Seventh Row Podcast

On the occasion of the release of Steve McQueen's Blitz, we're bringing back our 2020 episode on his five BBC films about the Windrush Generation, Small Axe.

With Blitz, McQueen returns to telling stories of Black British history.

This episode was originally published on December 30, 2020.

We discuss each film (or episode?) of McQueen's series and how they work together to form a cohesive whole.

This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Associate Editor Brett Pardy, and special guests Andrew Kendall and Debbie Zhou.

For detailed show notes, visit: https://seventh-row.com/2020/12/29/ep-72-small-axe/

Follow Seventh Row on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and read our articles at seventh-row.com.

**To join the waitlist for Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Discussion Club, visit http://seventh-row.com/reelruminators **

Legendary theatre director Marianne Elliott (Angels in America at the National Theatre, gender-swapped Company, War Horse) joins Alex on the podcast to discuss her feature film debut, The Salt Path. The film is based on the best-selling memoir about a working-class British couple who lose their home and embark on a long hike along the coast to heal themselves. It had its world premiere at TIFF.

Elliott sat down with Alex via Zoom before the film's premiere to discuss the challenges and excitement of making the move from theatre to film and why she wanted to tell this particular story about a woman in her 50s and her husband.

The Salt Path was a sales title at the festival and does not yet have a North American distributor.

The episode is spoiler-free.

Related Episodes:

• 98. Marianne Elliott's Angels in America (Members Only)
• 42. Dominic Cooke's On Chesil Beach (Members Only)
• Bonus 17. Saoirse Ronan and James McArdle in The Tragedy of Macbeth (Members Only)
• Creative Nonfiction #2: Sophie Fiennes on Four Quartets and documenting theatre on film
• Creative Nonfiction #4: Sam Green on 32 Sounds and inspirations from theatre

About the TIFF 2024 season:

The TIFF 2024 season previews under-the-radar gems and buzzy titles at the festival with spoiler-free episodes that will help you prioritize what to watch for in the coming months.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tiff24

On today's episode, Alex recommends alternative programming to the newly released Oscar-tipped Conclave, with another film about a new pope: Nanni Moretti's 2011 film We Have a Pope. It's fun and funny, a backstage movie that's still aware of the audience, and full of rich characters with actual motivations. Seeing Conclave made me wish I had been rewatching this instead.

For my thoughts on Conclave, check out my TIFF 2024 episode on the film.

Want to discover and watch more under-the-radar films with my expert guidance and a community of movie lovers?

Join the waitlist for Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Discussion Club so you'll be the first to know when doors open for November: http://seventh-row.com/reelruminators. Coming soon: Indigenous Noirvember.

Stay updated on Seventh Row

Follow Seventh Row on Twitter and Instagram. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.

Follow Alex Heeney on Twitter and Instagram.

Toronto-based film critic Angelo Muredda joins Alex Heeney to discuss Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, a four-hour fictional biopic about a brutalist architect and Holocaust survivor adjusting to life in post-war America. The film is Directorial Choices: The Movie. It won the Best Director Prize at the Venice Film Festival, but we had a lot of issues with the direction and the film. Despite its shortcomings, it offers a lot of fodder for discussion.

The episode is spoiler-free.

For detailed show notes, visit: https://seventh-row.com/2024/10/23/tiff-2024-brady-corbet-the-brutalist/

About the TIFF 2024 season:

The TIFF 2024 season previews under-the-radar gems and buzzy titles at the festival with spoiler-free episodes that will help you prioritize what to watch for in the coming months.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tiff24

**Are you interested in discovering extraordinary under-the-radar movies and discussing them with a community of film lovers?**

**Sign up for the Reel Ruminators (Free Trial), by visiting https://email.seventh-row.com/trial. The discussion will happen on October 13 at 12 p.m. EST. **

Toronto-based film critic Angelo Muredda joins Alex Heeney to discuss one of the biggest directorial swings at TIFF: Joshua Oppenheimer's The End. Starring Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, and Michael Shannon, the film is a musical about a rich family surviving in isolation in a salt mine bunker after the climate apocalypse.

We discuss how the film works as a post-apocalyptic story and a musical, and how what we found interesting about the film may not be what Oppenheimer felt was most central.

The End will be released in North America on December 6, 2024.

The episode avoids major spoilers.

About the TIFF 2024 season:

The TIFF 2024 season previews under-the-radar gems and buzzy titles at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

This is for you if:

• You're attending TIFF and looking for recommendations;
• You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
• You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world explore similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tiff24

**To sign up for the Reel Ruminators (Free Trial), visit https://email.seventh-row.com/trial.**

In this episode, Alex Heeney discusses the new independent British film The Old Man and the Land, which was just released in the U.K. The film is told almost entirely as a series of voicemails from a farmer's two adult children (played by Rory Kinnear and Emily Beecham).

On screen, we only ever see the farmer (their father) tending to the land, doing his chores and daily activities. We never see the people whose voices we hear. The film raises interesting questions about how the film differs (or not) from a radio play in how it tells the story. What does the disconnect between sound and image in cinema offer for the story?

Stay updated on Seventh Row

Follow Seventh Row on Twitter and Instagram. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.

Follow Alex Heeney on Twitter and Instagram.

**To sign up for the Reel Ruminators (Free Trial), visit https://email.seventh-row.com/trial.**

In this episode of the TIFF 2024 season, Alex is joined by Toronto-based film critic Angelo Muredda to discuss one of our most anticipated titles of the festival: Luca Guadagnino's Queer.

The film adapts the Williams S. Burroughs novel of the same name. Daniel Craig stars as William Lee, Burroughs' alter-ego, a lonely man in post-war Mexico City, desperately chasing after younger men. When he meets Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), he's instantly smitten, but Allerton plays hot and cold with him. After a tentative on-again-off-again courtship, Lee persuades Allerton to go to South America with him in search of hallucinogenic drugs that will help with telepathy.

In Queer, Guadagnino has reteamed with several Challengers collaborators: screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, costume designer Jonathan Anderson, cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, and editor Marco Costa.

The episode is spoiler-free.

About the TIFF 2024 season:

The TIFF 2024 season will give you a preview of some of the best under-the-radar gems and some of the buzziest titles at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.

This is for you if:

• You're attending TIFF and looking for recommendations;
• You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
• You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world explore similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tiff24

In this episode of the TIFF 2024 season, Alex discusses two films starring Ralph Fiennes: Uberto Pasolini's The Return and Edward Berger's Conclave. In them, Fiennes respectively plays Odysseus at the end of his journey and a cardinal in charge of the process for selecting a new pope.

The episode is spoiler-free.

About the TIFF 2024 season:

In the TIFF 2024 season, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will discuss some of the best under-the-radar gems at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.

This is for you if:

• You're attending TIFF and looking for recommendations;
• You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
• You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world explore similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tif24

----

Interested in attending a film festival?

Get my five essential tips for the film adventurer seeking a fantastic festival experience.

These tips are tailored to TIFF but will work for any other film festival.

Sign up here: http://email.seventh-row.com/tiff24

In this episode of the TIFF 2024 season, Alex discusses three films about bicultural daughters and their absent fathers.

Fittingly, the films are about identity, the role of the father-daughter relationship, and what it may mean for both father and daughter for that relationship to be severed.

To discuss the films' differing cultural contexts, I quote from interviews with the filmmakers, who share many similar insights despite their disparate backgrounds.

All three films are world premieres at TIFF and are still seeking North American/UK distributors.

The films are:

• Egil Pederson's My Father's Daughter (Sápmi) - first feature
• Koya Kamura's Winter in Sokcho (France) - first feature
• Guillaume Senez's A Missing Part (Belgium/France)

About the TIFF 2024 season:

In the TIFF 2024 season, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will discuss some of the best under-the-radar gems at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.

This is for you if:

• You're attending TIFF and looking for recommendations;
• You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
• You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world explore similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tif24

----

Interested in attending a film festival?

Get my five essential tips for the film adventurer seeking a fantastic festival experience.

These tips are tailored to TIFF but will work for any other film festival.

Sign up here: http://email.seventh-row.com/tiff24

In this episode of the TIFF 2024 season, Alex discusses two new films from masters of British social realism: Andrea Arnold's Bird and Mike Leigh's Hard Truths.

Bird had its world premiere at Cannes in May; Hard Truths had its world premiere at TIFF.

Alex finds similarities in subject matter and storytelling approach between the films, including the very strong performances from some Seventh Row favourites, and discusses what each of them is individually doing that's worth noting.

Alex wrote the book on Mike Leigh's Peterloo and his process, so her discussion of Hard Truths places it within Leigh's oeuvre and discusses how his signature process helped make this film an impressive achievement.

On this episode

0:00 Intro to the episode

3:34 Andrea Arnold's Bird

16:32 Mike Leigh's Hard Truths

38:14 Closing remarks, more from TIFF to find and look forward to

More Andrea Arnold

• An essay on landscape and limbo in Fish Tank by Gillie Collins
• A review of American Honey by Elena Lazic
• An interview with editor Joe Bini by Orla Smith on editing Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here and how that differs from working with Andrea Arnold

More Mike Leigh

• Read our ebook on Mike Leigh's Peterloo: mikeleighbook.com
• Listen to Ep. 32: Sorry We Missed You and Peterloo (Members Only)
• Listen to Ep. 119: Mike Leigh's Naked (FREE)
• Listen to us discuss Vera Drake and its place in the history of abortion movies in our Abortion on Film season.

About the TIFF 2024 season:

In the TIFF 2024 season, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney will discuss some of the best under-the-radar gems at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival through themed episodes.

This is for you if:

• You're attending TIFF and looking for recommendations;
• You're looking ahead to your local film festival for must-see titles; and/or
• You're interested in how filmmakers from around the world explore similar topics/genres, even if you're not sure if you'll ever see the films.

The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen the films (or are worried you won't ever be able to).

Check out all of our TIFF 2024 coverage here: https://seventh-row.com/tif24

----

Interested in attending a film festival?

Get my five essential tips for the film adventurer seeking a fantastic festival experience.

These tips are tailored to TIFF but will work for any other film festival.

Sign up here: http://email.seventh-row.com/tiff24