 ITV series of the...