SOUNDS OF FILM with Tom Needham

On this episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Christian Nilsson to discuss his acclaimed feature Westhampton. Nilsson reflects on the film’s remarkable fourteen-year journey from screenplay to screen, its recent theatrical release, and its celebrated encore screening presented by the Stony Brook Film Festival at Stony Brook Southampton’s Avram Theater, whe...

On this episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes writer and director Lynn Dow to discuss her feature directorial debut, Bull Street. Dow shares the personal inspiration behind the film, her family’s roots in Summerton, South Carolina, her transition from a career on Wall Street to filmmaking, and how she crafted a powerful story about family, justice, legacy, and resilience.

Bull Street follows LouEster Gibbs, a sm...

This episode of The Sounds of Film features directors Cassidy Rast and Odin Wadleigh discussing their documentary Body of Work, which was an official selection of the Stony Brook International Film Festival. The filmmakers share the inspiration behind bringing artist Eric Anfinson’s remarkable life story to the screen, the creative choices that shaped the film, and the experience of premiering it before festival audiences.

Bod...

On this episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes writer, director, editor, and Iraq War veteran Micah Stathis along with actor, writer, producer, and editor Clare Louise Frost to discuss their new feature film The Art of Quitting Gracefully. The film, a featured selection at the Stony Brook International Film Festival on Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 9:30 PM, is an intimate drama about creativity, ambition, sacrifice, and t...

Skywalkers: A Love Story is a thrilling romantic film that follows a daring couple as they push their relationship to new extremes by attempting to climb the world’s second-highest skyscraper and perform a breathtaking stunt on its spire.

Angela and Vanya, Russia’s top rooftoppers, risk everything to conquer the globe’s tallest buildings. As their acrobatic feats become internet sensations, amassing millions of vie...

Josh Fox joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss his latest documentary and his career as one of the most distinctive independent filmmakers working today. An Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director, Fox is best known for Gasland, Gasland Part II, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change, and The Truth Has Changed. In this conversation, he reflects on the origins of...

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss his powerful new documentary, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie.

Widely regarded as one of the most important documentary filmmakers of his generation, Gibney has earned acclaim for such films as Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear, and In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simo...

The Wall Street Journal Opinion Doc The Lockdown Dissidents Director Michael Pack on SOUNDS OF FILM

Michael Pack joins Tom Needham on this episode of Sounds of Film to discuss The Lockdown Dissidents, the latest documentary from Palladium Pictures and WSJ Opinion Docs. Pack is an award-winning filmmaker whose career spans decades and includes documentaries on subjects ranging from American history and politics to culture and public ...

Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine join Tom Needham on Sounds of Film to discuss their acclaimed documentary PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN. The directing team, whose previous works include Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, and Ballets Russes, has built a reputation for creating compelling documentaries that illuminate extraordinary lives and cultural momen...

In honor of the New York Knicks winning the championship, we’re revisiting a classic episode of The Sounds of Film. Host Tom Needham sits down with Knicks legend, Hall of Famer, and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley to discuss Rolling Along, a moving film that reflects on his remarkable journey from small-town Missouri to Princeton, the New York Knicks, the United States Senate, and a presidential campaign.

Recorded at the Por...

In this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with acclaimed writer-director Ash Mayfair about her new feature film SKIN OF YOUTH. Mayfair, best known for her award-winning debut The Third Wife, brings a deeply personal perspective to her work, blending intimate storytelling with urgent social themes drawn from her experiences and research.

SKIN OF YOUTH is a bold and emotionally charged drama set in 1990s Saigon, f...

This episode of the Sounds of Film features directors Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell discussing their new documentary Groundswell, the final installment in their regenerative agriculture trilogy following Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. The film is executive produced and narrated by Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore, and expands the trilogy’s global storytelling approach by following farmers, scientists, and Indigen...

On the next Sounds of Film Tom Needham is joined by filmmaker Yana Alliata, director of the SXSW breakout feature Reeling, executive produced by Werner Herzog. The film has drawn attention for its immersive storytelling, emotional intensity, and striking exploration of memory, identity, and family set against the backdrop of an Oahu luau.

Reeling follows a young man returning to his Hawaiian family homestead after a life-altering ac...

Alexander Hammer is the director, producer, and editor of the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival world premiere Room to Move, a deeply personal documentary about choreographer Jenn Freeman as she navigates a late autism diagnosis and channels that experience into the creation of a new evening-length solo performance. Through an intimate observational lens, the film traces Freeman’s artistic process while gradually unfolding into a br...

On this “Classic” episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham welcomes acclaimed songwriter and Magnetic Fields founder Stephin Merritt for a wide-ranging conversation about music, film, and his latest silent film project. Merritt, who was recently named to the New York Times’ list of the Top 30 Living American Songwriters, discusses premiering his original songs and score for a live screening of Tod Browning&rsqu...

This episode of Sounds of Film features host Tom Needham in conversation with filmmaker Jing Ai Ng about her debut feature Forge, a stylish crime caper set in Miami’s art world. The discussion explores the film’s blend of suspense, character drama, and cultural identity, as well as its focus on a brother-and-sister duo navigating forgery, ambition, and belonging in a system where authenticity is both power and illusion....

Director Raymond Telles joins Sounds of Film to discuss his new documentary American Agitators, which explores the life and legacy of pioneering community organizer Fred Ross Sr. Telles brings decades of experience in documentary filmmaking focused on labor, civil rights, and social justice to a conversation about how grassroots organizing continues to shape American political life.

American Agitators traces Fred Ross Sr.’s li...

The latest episode of Sounds of Film features an in-depth conversation with acclaimed filmmaker Elizabeth Lo, discussing her powerful new documentary Mistress Dispeller. The film has been featured at the Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Festival. Known for her intimate and visually arresting storytelling, Lo joins host Tom Needham to explore the making o...

On this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Maria Diane Ventura and Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia about Eraserheads: Combo on the Run, an intimate and revealing documentary that captures the story of one of the Philippines’ most influential bands. Together, they discuss the creative process behind the film, the emotional journey of revisiting the band’s history, and how music, storyte...