Episode 329: Composer Nainita Desai Discusses Her Career

A couple of weeks after we.brought you Dev Patel and Jordan Peele talking Monkey Man, we're delighted to say we have another live Soundtracking Everyman Film Club for you. Today it's the turn of director Sam Taylor Johnson, producer Giles Martin and Music Supervisor Iain Cooke to discuss Sam's Amy Winehouse biopic, Back To Black. Starring Marissa Abela in the lead role, it predominantly charts the influence of Amy's family, her early years in the music industry and her troubled relationship with Blake Fielder Civil, encompassing her triumph at the 2008 Grammys, at which she won 5 awards including Best Album. Sam, Giles and Ian joined Edith in front of an audience at The Screen On The Green in Islington, north London.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Alex Garland, joining Edith to discuss his latest film as a writer / director, Civil War, scored by our old pals Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow. The narrative follows a group of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating second American Civil War, with Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Nick Offerman among the cast. It also features some tremendous needle-drops, as discussed by Edith and Alex

Our latest guests are Dev Patel and Jordan Peele, who joined Edith for the first Soundtracking Everyman Film Club of 2024 to discuss Dev's debut feature, Monkey Man, recorded live at Screen On The Green in north London. As well as writing and producing the film (with a little help from Jordan), Dev also directed - on what was, as you'll hear, an extremely challenging shoot. Monkey Man is ostensibly a revenge thriller, drawing from the rich tradition of classic kung-fu movies. But peel back the layers and you'll find so much more - not least razorsharp socio-political commentary.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Neo Sora, son of Ryuichi Sakamoto and director of a final gift to the Japanese composer's fans, Opus. Recorded in late 2022, with just Ryuichi and a Yamaha grand, Opus sees him perform his most haunting, and delicate melodies in equally haunting and delicate black and white. It is a wonderfully tender, meditative and moving film, which we recommend you all to go and see.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is Issa Lopez, creator, writer and director of True Detective: Night Country, which is available to watch in its entirety on Sky and Now TV - in the UK at any rate. Starring Jodie Foster & Kali Reis, it's set in a remote Alaskan town during a winter spell of perpetual darkness, and follows an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of eight men at a research station. The visuals are stunning ... the performances are stunning ... the music is stunning. As well as boasting a suitably chilling score by Vince Pope, it also features a range of incredible needle drops and a title track by none other than Billie Elish.

Our guest this week is Max Richter - composer extraordinaire who has provided the music for Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan's new film, Spaceman. Directed by Johan Renck, it tells the story of a Czech astronaut sent to the end of the solar system who encounters a creature that helps sort out his issues back on earth. We love having Max on the podcast, so brilliant is he at articulating the intricacies of composing a score. Enjoy!

What a treat we have for you today, as Denis Villeneuve & Hans Zimmer join me to discuss Dune 2. Denis and Hans were on cracking form as they discussed their second outing together adapting a book they both loved as children.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is director Thea Sharrock, who joins me to discuss her hilarious new film, Wicked Little Letters. Based on a true story, Wicked Little Letters stars Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, and sees the residents of Littlehampton start receiving missives filled with profanity, prompting a group of the town's women to investigate. It's scored with her usual aplomb by Isobel Waller-Bridge. 

We have a bonus episode for you, as director Fernando Meirelles and composer Ed Cortes join me to discuss the 21st Anniversary of City Of God. This is a film that was hugely important to Edith in her journey as a film fan - as she, like many other people, had never seen anything quite like it when it hit cinemas. In addition to Fernando's visual flair, Ed's score (which he put together with Antonio Pinto) is outstanding and super-cool.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is composer Laura Karpman, who joined Edith to discuss her Oscar nominated score for American Fiction. Written and directed by first-timer Cord Jefferson (who picked up a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay), it follows a frustrated novelist-professor who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical 'black' books, only for it to be mistaken by the liberal elite for serious literature.