Interviews with leading figures from the arts
theartsdesk Q&A: director Kelly Reichardt on 'The Mastermind' and reliving the 1970s
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Kelly Reichardt has a thing about losers. You often see them in her films. It's the failure of American individualism that concerns her.
theartsdesk Q&A: director Stefano Sollima on the relevance of true crime story 'The Monster of Florence'
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
In his celebrated TV-series Gomorrah (based on the bestseller of the same name by author Roberto Saviano) Italian director Stefano Sollima depicted the mafia ridden neighbourhoods of Naples in its rawest form – without myth, without any gloomy underworld charm or even the slightest hint of supposed gangster morality. The message Sollima wanted to get across was clear: there are no role models, no heroes. No one is happy here.
theartsdesk Q&A: Soft Cell
Friday, 24 October 2025
Seven years ago, Soft Cell were about to perform at a sold-out O2, a one-off event they entitled, after 16 years apart, One Night, One Final Time. It...
theartsdesk Q&A: musician Warren Ellis...
Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Warren Ellis is Nick Cave’s wild-maned Bad Seeds right-hand man and The Dirty Three’s frenzied violinist. Justin Kurzel’s Australian film subjects...
theartsdesk Q&A: Idris Elba on playing a US...
Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Idris Elba has only just appeared as the British Prime Minister in the action comedy Heads of State (2025) – now he's portraying the American...
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theartsdesk Q&A: composer Donghoon Shin on his new concerto for pianist Seong-Jin Cho
Classical music makes its debut at London's K-Music Festival |
Robert Redford: remembering All the President’s Men
The iconic filmmaker, who died this week, reflecting on one of his most famous films |
theartsdesk Q&A: actor Sam Riley on playing a washed-up loner in the thriller 'Islands'
The actor discusses his love of self-destructive characters and the problem with fame |
theartsdesk Q&A: Suranne Jones on 'Hostage', power pants and politics
The star and producer talks about taking on the role of Prime Minister, wearing high heels and living in the public eye |
theartsdesk Q&A: actor Leonie Benesch on playing an overburdened nurse in the Swiss drama 'Late Shift'
The Guildhall-trained German star talks about the enormous pressures placed on nurses and her admiration for British films and TV |
theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud on sex, love, and confusion in the modern world
The writer-director discusses first-love agony and ecstasy in 'Dreams', the opening UK installment of his 'Oslo Stories' trilogy |
theartsdesk Q&A: actor Lars Eidinger on 'Dying' and loving the second half of life
The German star talks about playing the director's alter ego in a tormented family drama |
theartsdesk Q&A: director Athina Rachel Tsangari on her brooding new film 'Harvest'
The Greek filmmaker talks about adapting Jim Crace's novel and putting the mercurial Caleb Landry Jones centre stage |
theartsdesk Q&A: writer and actor Mark Gatiss on 'Bookish'
The multi-talented performer ponders storytelling, crime and retiring to run a bookshop |
Interview: Quinteto Astor Piazzolla on playing in London and why Mick Jagger's a fan
Music Director Julián Vat and pianist Matias Feigin compare notes on Piazzolla |
theartsdesk Q&A: actor Emma Mackey on 'Hot Milk' and life education
The Anglo-French star of 'Sex Education' talks about her new film’s turbulent mother-daughter bind |
theartsdesk Q&A: director Andreas Dresen on his anti-Nazi resistance drama 'From Hilde, with Love'
The East German-born filmmaker explains why his biopic of the activist Hilde Coppi isn't bound to the 1940s |
Bleak landscapes and banjos: composer Bernard Hughes discusses his score for 'Chicken Town'
Our critic talks about his recent film project |
theartsdesk Q&A: Zoë Telford on playing a stressed-out psychiatrist in ITV's 'Malpractice'
She nearly became a dancer, but now she's one of TV's most familiar faces |
theartsdesk Q&A: Gary Oldman on playing John Cheever in 'Parthenope' and beating the booze
Exclusive: A candid interview with the master actor |
theartsdesk Q&A: film director Déa Kulumbegashvili on her startling second feature, 'April'
The Georgian filmmaker talks about her award-winning abortion drama, motherhood and her relationship with the unknown |
theartsdesk Q&A: director Leonardo Van Dijl discusses his sexual abuse drama 'Julie Keeps Quiet'
The Belgian filmmaker unfolds an all too familiar tragedy in the world of tennis |
theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Miguel Gomes on his latest exotic opus, 'Grand Tour'
The Portuguese director's comic melodrama takes a fantastical journey through Southeast Asia and the history of cinema |
theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer on his apocalyptic musical 'The End'
The documentary director talks about his ominous first fiction film and why its characters break into song |
theartsdesk Q&A: director François Ozon on 'When Autumn Falls'
The modern French master reflects on ageing, useful lies and country secrets in his new slow crime film |
theartsdesk Q&A: Indian star Radhika Apte on 'Sister Midnight'
The actor on her breakout screen performance capturing the frantic pulse of Mumbai, and living and working between London and India |
theartsdesk Q&A: Raoul Peck, director of the documentary 'Ernest Cole: Lost and Found'
Peck analyses his approach to the anti-apartheid photographer's work and to his methods as a political filmmaker |
theartsdesk Q&A: Oscar-winner Adrien Brody on 'The Brutalist'
The much-garlanded actor on what playing the architect László Toth meant to him |
Interview: Polar photographer Sebastian Copeland talks about the dramatic changes in the Arctic
An ominous shift has come with dark patches appearing on the Greenland ice sheet |
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