Nothing Concrete

In this edition we uncover the story of the most controversial whistle-blower of the 21st Century – Edward Snowden.

The 2016 Oliver Stone drama Snowden is the true story of how one insider leaked thousands of classified documents to the press, uncovering illegal and frankly unbelievable surveillance technique used by the American government. Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays the lead with strong support from Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsey Mills. Around Snowden is a floating set of characters played by some incredible actors such as Zachary Quinto, Rhys Ifans, Nicholas Cage, Tom Wilkinson and Joely Richardson, to name but a few. Here we speak to Joseph-Gordon Levitt.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

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On this edition we journey into the cinematic storytelling of filmmaker Sebastián Lelio with the bold and beautiful Oscar nominated A Fantastic Woman and its follow up Disobedience, a powerful drama about faith and love.

A Fantastic Woman is sumptuous and soul searching - with an incredible score from composer Matthew Herbert. Disobedience is a powerful and deeply reverberating drama that goes beyond easy description.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

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In this special podcast collaboration, The Log Books' Tash and Adam take a closer look at some of the objects in our Out and About exhibition, and what they tell us about LGBT+ life in London over the past 40 years - and today.

From Drag Balls to fetish wear; protest banners and photo albums. Hear about the subcultures, hard-fought political campaigns, inspiring characters and parties that tell the story of LGBT+ London over the past 40 years, and got us to where we are today. See the items yourself in our Out and About exhibition: barbican.org.uk/outandabout

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This week, we look to our archive, returning to 2017 when we had the chance to speak to acting legend Gael Garcia Bernal about the film Neruda.

The Mexican actor, producer and director's first full-length role was in the Oscar nominated drama Amores Perros in 2000, but he is perhaps best known for his role as Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries which came out five years later. His range of roles is pretty incredible having starred in Pixar’s Coco, Almodovar’s Bad Education, and even taking on the role of a maestro conductor in Amazon Prime’s Mozart in the Jungle. 

Neruda is set in 1940s Chile: Garcia’s plays a police inspector, who embarks on a poetic hunt for writer and poltician Pablo Neruda. Directed by Pablo Larraín, who is perhaps best known for his Oscar nominated film Jackie. Here the director is working again with Gael, having previously collaborated on the 2012 film No.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s archive edition we travel to the beautiful Sicilian island of Lampedusa where everything is not quite as it seems in the powerful 2016 documentary, Fire at Sea.

The film focusses on the European migrant crisis and sets the migrants' dangerous Mediterranean crossing against a background of the ordinary life of some of its inhabitants. Set on the island of Lampedusa it documents the lives of a twelve-year-old boy from a local fishing family and a doctor who treats the migrants on their arrival.

Directed by Gianfranco Rosi, this documentary won the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Back in 2016 we caught up with the director to discover what drove him to make this film.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s archive edition we travel deep into our minds – learning more about our relationship to music and sound from three leading electronic artists or collectives: James Holden, Mira Calix and The Light Surgeons.

Back in March 2013 you could have been in the audience for 'Consciousness' a performance lecture by Marcus du Sautoy, featuring music by James Holden and visuals by One of Us.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

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On this week’s archive edition we have a tale of a near impossible romance set against the backdrop of post-World War 2 Europe in Pavel Pawlikowski’s masterpiece Cold War.

Set in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris - Cold War depicts an unimaginable love story, that of young singer Zula played Joanna Kulig and struggling musician Wiktor played by Tomasz Kot. This is a breathtaking, beautifully shot film from the director who previously brought us the equally as stark and surprising Ida. We spoke to the lead actors about their roles in this Palm D’or winning film.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s archive edition, we shift our focus back to 2013 when the venue celebrated composer Benjamin Britten’s centenary.

On the 8–10 November 2013 you may have been in the audience for Illuminating Britten, a celebration of the composer. This weekend was curated by filmmaker and author of ‘Britten’s Children’, John Bridcut – he surrounded the music with a series of talks, discussions, film screenings and even a quiz. Broadcaster Sandy Burnett spoke to John Bridcut for this podcast

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this compelling interview with Thelma Schoonmaker we explore her legacy: A film editor who has worked with Martin Scorsese for over 40 years - from Raging Bull, to the subject of our podcast, The Silence.

Back in 2016 we spoke Schoonmaker, who had already received eight Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editor and won three times: for Scorsese’s - Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed. Here we get a fascinating and revealing glimpse into the extreme work involved, and the make or break of the editing process. 

Silence stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to try and locate their mentor Father Ferreira, played by Liam Neeson. They face violence, persecution and perhaps death in taking on this dangerous journey.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s edition we travel back to 2017 and meet up who director Sally Potter who invites you and some special guests to The Party…

In the comedy meet tragedy The Party - we find ourselves in Janet’s house, celebrating her new job with close friends . Although all doesn’t go to plan and over the next 71 minutes relationship unravel, and vol-au-vents are burnt.

We spoke with the director, alongside actors Bruno Ganz and Timothy Spall about the film.

From the Archive sees us dig into our extensive contemporary and classical music and cinema podcast archive as we rediscover interviews and discussions with artists, with our long-standing producer and presenter, Ben Eshmade. 

Subscribe to Nothing Concrete on Acast, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.