

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

Oct 10, 2024 • 28min
THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE — Guillermo del Toro’s creative resurrection
After a bad experience in Hollywood, Guillermo del Toro had lost his spark. He got it back with a story of a haunted orphanage during the Spanish Civil War, a script he wrote when he was still a student. Together with the film’s producer Rosa Bosch, BFI’s Creative Director and author of THE FABER BOOK OF MEXICAN CINEMA Jason Wood and co-host of the Filmspotting podcast Josh Larsen, guest host Anna Bogutskaya finds out how THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE gave Guillermo his horror groove back. Season 6, titled Haunted Homes, explores how haunted house movies have mirrored our relationship with our homes. Each episode visits a horror movie that changed the way we imagine a haunted house, from the crumbling Gothic mansions to white picket fences, what it says about the people who live in the houses and what scares them the most. Guest written and hosted by Anna Bogutskaya. Find her book on horror films and feelings, FEEDING THE MONSTER, online and in all good bookshops. You can also listen to her horror film history podcast The Final Girls and subscribe to her movie newsletter Admit One.A Woman’s Bite: Female Vampires collection is now streaming on MUBI. 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.

Oct 3, 2024 • 48min
POLTERGEIST — The first suburban haunted house
Before POLTERGEIST, haunted house movies took place in old, creepy mansions. Regular host Rico Gagliano visits the original suburban house in California to check for ghosts and hands over to guest host Anna Bogutskaya to explore how POLTERGEIST transformed horror movies forever with the help of the movie’s star JoBeth Williams, original publicist Mick Garris and horror filmmaker Vincenzo Natali. Season 6, titled Haunted Homes, explores how haunted house movies have mirrored our relationship with our homes. Each episode visits a horror movie that changed the way we imagine a haunted house, from the crumbling Gothic mansions to white picket fences, what it says about the people who live in the houses and what scares them the most. Guest written and hosted by Anna Bogutskaya. Find her book on horror films and feelings, FEEDING THE MONSTER, online and in all good bookshops. You can also listen to her horror film history podcast The Final Girls and subscribe to her movie newsletter Admit One.THE SUBSTANCE is now showing in theaters across the US, UK, Latin America, Germany, Canada and Netherlands. Visit trythesubstance.com 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.

11 snips
Sep 19, 2024 • 24min
THE SUBSTANCE — Coralie Fargeat rips beauty standards to gory shreds
Coralie Fargeat, a Cannes-winning director, and Demi Moore, a celebrated actress, delve into the chilling themes of beauty and youth in cinema. Fargeat discusses casting Moore in her body-horror film, where a quest for youth through a mysterious drug turns grotesque. They explore the intersection of humor and violence, and how societal beauty standards drive women to extremes. The conversation reveals insights on self-acceptance and the haunting pressures of aging in a youth-obsessed world, offering a provocative critique of contemporary Hollywood.

Jul 18, 2024 • 20min
Riz Ahmed channels Yann Mounir Demange in DAMMI
Oscar-winning actor/producer Riz Ahmed (SOUND OF METAL) and acclaimed UK director Yann Mounir Demange (’71, TOP BOY) tell host Rico Gagliano about treading the line between truth and fiction in DAMMI—Demange’s semi-autobiographical short about an angry young man trying to come to terms with his identity, his dad, and his birthplace: Paris.DAMMI is now streaming exclusively on MUBI worldwide. More films from Riz Ahmed are also available to stream in many countries.God is A DJ - you can listen to the song Rico mentions in the episode. To stream more 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.

May 16, 2024 • 26min
The Flipsides of Cannes — Featuring Wim Wenders and more
With Cannes 2024 underway, host Rico Gagliano takes a tour of the less-known corners of the legendary film festival—avoiding red-carpet glamour to bring you tales of spiritual seekers, aspiring filmmakers on the street, and the ongoing drama of the fest’s favorite dive bar. Featuring on-location conversations with Wim Wenders, UK critic Anna Bogutskaya, ecumenical jury member Jane Stranz, and a bunch of random passersby.Wim Wenders' PERFECT DAYS is now streaming exclusively on MUBI in the UK, Ireland, India, Turkey, and Latin America. In honour of the Cannes Film Festival, we present a selection of a few favorites from the past editions in our Cannes Takeover series. To stream more 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.

8 snips
Apr 11, 2024 • 25min
PERFECT DAYS — Wim Wenders cures his post-pandemic blues
Legendary filmmaker Wim Wenders discusses his film 'Perfect Days' about a Tokyo toilet cleaner finding joy in routine. They talk about Japan, travel, Nina Simone, and having free time. The podcast explores themes of routine, resilience in Tokyo post-pandemic, casting choices, minimalism, and the filmmaker's ambivalence and optimism towards America and filmmaking.

Mar 7, 2024 • 27min
HIGH & LOW - JOHN GALLIANO — Kevin Macdonald tackles fashion and forgiveness
Superstar fashion designer John Galliano wrecked his career when he was caught on video in a drunken, antisemitic rant circa 2011. Now, in a new documentary, Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (WHITNEY, ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER) asks audiences to gaze into Galliano’s eyes and decide for themselves if he deserves a second act.On this special episode, Macdonald tells host Rico Gagliano about coming to terms with fashion, ambiguity, and the human mind.HIGH AND LOW - JOHN GALLIANO comes to US and UK theaters on March 8, in Latin America March 14, and in Germany April 11. For tickets and showtimes, visit mubi.com/gallianoTo 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 29, 2024 • 22min
Sofia Coppola — PRISCILLA, from source to soundtrack
In a wide-ranging interview, Sofia Coppola tells host Rico Gagliano all about the making of her new Priscilla Presley biopic—from the Kubrick flick that inspired her opening sequence...to picking the soundtrack full of pop tunes by just about everyone except Elvis.It's a follow-up to last week's career-spanning look at the themes threaded through Coppola's films and fashions—and a fitting end to our season.Season 5, titled Tailor Made, dives deep into the worlds of film and fashion. Each episode tackles a landmark movie that captured a major fashion look of an era, and then decodes what that look meant—to the culture that spawned it, the people who wore it, and the audiences who watched it on screen.Sofia Coppola's PRISCILLA will stream exclusively on MUBI in the UK, Germany, Turkey, India and Latin America starting March 1. It is also currently in cinemas in many countries. For tickets and showtimes, visit mubi.com/priscilla"Performers We Love: Lily Gladstone"—our series dedicated to Oscar frontrunner and scenestealer Lily Gladstone—is available to stream in many countries. 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 22, 2024 • 29min
Sofia Coppola — from VIRGIN SUICIDES to PRISCILLA
There’s maybe no working filmmaker more associated with film fashion than Sofia Coppola. But in this brief history of her super-stylish body of work, we figure out the thematic stitching inside those perfect fits.Host Rico Gagliano talks with Coppola, her brother (and collaborator) Roman, and her award-winning costume designers past and present, to learn how the director depicts her characters’ search for identity in beautiful, difficult worlds.Season 5, titled Tailor Made, dives deep into the worlds of film and fashion. Each episode tackles a landmark movie that captured a major fashion look of an era, and then decodes what that look meant—to the culture that spawned it, the people who wore it, and the audiences who watched it on screen.Sofia Coppola's PRISCILLA will stream exclusively on MUBI in the UK, Germany, and many other countries starting March 1. It is currently in cinemas in many countries. For tickets and showtimes, visit mubi.com/priscillaHOW TO HAVE SEX is streaming exclusively on MUBI in the UK, Turkey, and Latin America. The film is currently in US theaters and will come soon exclusively to the platform in the US as well. Find upcoming US showtimes and tickets here.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.The article mentioned in this episode: "She Says Good-bye to Him in Pants" by Roxana Hadadi for Vulture.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 8, 2024 • 34min
DO THE RIGHT THING — Spike Lee and Ruth E. Carter find color in the dark
Spike Lee’s masterwork DO THE RIGHT THING is an incendiary look at racial tension, an empathetic portrait of a community...and one of the flyest-ever distillations of street style as the ’80s gave way to the ’90s.Host Rico Gagliano learns how double Oscar-winner Ruth E. Carter (BLACK PANTHER) used bright color, afro-consciousness, and a whole lot of Nike sneakers to build a look as complex and political as the story. Guests include Carter, Spike Lee’s longtime cinematographer Ernest Dickerson...and a flashback with Spike himself.Season 5, titled Tailor Made, dives deep into the worlds of film and fashion. Each episode tackles a landmark movie that captured a major fashion look of an era, and then decodes what that look meant—to the culture that spawned it, the people who wore it, and the audiences who watched it on screen.Andrea Arnold's COW is now streaming exclusively on MUBI in many countries. To watch it and some of the other films we've covered on the podcast, check out the collection Featured on the MUBI Podcast. Availability of films varies depending on your country.Links to the books mentioned in this episode: FREE STYLIN': HOW HIP HOP CHANGED THE FASHION INDUSTRY by Elena Romaro, SPIKE LEE'S DO THE RIGHT THING edited by Mark A. Reid, SPIKE LEE by Todd McGowan, and SPIKE LEE: DO THE RIGHT THING by Spike Lee and Jason Matloff.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.