Our weekly update with news about upcoming events and listings as well as interviews with Jose Arroyo, George Crosthwait and Hotsy Totsy

We talk about the films of Almodovar, his depiction of the Spanish civil war, Spanish cinema and Penelope Cruz with Film Professor José Arroyo, who has written extensively about the Spanish director and has interviewed him a number of times.

We invited him to mark our upcoming Penelope Cruz season, to talk more generally about the actress, Almodovar and Spanish cinema.

We discuss glamour, camp and appeal of Almodovar’s filmography and Jose’s own interest in the filmmaker, his working relationship with Penelope Cruz, her versatility and comparisons with Sofia Loren, depicting the Spanish Civil War and the post-Franco Spanish film industry.

We also touch on other films from our season, such as Jamon Jamon and discuss the merits of a season of contemporary Spanish “new wave” directors.

We chat to Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton, the scriptwriting team behind the feature film All My Friends Hate Me. The writers met as school and have been performing sketches and double acts since then. They created the hilarious “web film” High Renaissance Man and had previously collaborated with director Andrew Gaynord on such comedy hits as Stath Lets Flats.

We discuss the evolving nature of comedy, British influences such as Alan Partridge, their collaborative writing process, class-based satire, depicting social anxiety and paranoia, and the surprising twists in their debut feature. Spoiler alert!

You can watch Andrew Gaynord’s short hit CGI Brows on YouTube.

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.

We chat about Marlene Dietrich, her close working relationship with Josef Von Sternberg, the changes in her persona that came with her shift to Hollywood, comparisons with Mae West and Greta Garbo, and the enduring power of stars with Dr Lucy Bolton.

Lucy is a Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University and her fields of research include film stardom and celebrity. She recently co-edited a collection entitled Lasting Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure. We invited her on the podcast to take a deeper look at Marlene Dietrich’s career, persona and lasting influence, to mark a season dedicated to the actress.

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.

We chat about the journalist’s father and fiance’s campaign to secure his release from Belmarsh prison and its depiction in feature documentary Ithaka with director Ben Lawrence.

Speaking to us from his home in Australia, the filmmaker tells us more about his latest film, which follows the pair as they campaign to secure Assange’s release. The film was made over 2 years and covers his extradition hearing, which helped garner media attention and widespread support for the journalist.

Ben explains how the project came about and we discuss its reception and what it means for journalists and whistleblowers everywhere.

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.

We discuss what makes a good documentary, the rise of true crime and streamers and indulgent filmmaking with producer and commissioner Dan Chambers.

Dan is a producer and commissioner, and is the co-founder and creative director of Blink Films. He was previously Director of Programmes at Channel 5 and has decades of experience in making, producing and commissioning factual content. He’s joined us to talk about the non-fiction format and documentaries in general.

We discuss the appeal of true crime and the rise of the streamers, the crafty storytelling of The Staircase, bias and polemic, new trends in content and funding, the merger of drama and documentary in films by directors such as Ken Loach, as well as the power of documentary over fiction when it comes to recounting certain feats, exemplified by the remarkable Hands On A Hard Body.

Dan shares his insights about the types of format and content that appeal to different markets, from the fashion for “revelations” in the US to the sometimes “quirky”, sometimes “indulgent” factual filmmaking in France, and gives his expert advice to aspiring documentary filmmakers.

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.

We chat to Colm Bairéad at the Curzon offices about his first fiction feature film, The Quiet Girl, which is based on the short story Foster by Claire Keegan.

We discuss the understated and restrained qualities of the film, his reasons for choosing to adapt Keegan’s novel, and the “growing confidence” of Irish language filmmaking. We also debate the ending of the film. Spoiler alert!

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.

We chat about the work of directors, such as Jean Vigo and Marcel Carné, their aesthetic considerations and the stories they chose to tell, as well as the lasting legacy of that era with Professor Ginette Vincendeau.

Ginette is a Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London, and a regular contributor to Sight & Sound. Ginette has written extensively about French cinema and is currently co-editing a book on Paris in the cinema. She joins us to talk about the Golden Age of French film to mark a season dedicated to this period at the Garden Cinema.

Find us on the usual platforms. Send us your comments, feedback and suggestions via Twitter @thegardencinema or by contacting us at podcast@thegardencinema.co.uk.