Edinburgh Film Podcast

The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Film Podcast

Dr Pasquale Iannone (Lecturer in Film Studies) is joined by staff and students from across the University of Edinburgh as well as guests from the world of film and TV to discuss all aspects of screen media.

  1. FEB 25 · VIDEO

    EFP 54: Ricky Ross on Bob Dylan and A Complete Unknown

    To tie-in with the 2025 Academy Awards, this episode of the podcast discusses one of the frontrunners for Best Picture, Director, Actor as well as Supporting Actor and Actress. James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown chronicles the very early years in the career of the great singer songwriter Bob Dylan and stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role. Joining host Dr Pasquale Iannone to talk about the film is Ricky Ross. Ricky is a singer-songwriter and frontman of Deacon Blue, the acclaimed, much-loved Scottish band formed in Glasgow almost exactly forty years ago. Alongside writing and performing, Ricky is also a Sony award-winning broadcaster. Since 2008, he has presented Another Country on BBC Radio Scotland which showcases the best in Americana old and new. The conversation was recorded at the beginning of February 2025, with Ricky and the band gearing up for the release of their new album The Great Western Road as well a major UK tour. Ricky and Pasquale discuss the musical biopic in general before turning to Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. They explore the film’s focus on four key early years in Dylan’s career and also touch upon the Oscar-nominated performances of Chalamet as Dylan, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. Ricky shares his thoughts on the film’s evocation of the New York folk scene and tells Pasquale what he thought of its depiction of the songwriting process.

    21 min
  2. JAN 23 · VIDEO

    EFP 52: Terrence Malick and The Magic Hours with John Bleasdale

    On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by John Bleasdale. John is a writer and film critic whose work has appeared in Sight & Sound, The Guardian, Variety, The Economist and many other outlets. He’s also a prolific podcaster, with series such as Writers on Film, Cinema Italia and The James Bond Book Club. John talks to Pasquale about his latest book The Magic Hours (2024), a fascinating biography of the acclaimed American filmmaker Terrence Malick which was recently described by New Yorker critic Richard Brody as ‘a rapturously detailed, sensitively observed, critically insightful account.’ John and Pasquale talk about what makes for a great filmmaker biography and then discuss Malick’s background, his brief but eventful stints in academia and journalism and his beginnings as a screenwriter. Also covered are his first two features as director - 1970s American classics Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978) as well as the much talked about gap of two decades between Days of Heaven and his third feature, The Thin Red Line (1998). Just what was Malick up to during this time? How much truth is there in this image of Malick as the reclusive auteur? The conversation also takes in key aspects of the Malick methodology and film style, including his work with actors, his editing approach and his use of voiceover. The Magic Hours: The Films and Hidden Life of Terrence Malick is out now via the University Press of Kentucky.

    58 min

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    Dr Pasquale Iannone (Lecturer in Film Studies) is joined by staff and students from across the University of Edinburgh as well as guests from the world of film and TV to discuss all aspects of screen media.

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