Girl + Benjamin | feat. Simon Amstell

Popworld provocateur-turned-filmmaker, Simon Amstell, joins us on the Curzon Film Podcast this week, to talk about his romantic comedy, Benjamin, but first we get right to the pointe of Lukas Dhont’s ballet drama, Girl.

Still only in his twenties, Belgian writer-director Lukas Dhont has already made a name for himself with his impressive, tender and controversial debut film. Girl tells the story of Lara (Victor Polster), a determined 15-year-old, committed to becoming a professional ballerina after starting at a new school. Having been born a boy, she faces a world that questions her gender and selfhood, while also also taking on the intense physical demands of a dancer's life.

The film has been landed and criticised in near equal measure, the winner of multiple awards, challenged for its treatment of the transgender experience. 

After Girl, we then sit down with Simon Amstell, once a highly skilled troublemaker, now a talented filmmaker.

Amstell’s Benjamin is a bittersweet comedy about a rising star filmmaker (that’s Benjamin, played by (Colin Morgan) who is thrown into emotional turmoil on the brink of premiering his second film, when Billie, his hard partying publicist, introduces him to a mesmeric French musician called Noah. Set among the back streets of East and North London - and partly filmed in our very own Curzon Soho - the film boasts original music from James Righton of the Klaxons and great performances from its young cast including Colin Morgan, Phénix Brossard, Joel Fry, Jack Rowan and Jessica Raine.

Discussing the films this week are Sam Howlett, Jake Cunningham, Ella Kemp and Caitlin Quinlan.

Follow the team on Social Media:

@jakehcunningham - Jake

@efe_kemp - Ella

@SamHowlett_1  - Sam

@csaquinlan - Caitlin

Produced by Jake Cunningham

Edited by Mark Towers

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