

MUBI Podcast
MUBI
The MUBI Podcast is an audio documentary series about how great cinema happens, and why it matters. Every season’s a deep dive into a different corner of movie culture — from classic needle drops, to movie theaters that changed the world. Plus, between seasons: intimate interviews with some of the best filmmakers alive. Nominated for multiple Webbys, Ambies, and British Podcast Awards. Hosted by veteran arts journalist Rico Gagliano. “It’s like This American Life for filmmaking stories” — Matt Wallin
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 11, 2025 • 41min
Isabella Rossellini wears BLUE VELVET
When Isabella Rossellini appeared as the sadomasochistic Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s BLUE VELVET, audiences were scandalised. Nearly 40 years later, the beautiful, bruised nightclub singer remains one of Lynch’s most complex creations. But to whom does she belong? Rossellini talks to Simran Hans about her role in authoring this divisive character.LADIES OF LYNCH explores the subversive female characters created by the late David Lynch, and the singular women who helped shape them. Season 9’s guests include celebrated actor and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini; Lynch’s daughter Jennifer Lynch; his producer of more than 30 years, Sabrina Sutherland; TWIN PEAKS co-creator Mark Frost; and the award-winning novelist Deborah Levy.Written and guest hosted by culture writer Simran Hans, these conversations with actors, writers, producers and craftspeople who worked directly with Lynch reveal insights about the enigmatic and much-missed filmmaker, and the provocative women he put on screen.TWIN PEAKS and TWIN PEAKS: A LIMITED EVENT SERIES are now streaming on MUBI in the US, UK, Ireland, Latin America, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands and India. MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Sep 4, 2025 • 32sec
New Season Trailer: LADIES OF LYNCH (w/ Isabella Rossellini)
Coming Soon. LADIES OF LYNCHLADIES OF LYNCH explores the subversive female characters created by the late David Lynch, and the singular women who helped shape them. Season 9’s guests include celebrated actor and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini; Lynch’s daughter Jennifer Lynch; his producer of more than 30 years, Sabrina Sutherland; TWIN PEAKS co-creator Mark Frost; and the award-winning novelist Deborah Levy.Written and guest hosted by culture writer Simran Hans, these conversations with actors, writers, producers and craftspeople who worked directly with Lynch reveal insights about the enigmatic and much-missed filmmaker, and the provocative women he put on screen.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Aug 21, 2025 • 32min
Nothing rhymes with PAVEMENTS
Director Alex Ross Perry's PAVEMENTS is a rock doc like no other — a sprawling, funny, self-reflexive, weirdly touching meta-movie about '90s indie rock heroes Pavement. Host Rico Gagliano talks to Alex LIVE at MUBI Fest Chicago about the movie, the band's music, and why they don't return emails.PAVEMENTS is now streaming on MUBI in the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada and more.To stream some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Aug 7, 2025 • 44min
LA film fades out...and in (w/ THE STUDIO's Evan Goldberg)
The film and TV biz defines LA—so what's it look like as the biz moves abroad? Host (and longtime Angeleno) Rico Gagliano takes a tour of a changing city, from the Hollywood sign to a new crop of booming rep cinemas. Guests include THE STUDIO co-creator Evan Goldberg, indie icon Charles Burnett (KILLER OF SHEEP), and Sean Fennessey, host of THE BIG PICTURE podcast. Part travelogue, part deep-dive storytelling, the latest season sees host Rico Gagliano jet off to Ireland, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Istanbul, to learn about their cultures through the lens of cinema. Season 8’s guests include actors Gael García Bernal (AMORES PERROS) and Fiona Shaw (HOT MILK), writer/directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP), Evan Goldberg (THE STUDIO) and Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL), producer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), production designer Eugenio Caballero (ROMA) and a host of other filmmakers, programmers, academics, cinema owners, critics, tour guides, and festival directors.LURKER is coming to theaters in the US & Canada. Check out mubi.com/lurker for showtimes and tickets.To stream some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Jul 24, 2025 • 29min
KNEECAP — Rich Peppiatt on politics and partying
Our full interview with the writer/director of the Northern Irish indie phenomenon KNEECAP. Host Rico Gagliano visits Rich at his Belfast pad, to talk about wrangling the movie's titular hard-partying provocateurs, the rise of Northern Ireland's film industry, and why he briefly resented a Quiet Girl. Part travelogue, part deep-dive storytelling, the latest season sees host Rico Gagliano jet off to Ireland, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Istanbul, to learn about their cultures through the lens of cinema. Season 8’s guests include actors Gael García Bernal (AMORES PERROS) and Fiona Shaw (HOT MILK), writer/directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP), Evan Goldberg (THE STUDIO) and Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL), producer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), production designer Eugenio Caballero (ROMA) and a host of other filmmakers, programmers, academics, cinema owners, critics, tour guides, and festival directors.To stream some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Jul 17, 2025 • 39min
AMORES PERROS shakes up Mexico City (w/ Gael García Bernal)
Superstar Gael García Bernal (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) and legendary set designer Eugenio Caballero (PAN’S LABYRINTH) help take host Rico Gagliano on a tour of Mexico City’s streets and its cinema — from the golden era of “ranchera” musicals to the making of Alejandro Inarittu’s tectonic breakthrough AMORES PERROS.Part travelogue, part deep-dive storytelling, the latest season sees host Rico Gagliano jet off to Ireland, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Istanbul, to learn about their cultures through the lens of cinema. Season 8’s guests include actors Gael García Bernal (AMORES PERROS) and Fiona Shaw (HOT MILK), writer/directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP), Evan Goldberg (THE STUDIO) and Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL), producer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), production designer Eugenio Caballero (ROMA) and a host of other filmmakers, programmers, academics, cinema owners, critics, tour guides, and festival directors.The 4K restoration of AMORES PERROS is coming to cinemas in LATAM later this year and coming to MUBI (almost) globally in 2026. To stream some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Jul 10, 2025 • 37min
Smashing in the doors of Amsterdam cinema (w/ BABYGIRL director Halina Reijn)
The Netherlands isn't known for tons of great movies... but its capital city of Amsterdam is packed with tons of great movie theaters. Rico takes us on a tour of his favorite town, to learn why. (Spoiler alert: Breaking into buildings played a role). Guests include director/actor Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL, BLACK BOOK), NY Times contributor Nina Siegal, and more.Part travelogue, part deep-dive storytelling, the latest season sees host Rico Gagliano jet off to Ireland, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Istanbul, to learn about their cultures through the lens of cinema. Season 8’s guests include actors Gael García Bernal (AMORES PERROS) and Fiona Shaw (HOT MILK), writer/directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP), Evan Goldberg (THE STUDIO) and Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL), producer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), production designer Eugenio Caballero (ROMA) and a host of other filmmakers, programmers, academics, cinema owners, critics, tour guides, and festival directors.BENEDETTA is now streaming on MUBI in North America, UK, IE, TR & INTo watch some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Jul 3, 2025 • 43min
Ireland tells its own tales (w/ KNEECAP director Rich Peppiatt)
Rico travels to Dublin and Belfast, and hangs with an epic lineup of local heroes, to learn how Ireland went from a backdrop for Hollywood rom-coms... to one of the hottest film cultures on the planet. Featuring directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP) and John Crowley (BROOKLYN), superproducer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), and acting legends Fiona Shaw (MY LEFT FOOT, KILLING EVE) and Carrie Crowley (THE QUIET GIRL).Part travelogue, part deep-dive storytelling, the latest season sees host Rico Gagliano jet off to Ireland, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Istanbul, to learn about their cultures through the lens of cinema. Season 8’s guests include actors Gael García Bernal (AMORES PERROS) and Fiona Shaw (HOT MILK), writer/directors Rich Peppiatt (KNEECAP), Evan Goldberg (THE STUDIO) and Halina Reijn (BABYGIRL), producer Ed Guiney (POOR THINGS), production designer Eugenio Caballero (ROMA) and a host of other filmmakers, programmers, academics, cinema owners, critics, tour guides, and festival directors.BRING THEM DOWN is now streaming on MUBI in North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, Netherlands, Turkey and more. You can also catch the wonderful Fiona Shaw in HOT MILK, adapted from Deborah Levy’s bestselling novel. In cinemas July 4 across the UK, Ireland, Latin America, Germany and more. A MUBI release.To watch some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Mar 6, 2025 • 25min
GRAND THEFT HAMLET — How Shakespeare’s Danish prince conquered the movies
GRAND THEFT HAMLET tells the radical tale of a band of artists who stage a virtual production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet inside the online video game Grand Theft Auto. But it’s hardly the first time filmmakers have messed with Shakespeare’s great Dane.Host Rico Gagliano learns the history of Hamlet on screen, with help from the movie’s cocreators, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, director Michael Almereyda (HAMLET 2000), and Rico’s own playwright father.GRAND THEFT HAMLET is now streaming exclusively on MUBI worldwide.To stream some of the films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. MUBI makes, acquires, curates, and champions extraordinary films, connecting them to audiences all over the world. A place to discover ambitious new films and singular voices, from iconic directors to emerging auteurs. Each carefully chosen by MUBI’s curators.

Feb 6, 2025 • 27min
THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE — Magnus von Horn on the dark past...and present
Magnus von Horn, a Swedish director known for his thought-provoking film 'The Girl with the Needle', joins guest host Anna Bogutskaya to discuss the chilling origins of his horror narrative. They explore how the film intertwines fears of parenthood with historical oppression, shedding light on the societal issues facing women in Copenhagen's dark past. Von Horn shares insights into the complex casting process and the collaborative nature of character development, while connecting themes of villainy and systemic oppression to contemporary struggles for women's rights.