Edinburgh Film Podcast

On this episode, we begin our Noirvember double-header with a 60th anniversary celebration of an epic 1966 noir from French master Jean-Pierre Melville.Starring Lino Ventura and Paul Meurisse, Le deuxième souffle is based on a novel by Jose Giovanni and tells of a middle-aged gangster who escapes from prison and is hunted down by a dogged police inspector.While not as well known as other Melville noirs such as Le samouraï (1967) or Le cercle rouge (1970), Le deuxième souffle is a key work - a mature piece of Melvillian fatalism which addresses many of the director’s favourite themes such as loyalty, betrayal and male friendship.Joining host Dr Pasquale Iannone to discuss Le deuxième souffle is Professor Ginette Vincendeau. Ginette is Professor Emeritus in Film Studies at King’s College London and an internationally-renowned authority on the work of Melville. Her 2003 monograph Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris is one of the very few book-length English-language studies of the director. Ginette’s other books include Stars and Stardom in French Cinema (2000) as well as monographs on Pépé le Moko (1998) and La Haine (2005).In the discussion, Ginette and Pasquale begin by placing Le deuxième souffle in the context of Melville’s career. They explore the director’s combative relationship with Giovanni, an infamous former criminal who had spent time on death row before turning to novel writing. They then move on to the film itself, exploring key scenes and considering the typically charismatic, stoic and understated central performance by Lino Ventura.

The focus for this 90th episode of the podcast is the upcoming Jali Film Weekender 2026, a celebration of Black, African and diaspora cinema.Showcasing narrative, documentary, animation, experimental and short film, the five-day festival at Edinburgh's Filmhouse cinema and Traverse Theatre will also include filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions and masterclasses, as well as an Extended Reality (XR) Exhibition. Joining host Dr Pasquale Iannone to discuss this year’s programme are the three founders of the Jali Collective, Isabel Moura Mendes, Tomiwa Folorunso and Carmen Thompson. Isabel, Tomiwa and Carmen are seasoned producers and programmers who have worked with many film festivals and cultural organisations across the globe. The episode begins with a discussion of the background to the Jali Collective and why it was formed. Pasquale and guests then explore the process of programming the weekender before turning to highlights from this year's rich programme with its focus on the idea of rebellion.The Jali Film Weekender 2026 runs from Wednesday 28th October to Sunday 1st November. For more information, go to jalicollective.co.uk.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone marks 45 years since the release of Excalibur, John Boorman’s epic re-telling of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Released in 1981, the film was shot in Ireland and features Nigel Terry as King Arthur, Nicol Williamson as Merlin as well as several future Hollywood stars such as Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson. Joining Pasquale to discuss Excalibur and its approach to Arthurian lore are two specialists in both history and film. Dr Ralph Moffat is Curator of European Arms and Armour at Glasgow Museums. He is responsible for the care, research and dissemination of information about the collection. He is the author of a three-volume sourcebook for the study of medieval arms and armour and recently curated the redisplay of arms and armour at Glasgow’s Burrell Collection. Douglas Wilson Garry recently completed his MSc in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a poet and performer. Throughout his work, both academic and creative, he explores folklore, representations of nature and history.In the discussion, Ralph, Douglas and Pasquale discuss the background to the film and its approach to the legend of King Arthur. They place the film in the context of director Boorman’s career, explore its starry cast, its cinematography, use of locations and its distinctive use of music.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone discusses the upcoming Iberodocs Film Festival which opens this week across various venues in Scotland.IberoDocs is an annual showcase of the most exciting and innovative documentaries from Spain, Portugal and Latin America. This year, the festival runs between 16th and 26th September and it will open with the Scottish premiere of Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel’s Nuestra Tierra (Landmarks)(2025).Joining Pasquale to explore some highlights from IberoDocs 2026 is Marketing Manager Luna Carmona. Films discussed include feature documentaries Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite (Lorenzo Hagerman, 2025), Flowers for Antonio (Elena Molina and Isaki Lacuesta, 2025), Ritas (Oswaldo Santana, 2025), Remember My Name (Elena Molina, 2023) as well as shorts Aqueronte (Manuel Muñoz Rivas, 2023) and Waiting to Sea (Jorge Peña Martín, 2026).IberoDocs 2026 runs between 16th and 26th September at various venues around Scotland. For more information, go to iberodocs.org.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined on this episode by Edinburgh filmmaker Louis Paxton to discuss his feature debut, folk comedy The Incomer (2026).The film tells of thirty-something brother and sister Sandy and Isla who live on a remote Scottish island. The pair live cut off from society in a state of arrested development. One day, the local authorities decide to send one of their workers to the island to serve notice of eviction. But the siblings won’t give up their home without a fight.Starring Domhall Gleeson as council worker Daniel, Grant O’Rourke as Sandy and Gayle Rankin as Isla, The Incomer was the Opening Night Film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival after having its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. While this is Louis’ feature debut, he has been making eye-catching films for many years. He grew up in Edinburgh and his older sister Ruth is also an acclaimed writer-director. In their wide-ranging discussion, Louis tells Pasquale how he and Ruth first got into films - it turns out the three of them all used to rent movies from the same Marchmont video shops.They discuss his short films and work in TV before moving on to The Incomer. Louis tells Pasquale about his use of locations, the idea behind the distinctive look of the film and his approach to music.The film will be released in the UK on Friday 4th September and in the US later in the month.

This episode of the podcast takes us to Finland and the irresistibly dry and droll comedies of Aki Kaurismäki. A major figure in World cinema since the early 1980s, few filmmakers have created such a distinctive universe through their films. As critic and historian Michael Brooke has noted, in Kaurismäki’s films ‘we’re in ‘a never-never land somewhere between the 1930s and the 1980s, where people drive Cadillacs, listen to old-time rock’n’roll, dance the tango, and issue such wise aphorisms as 'Life is short and miserable – be as merry as you can.’ This year marks the 30th anniversary of Drifting Clouds (1996), one of Kaurismaki’s key works and host Dr Pasquale Iannone discusses it in the company of one of the 2025/26 MSc Film Studies students, Deniz Sarisakal. Drifting Clouds is the story of a Helsinki couple in their late 30s who both lose their jobs and find themselves struggling to survive.  It sounds like the plot line of an Italian neorealist picture, or maybe a Ken Loach film, but this is Aki-land, and deadpan humour is never far away. Deniz and Pasquale begin by talking about Kaurismäki’s background and his distinctive formal and thematic approach. They also touch upon his influences, including his love of Japanese auteur Yasujiro Ozu. Discussion then turns to Drifting Clouds and elements such as plot, characterisation and mise en scene as well as sound and music.

On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by film critic and historian Rachael Nisbet to discuss one of cinema’s most dazzling comic book adaptations, Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik (1968). Based on the comics written by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani, Diabolik chronicles the escapades of the masked master criminal and his lover and co-conspirator Eva Kant. The comics have been massively influential since their first publication in 1962 and have spawned various film adaptations, including a recent trilogy of features released between 2021 and 2023 directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. The first Diabolik picture was released in 1968 and starred John Philip Law and Marisa Mel in the lead roles. It was recently released in a beautiful 4K restoration by Eureka Entertainment and it will also be screening at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse cinema in early August in all its vivid, kaleidoscopic glory.Rachael and Pasquale discuss the background to the original Diabolik comics, and how Bava's film came about. They then focus on elements such as the film's casting, set design and its brilliantly psychedelic score by Ennio Morricone.

On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by award-winning writer Olivia Laing to discuss their latest novel The Silver Book. Olivia’s book is part thriller, part queer love story set against the backdrop of the Italian film industry in the mid-1970s. Skilfully merging fact and fiction, The Silver Book shines a light on the work of real-life costume and production designer Danilo Donati. It tells of Nicholas, a young English man who flees London after a traumatic event and moves to Rome where he gets a job assisting Donati as he works on films by Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini at the legendary Cinecittà studios. While working together, Nicholas and Danilo become lovers and the novel weaves together events - both real and imagined - to extraordinary effect. Pasquale caught up with Olivia last month at the end of the UK paperback tour for The Silver Book. They discussed Olivia's approach to research and their writing process as well as their love of this twilight era of Italian cinema which yielded so many rich, complex, often controversial works.

Host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by author Caroline Young to discuss her new book Fashioning Hitchcock (Bloomsbury, 2026).Caroline is a prolific author and critic based in Edinburgh. Specialising in fashion, pop culture and classic cinema, her previous books include The It Girls: Glamor, Celebrity and Scandal (2025), Single & Psycho: How Pop Culture Shaped the Unhinged Woman (2025), Crazy Old Ladies: The Story of Hag Horror (2022) and Hitchcock’s Heroines (2018).Spanning more than fifty years of film history, Caroline’s new book provides fascinating insight into the use of costume in films by the legendary Master of Suspense. Caroline tells Pasquale about the beginnings of the book and the reasoning behind its structure. They discuss the way Alfred Hitchcock used costume in his silent and early sound films before turning to his years in Hollywood with classics such as Rebecca (1940), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960) and many more. Caroline tells Pasquale about the crucial role of acclaimed costume designer Edith Head in crafting unforgettable pieces for actors such as Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren.Edinburgh Film Podcast was nominated and Highly Commended in the Arts and Culture category at the inaugural Scottish Podcast Awards, which took place in Glasgow in June 2026. EFP was presented with a certificate 'in formal recognition of exceptional merit and distinction, placing this production among the highest tier of its category.'

On this episode, host Dr Pasquale Iannone is joined by Professor Mark Goble to discuss a visual effect that is used in everything from action films to football matches.Whether it’s to extend or amplify, to lyricise or clarify, slow motion is everywhere on our screens.Published by Columbia University Press, Mark’s book Downtime: The 20th Century in Slow Motion (2025) takes a close look at an effect which has been strangely under-explored in film scholarship, despite this near-ubiquity. Mark is Professor of English at University of California, Berkeley specialising in literature’s intersection with technology and media. In their wide-ranging conversation, Mark tells Pasquale about the reasoning behind Downtime’s three-part structure. They then touch upon the work of writers such as Walter Benjamin and Vivian Sobchack on slow motion, before turning to the cinema of New Hollywood in the late 1960s and key works such as Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch.Many other examples of slow motion are discussed - from Dario Argento to Wong Kar-Wai, John Woo to Joe Talbot - and Mark and Pasquale also consider the use of slow motion in other areas such as sports broadcasting.