Interviews with leading figures from the arts
theartsdesk Q&A: Marco Bellocchio - the last maestro
Saturday, 27 April 2024
The last of the old maestros is standing tall. Marco Bellocchio was a Marxist firebrand when he made his iconoclastic debut with Fists in the Pocket (1965). Now aged 84, he makes intellectually and emotionally muscular, hit epics about abused Italian power.
10 Questions for folk singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney - 'deeply personal songs that open out to the universal'
Monday, 25 March 2024
The British folk artist and singer songwriter Olivia Chaney released her third solo album this week, as we break out into springtime, and she’ll be touring sporadically around the UK over the next few months, with a showcase at London’s Union Chapel in June.
theartsdesk Q&A: Singer Dee C Lee
Saturday, 23 March 2024
Dee C Lee was born Diane Sealy in London in 1961. She is best known for her 1985 hit “See the Day”, later covered by Girls Aloud, and for being in...
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Karl Wallinger
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
In February 2001 a brain aneurysm nearly killed Karl Wallinger. It didn’t do World Party many favours either. The aftermath of devastating illness...
theartsdesk Q&A: Wim Wenders on 'Perfect...
Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Wim Wenders’ latest narrative film Perfect Days might seem an uncommonly mellow work by the maker of Alice in the Cities (1974), The American...
10 Questions for 'The Settlers' film director Felipe Gálvez Haberle
Why he made a Western to condemn the Chileans responsible for the Selk'nam genocide |
Scala!!! interview with documentary co-directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterall
How the Scala became London's most infamous repertory cinema |
theartsdesk Q&A: Steven Wilson on Porcupine Tree, 'The Harmony Codex' and electro-dominance
Travelling not arriving drives the reluctant prog star onto fresh musical terrains |
32 Sounds: Interview with innovative documentarian Sam Green about his audio and visual feast
Rare chance to catch a unique documentary that explores the listening world |
10 Questions for the avant-pop icons Stereolab
Laetitia and Tim on Nineties tribes, new-age technology and their lifelong affinity with music |
'The people behind the postcards': an interview with Priya Hein, author of 'Riambel'
The writer discusses her prize-winning debut novel, the power of fragments, and the motivations that drive her work |
Warhol, Velázquez, and leaving things out: an interview with Lynne Tillman
Allongside its British re-release, the author of Motion Sickness discusses the state of fiction and her ways of writing |
'We wanted to make a record we really love': The Rolling Stones at Hackney Empire
Mick, Keith and Ronnie at their Hackney Diamonds press conference on Wednesday |
Composer and conductor Carl Davis, 1936-2023
theartsdesk Q&A from 2021 with the silent film specialist on shot lists, bass drums and projection speeds |
Isabelle Huppert and director Jean-Paul Salomé: 'Cinema is about a little trade, a little business'
La Syndicaliste's star and director discuss misogyny, ambiguity and the quest for perfection |
theartsdesk Q&A: musician Susanne Sundfør - ‘Blómi is a message of hope for whoever might need it’
Interviewed about her new album, the Norwegian singer-songwriter reveals its inspirations - family, flowers and much more |
Filmmaker Tarik Saleh: ‘A director is at heart an immigrant’
Cairo Conspiracy's director talks power, Egypt, Islam and Le Carré |
'I let it emerge': an interview with Fiona Benson on the cusp of the TS Eliot Prize announcement
The poet discusses her new book, mayflies, motherhood, and memory |
'Corsage' director Marie Kreutzer: 'Being beautiful is her only currency'
The Austrian director on Vicky Krieps, a rotting empire's rebel royal and corsetry as control |
theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Mike Hodges
The British writer-director reflects on the making and meaning of his thriller 'Black Rainbow' |
10 Questions for writer and translator Saskia Vogel
Translation as inhabiting in a book with a witchy love of things |
10 Questions for comedian Alex Edelman
US comic talks about bringing 'Just For Us' to the Menier Chocolate Factory |
10 Questions for Bruce Lindsay, biographer of Ivor Cutler
How the teacher-poet became like a Zelig figure across so many swathes of UK culture |
Directors the Dardenne brothers: 'To be living means to be fragile'
The Belgian masters discuss 'Tori and Lokita', and finding humanity on film |
Wilko Johnson (1947-2022): The Bard of Canvey Island
Snug-bar confessions in an epic Canvey Island encounter with the late Essex great |
Q&A: Bianca Stigter, director of 'Three Minutes: A Lengthening'
The historian and filmmaker discusses her haunting documentary about a Polish shtetl filmed on the brink of the abyss in 1938 |
Leslie Phillips: 'I can be recognised by my voice alone'
Saying goodbye to the actor famous for saying hello |
‘Stripping naked the process of making theatre’: Martin Crimp talks about his latest play
The playwright talks about 'Not One of These People', which he is performing himself, digital creativity and constraints on authorship |
'The first thing I do when I wake up is write.' Hilary Mantel, 1952-2022
An interview with the novelist the morning after she won the Man Booker Prize for the first time |
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