Pasquale Iannone

An absolute honour to be nominated in the Arts and Culture category at this year’s inaugural @scottishpodcastawards . Congrats to all the other terrific nominees! Huge thanks to all of my brilliant guests over the past two and a half years (writers, academics, poets, filmmakers, actors, songwriters, students, critics and many more). We’ve got lots of fascinating conversations coming up over the next weeks and months so please do subscribe on @applepodcasts . @edfilmpodcast

The new episode of @edfilmpodcast is out now! On this episode, we discuss the work of a legendary comedy duo whose careers straddled both the silent and sound eras. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made more than a hundred films together, including 27 features. They were active between the 1920s and the 1950s and their unmistakeable big man-little man dynamic would go on to influence many a comedy double-act, from Abbott and Costello to Morecambe and Wise. This year marks the centenary of Laurel and Hardy’s first appearance in a film together and to mark the occasion @neil.brand.9 has been touring a show celebrating Stan and Ollie’s extraordinary artistry. Neil is a writer, broadcaster, composer and peerless silent cinema pianist. His show arrives in Scotland this month and he joined me to discuss the Boys. In our conversation, we place them in the context of other giants of American screen comedy such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We also explore Neil’s previous work on Stan and Ollie, such as his brilliant radio play starring British acting royalty Tom Courtenay. Neil tells me about the structure of his centenary show, what audiences can expect as well as the joys and challenges of improvising silent film scores. 🎧 Listen via link in bio 🎧 Neil’s wonderful Laurel and Hardy centenary tour arrives in Scotland next week, with shows at The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr, The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, Airdrie’s Town Hall, Eden Court in Inverness and the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy. #edfilmpodcast #movies #laurelandhardy

Heartbreaker #celticvhearts #football

Fantastic @neil.brand.9 Laurel and Hardy show tonight @queens_hall . Bravo Neil and The Boys! 👏🏼 #LaurelandHardy #silentcomedy

The new episode of @edfilmpodcast is out now! On this episode, we discuss the work of a legendary comedy duo whose careers straddled both the silent and sound eras. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made more than a hundred films together, including 27 features. They were active between the 1920s and the 1950s and their unmistakeable big man-little man dynamic would go on to influence many a comedy double-act, from Abbott and Costello to Morecambe and Wise. This year marks the centenary of Laurel and Hardy’s first appearance in a film together and to mark the occasion @neil.brand.9 has been touring a show celebrating Stan and Ollie’s extraordinary artistry. Neil is a writer, broadcaster, composer and peerless silent cinema pianist. His show arrives in Scotland in May and he joined me to discuss the Boys. In our conversation, we place them in the context of other giants of American screen comedy such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We also explore Neil’s previous work on Stan and Ollie, such as his brilliant radio play starring British acting royalty Tom Courtenay. Neil tells me about the structure of his centenary show, what audiences can expect as well as the joys and challenges of improvising silent film scores. 🎧 Listen via link in bio 🎧 Neil’s wonderful Laurel and Hardy centenary tour will be arriving at The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr, The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, Airdrie’s Town Hall, Eden Court in Inverness and the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy. #edfilmpodcast #movies #laurelandhardy

(Mini) haul from the @christianaid_booksale …📚📚📚 #books #bookstagram

Huge congrats to Francesco Sossai and all the team! Big wins for LE CITTÀ DI PIANURA (THE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD) last night @premidavid (Italian Academy Awards), including Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actor. It was great to meet Francesco back in February when I hosted the @glasgowfilmfest Q&A (GFF photo: @ph0ile ). #lecittàdipianura #daviddidonatello #francescosossai

Superb @rodneyjcrowell show tonight @queens_hall featuring @eamonfiddle and Catherine Marx plus support from @keziagillmusic #rodneycrowell #livemusic

Train Tipple with #Adele #train #traintravel

The new episode of @edfilmpodcast is out now! On this episode, we go back to Naples in the early 1900s to discuss a pioneer of silent cinema and Italy’s first woman filmmaker, Elvira Notari (1875 - 1946). Notari directed dozens of features and documentaries, but like so much from the silent era, only a small percentage of her work has survived. Most notably there are three features she made between 1920 and 1927 - A’ santanotte (1922), È piccerella (1922) and Fantasia e surdate (1927) - a trio of passionate, visually daring, often subversive melodramas set in the streets of Naples - and all based on popular neapolitan songs. After her retirement in 1930, Notari’s work languished in obscurity for decades until film scholars such as Vittorio Martinelli, Mario Franco, Giuliana Muscio and Giuliana Bruno led the way for the rediscovery of a crucially important figure in world cinema. Notari is the subject of a new documentary titled ELVIRA NOTARI: BEYOND SILENCE (@elviranotari.doc ) which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025 and which is currently touring the US before arriving in the UK and Ireland. First stop - right here @edinburghuniversity on Thursday 30th April. Joining me down the line from Los Angeles to discuss this wonderful new film is its writer/director @valeriociriaci . Valerio tells me how he became interested in Notari’s work, the background to his film, as well as his work with key collaborators such as composer @silvia_cignoli . We discuss Notari’s working methods, her reception both in Italy and in the US as well as the timelessness of her thematic preoccupations. Listen via the link in bio #ElviraNotari #silentcinema #film #edfilmpodcast

Jack Nicholson at his finest? Cine Spotlights continues next Wednesday with the wonderful @pask01 as we screen The Passenger.

The new episode of @edfilmpodcast is out now! On this episode, we go back to Naples in the early 1900s to discuss a pioneer of silent cinema and Italy’s first woman filmmaker, Elvira Notari (1875 - 1946). Notari directed dozens of features and documentaries, but like so much from the silent era, only a small percentage of her work has survived. Most notably there are three features she made between 1920 and 1927 - A’ santanotte (1922), È piccerella (1922) and Fantasia e surdate (1927) - a trio of passionate, visually daring, often subversive melodramas set in the streets of Naples - and all based on popular neapolitan songs. After her retirement in 1930, Notari’s work languished in obscurity for decades until film scholars such as Vittorio Martinelli, Mario Franco, Giuliana Muscio and Giuliana Bruno led the way for the rediscovery of a crucially important figure in world cinema. Notari is the subject of a new documentary titled ELVIRA NOTARI: BEYOND SILENCE (@elviranotari.doc ) which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025 and which is currently touring the US before arriving in the UK and Ireland. First stop - right here @edinburghuniversity on Thursday 30th April. Joining me down the line from Los Angeles to discuss this wonderful new film is its writer/director @valeriociriaci . Valerio tells me how he became interested in Notari’s work, the background to his film, as well as his work with key collaborators such as composer @silvia_cignoli . We discuss Notari’s working methods, her reception both in Italy and in the US as well as the timelessness of her thematic preoccupations. Listen via the link in bio #ElviraNotari #silentcinema #film #edfilmpodcast