On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone sits down with Scottish writer-director (and University of Edinburgh alumnus) John Maclean to talk about his second feature Tornado (2025). The film had its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February and went on general release in the UK in mid-June.
Set in late 18th century Scotland, Maclean's film tells of a young Japanese woman (Kōki) who makes a living performing Samurai puppet shows with her father Fujin (Takehiro Hira). One day, their paths cross with a rag-tag group of criminals led by the ruthless, stone-faced Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden). Events then take a more sinister turn.
Beautifully shot in widescreen by John’s regular collaborator Robbie Ryan, Tornado is lean, muscular filmmaking - a heady, inventive Scottish take on the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa and the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone.
John tells Pasquale about his entry into filmmaking via the lo-fi music videos he made for The Beta Band, the group he co-founded in the 1990s. He also discusses his influences, his preference for storyboarding, his approach to casting, music and much more.

This mini episode of the podcast marks the re-opening of Filmhouse, Edinburgh’s beloved independent cinema which was forced to close in October 2022 when its parent company went into administration. After the closure, a crowdfunding campaign was set up and support also came in from the Scottish and UK governments. The campaign to re-open Filmhouse as a brand-new organisation was spearheaded by four former Filmhouse employees Ginnie Atkinson, David Boyd, James Rice and Rod White.
In November 2023, David and Rod joined host Dr Pasquale Iannone on a special episode of Edinburgh Film Podcast (EFP 39) where they spoke of their long associations with the cinema and their plans for the re-opening. At that time, there was a certain amount of optimism, but the re-opening was by no means a done deal. This week - more than 30 months after Filmhouse closed - the doors have finally re-opened.
In this episode, Pasquale catches up with Programme Director Rod White - they discuss the new screens (including a brand-new fourth screen), the revamped cafe bar as well as the opening programme of films.

The focus of this 60th episode of Edinburgh Film Podcast is Wanda, the only feature film directed by American actor-filmmaker Barbara Loden.

Released in 1970, the film is set in rural Pennsylvania and tells of a working class woman (Loden) who leaves her husband and young children for a life on the road. She eventually drifts into a fraught, uneasy relationship with petty thief Norman Dennis (Michael Higgins) as he plans a bank robbery.

Joining host Dr Pasquale Iannone to talk about Wanda is Dr Elena Gorfinkel, author of a new book on the film which is part of the long-running BFI Film Classics series. Elena is Reader in Film Studies at King’s College London. Specialising in underground and independent cinema, her many publications include the 2017 volume Lewd Looks: American Sexploitation Cinema in the 1960s. Her articles and book chapters include pieces on filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Doris Wishman, Kira Muratova and Kelly Reichardt. Elena is also the curator of a major season currently running at London’s BFI Southbank titled Wanda and Beyond: The World of Barbara Loden.

In their detailed, wide-ranging conversation, Elena tells Pasquale about her first encounter with Wanda and how she approached the writing of her new book. Discussion then moves on to the film itself, before turning to the curation process for the BFI Loden season.

Wanda (2025) is published by Bloomsbury and is out now. The BFI Southbank season Wanda and Beyond: The World of Barbara Loden runs throughout the month of June. For more details, please see the BFI website.

On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by award-winning writer, critic and broadcaster Ellen E. Jones. Ellen presents BBC Radio 4’s Screenshot with Mark Kermode and has written for The Guardian, The Observer, Little White Lies, Empire and many other outlets. In March this year, Ellen won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Radio Presenter for her work on Screenshot.
Ellen joins Pasquale to talk about her book Screen Deep: How Film and TV Can Solve Racism and Save The World which came out in paperback via Faber in February. It’s a brilliantly sharp, impassioned and entertaining look at film and TV’s role in both constructing racial identities and combating racism.

Works discussed include No Way Out (1950), Imitation of Life (1959), Get Out (2017), Black Panther (2018), Bridgerton (2020-), Atlanta (2016 - 2022), I May Destroy You (2020), Small Axe (2020) and Hard Truths (2024).

On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by MSc Film Studies student Lauren Thompson to discuss one of the most critically acclaimed and influential films of all time. Andrei Tarkovsky’s fourth feature Mirror (1975) weaves together moments in the life of dying poet in a bold, non-linear style. It’s a deeply personal cinematic poem about memory, history and family, and 2025 marks its 50th anniversary.
Lauren and Pasquale begin by offering their thoughts on Tarkovsky's work more broadly and then they turn to an extended discussion of Mirror, covering elements such as the use of editing and voiceover. The discussion rounds off with a consideration of the film's influence on successive generations of filmmakers, from Christopher Nolan to Claire Denis.

On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone explores the little-known early films of one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, German director Douglas Sirk.

Sirk is synonymous with one particular genre. His most famous films, such as Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956) and Imitation of Life (1959) are glossy, luxurious Technicolor melodramas which would go on to inspire the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Todd Haynes and many others.

But there is more to Sirk than melodrama - he made war films, crime movies, historical dramas and comedies in a career spanning over 25 years and several countries.

Earlier this year, Eureka Entertainment released a box set titled Sirk in Germany (1934 - 1935), a collection which takes us all the way back to the beginning of Sirk’s film career.

The set includes beautiful restorations of his first three features as well as several short films, all of which were made in the early years of the Nazi regime.

Alongside bonus material from noted film historians Sheldon Hall and Tim Bergfelder, there are three audio commentaries from the University of Edinburgh’s very own David Melville Wingrove.

David is a Teaching Fellow at the University’s Centre for Open Learning where he teaches hugely popular courses on both film and literature, specialising in dark and fantastical themes and styles. He is also a prolific writer, regularly contributing to publications such as Senses of Cinema.

David and Pasquale discuss Sirk’s first short film Two Greyhounds (1934) and his first feature April! April! (1935), both light comedies centring on mistaken identity which skewer - mostly with affection - the mores of the German middle class.

David helps to place the films in historical context and he also tells Pasquale why Sirk, who was very much one of the leading lights of the German theatre in the late 20s and early 30s, decided to make the move into filmmaking.

On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by two students on the MSc Film Studies programme, Eve Kurt-Elli and Aaron Bowler, to discuss Adolescence (2025), one of the most talked-about and critically acclaimed TV shows of the year so far.
A four-part Netflix Limited Series directed by Philip Barantini, Adolescence is co-written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and stars Graham, Owen Cooper, Erin Doherty, Christine Tremarco and Ashley Walters. The series tells a ripped-from-the-headlines story of a 13 year old boy accused of killing a female classmate. Each episode is shot in one continuous single take, a technique which, far from being a gimmick, has the powerful effect of tying the viewer to events as they unfold in real time.
In our wide-ranging conversation, Pasquale, Eve and Aaron discuss the background to the series and unpack some of its themes. They discuss the power of the single take aesthetic and provide overviews of each of the four episodes.

On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone discusses the art of film posters in the company of Tony Nourmand. 
Tony is a world-renowned expert in film posters and the author of several books on the subject. In the 1990s, he was a consultant for London auction house Christie’s and was heavily involved in the explosion of the film poster market both in the UK and internationally. He went on to open the Reel Poster Gallery in London before setting up the publishing company Reel Art Press in 2010.
In September 2024, Tony edited the stunning volume titled 1001 Movie Posters: Designs of the Times. At over 600 pages (and over 4kg in weight), it’s the most comprehensive, beautifully presented overview of movie posters ever published. The book features essays and commentary by Tony’s long-time collaborators Alison Elangasinghe, Graham Marsh and Sir Christopher Frayling.
In this fascinating discussion, Tony takes Pasquale from the Iran of his childhood to London’s Soho and then across the pond to Connecticut where he tells of a fateful meeting with the legendary art director behind the designs of film classics such as Casablanca, The Searchers, Bonnie and Clyde and The Exorcist.
Tony and Pasquale move on to discuss 1001 Movie Posters. Tony shares his thoughts on the book’s structure, some of his favourite poster designs and much more.

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.

This episode of the podcast celebrates the work of the great Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman, with a special focus on one of her lesser known films, the 1986 musical Golden Eighties.
Our guide to all things Akerman is Marion Schmid. Marion is Professor of French Literature and Film at the University of Edinburgh and the author of several books and articles on Akerman, including a 2010 monograph for Manchester University Press.
Marion and Pasquale begin by discussing Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Akerman’s 1975 masterpiece which famously topped Sight & Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time poll in 2022.
Discussion then moves on to Golden Eighties, a vibrant, effervescent musical which tells of the romantic intrigues in a Brussels shopping centre and stars Jeanne Dielman herself, Delphine Seyrig.