The Garden Cinema Film Talk
Celebrating the Art of Film. The Garden Cinema is an independent art-house cinema in Central London. We invite directors, producers, actors, and film commentators to talk about the films we show. Most of our podcast episodes are recorded post-screening, and with a live audience. We welcome recommendations! Our first few episodes feature Garden Cinema founder Michael Chambers.
Episodes
Friday Nov 11, 2022
Friday Nov 11, 2022
This week, we welcomed a group of screenwriting and film students from City Lit to watch The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, directed by Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlondorff and based on the book by Heinrich Boll.
Blum a young woman living in West Germany in the 70s finds her life falling into ruins after she falls prey to a vicious smear campaign by the police and a ruthless journalist, testing the limits of her sanity.
The film is an open critique of media manipulation and demonisation, and the misuse of state power - a critique which finds many echoes in the instances of collusion between the state, the police and the tabloids today. Our students share their thoughts about the film and its legacy.
We discuss the ways in which the debate over the role of ex-Nazis in authority in the 70s was shut down, how American and British films of the time dealt with similar subject matter and THAT awful cardigan.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
"Over 12 half-hour episodes, we're seeing a man have a nervous breakdown".
This week, we talk to journalist Darren Richman about some of his favourite genres and filmmakers.
We discuss the pessimism of Film Noir and the optimism of Mike Leigh, the nature of comedy from Faulty Towers to the Coen Brothers and debate whether or not there is such a thing as "dark comedy" and the depiction of love and compassion in Hollywood films.
You can follow Darren on Twitter @darrenrichman.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
This week, we speak to Angela Allen who has worked on the film sets of many celebrated films, including The Third Man, The African Queen and The Dirty Dozen, for nearly six decades, overseeing continuity, supervising scripts and advising directors.
Angela shares with us anecdotes and personal stories from her time on and off the set. This podcast episode is slightly longer than usual, so we've included a discussion breakdown:
2.04 How to know if a film will be good.
2.45 Angela on the editing process and working with Carol Reed (The Third Man)
7.30 The current fashion for "overcoverage" and working with John Huston
10.25 Zeffirelli vs Huston and filming Elizabeth Taylor
13.58 The auteur theory from France
15.47 Different directors, same scripts
18.25 "We'd have sixteen pages on the fact that Jennifer Jones' toilet paper had to be pink", meeting David O'Selznick
21.10 Working with Korda and Spiegel, "the most intelligent producer but a bit of a crook, too"
26.40 Working with Orson Wells and stories from The Third Man
35.36 Arthur Miller & Marilyn Monroe (The Misfits)
39.55 "Paula Strasberg made her as impossible as she was"
43.23 "Do you feel sorry for [Marilyn]? No I don't"
44.32 Angela on writing a book
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Revisiting the power of the big screen with MUBI
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
We discuss the pleasure and power of the cinema experience and which films are better on the silver screen with MUBI's podcast host, journalist Rico Cagliano.
We talk to Rico about the MUBI podcast seasons, cinemas he's researched and visited and share anecdotes about films that should be watched on a big screen, such as Lawrence Of Arabia and Wings Of Desire.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Almodovar and the versatility of Penelope Cruz with José Arroyo
Monday Aug 08, 2022
Monday Aug 08, 2022
We talk about the films of Almodovar, his depiction of the Spanish civil war, Spanish cinema and Penelope Cruz with Film Professor José Arroyo, who has written extensively about the Spanish director and has interviewed him a number of times.
We invited him to mark our upcoming Penelope Cruz season, to talk more generally about the actress, Almodovar and Spanish cinema.
We discuss glamour, camp and appeal of Almodovar's filmography and Jose's own interest in the filmmaker, his working relationship with Penelope Cruz, her versatility and comparisons with Sofia Loren, depicting the Spanish Civil War and the post-Franco Spanish film industry.
We also touch on other films from our season, such as Jamon Jamon and discuss the merits of a season of contemporary Spanish "new wave" directors.
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
Julian Assange’s father’s quest for justice in Ithaka
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
We chat about the journalist's father and fiance's campaign to secure his release from Belmarsh prison and its depiction in feature documentary Ithaka with director Ben Lawrence.
Speaking to us from his home in Australia, the filmmaker tells us more about his latest film, which follows the pair as they campaign to secure Assange's release. The film was made over 2 years and covers his extradition hearing, which helped garner media attention and widespread support for the journalist.
Ben explains how the project came about and we discuss its reception and what it means for journalists and whistleblowers everywhere.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Marlene Dietrich and the lasting power of stars with Dr Lucy Bolton
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Monday Jul 11, 2022
We chat about Marlene Dietrich, her close working relationship with Josef Von Sternberg, the changes in her persona that came with her shift to Hollywood, comparisons with Mae West and Greta Garbo, and the enduring power of stars with Dr Lucy Bolton.
Lucy is a Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University and her fields of research include film stardom and celebrity. She recently co-edited a collection entitled Lasting Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure. We invited her on the podcast to take a deeper look at Marlene Dietrich’s career, persona and lasting influence, to mark a season dedicated to the actress.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Documentary filmmaking and factual content with Dan Chambers
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
We discuss what makes a good documentary, the rise of true crime and streamers and indulgent filmmaking with producer and commissioner Dan Chambers.
Dan is a producer and commissioner, and is the co-founder and creative director of Blink Films. He was previously Director of Programmes at Channel 5 and has decades of experience in making, producing and commissioning factual content. He’s joined us to talk about the non-fiction format and documentaries in general.
We discuss the appeal of true crime and the rise of the streamers, the crafty storytelling of The Staircase, bias and polemic, new trends in content and funding, the merger of drama and documentary in films by directors such as Ken Loach, as well as the power of documentary over fiction when it comes to recounting certain feats, exemplified by the remarkable Hands On A Hard Body.
Dan shares his insights about the types of format and content that appeal to different markets, from the fashion for “revelations” in the US to the sometimes “quirky”, sometimes “indulgent” factual filmmaking in France, and gives his expert advice to aspiring documentary filmmakers.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Saturday Jun 11, 2022
All My Friends Hate Me with scriptwriting duo Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton
Saturday Jun 11, 2022
Saturday Jun 11, 2022
We chat to Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton, the scriptwriting team behind the feature film All My Friends Hate Me. The writers met as school and have been performing sketches and double acts since then. They created the hilarious "web film" High Renaissance Man and had previously collaborated with director Andrew Gaynord on such comedy hits as Stath Lets Flats.
We discuss the evolving nature of comedy, British influences such as Alan Partridge, their collaborative writing process, class-based satire, depicting social anxiety and paranoia, and the surprising twists in their debut feature. Spoiler alert!
You can watch Andrew Gaynord's short hit CGI Brows on YouTube.
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
Monday May 16, 2022
The Quiet Girl with director Colm Bairéad
Monday May 16, 2022
Monday May 16, 2022
We chat to Colm Bairéad at the Curzon offices about his first fiction feature film, The Quiet Girl, which is based on the short story Foster by Claire Keegan.
We discuss the understated and restrained qualities of the film, his reasons for choosing to adapt Keegan's novel, and the "growing confidence" of Irish language filmmaking. We also debate the ending of the film. Spoiler alert!
Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.
The Garden Cinema Film Talk
This podcast comes from the Garden Cinema, an independent cinema in Covent Garden, in the heart of London. We chat with filmmakers, actors, producers and film commentators about the art of film. We talk about the films they made, how they made them, the films they want to make and the problems they encounter.