Whatweseee podcast.

“Failure can be a blessing” Our latest episode is a conversation with writer, procducer, stage and screen actor Sacha Dhawan about how the last year has been destructive, turbulent, uncertain and… a blessing. The discussion touches on resilience, adaptation, discrimination, not being so grateful, and of course, the songs and films that have shaped his life. \ Two Songs: Abalonia by Talvin Singh His first way into how music can give confidence and help him get into character. A time-machine of a song that takes Sacha back to a place to rediscover his own identity. Bye Bye Blackbird from the musical The History Boys He reminisces about an incredibly emotional and inspiring two years of his early career performing The History Boys around the world, on stage and in film. \ Two Scenes: The Warrior directed by Asif Capadia This film came into Dhawan’s life at a critical time of self-reflection and at a crossroads. It helped clarify his personal identity and highlight the path in film he was destined to take. Epic storytelling, deeply spiritual and culturally specific but not defined by race it is a film filled with message and meaning, but very little dialogue. The Namesake directed by Mira Nair The first film that he said held up a mirror to himself and held parallels to his experience and his parents' experience coming to Britain from India. For the first time, he was represented on the big screen in a story that he could relate to. Sacha can currently be seen in Channel 4 / Hulu comedy-drama The Great. Written by Tony McNamara (The Favourite) the story follows Catherine The Great (Elle Fanning) as she plots to murder her husband the Emperor of Russia, Peter (Nicholas Hoult). Sacha plays ‘Orlo’ who is Catherine’s right-hand man and advises her throughout her scheme to kill Peter. The series has been commissioned for series 2 which will start filming soon.

"Nobody kisses Prince" Listen to a conversation filled with many remarkable stories of music, culture and arts with activist, designer, musician and mother Leah Wood. In between fantastic anecdotes involving earrings from Prince and a cigarette end from Slash, Leah shares her advice on how we can overcome anxieties and challenges: don't take life too seriously and give life all you have got. \ Two Songs Purple Rain - Prince Fountain of Love - Ronnie Wood One of her dad's early songs, Fountain of Love from the 123 album. It is the piece of music that makes her happy and reminds her of the better years. The song is also a reminder of how much she has progressed. \ Two Scenes Reality Bites A film that showed us all the pressures and pleasures of youth with an incredible soundtrack. Especially the scene where the group goes shopping to a petrol station convenience store and dance with complete freedom and abandon. The Color Purple Cried her heart out to this film when she first saw it in her teens. Especially the incredibly emotional scene where "Ms. Celie's Blues" scene where the song Sister is sung by Shug to Celie, and portrays the romantic and sexual relationship blossoming between the two women.

Episode 6 of That Scene, That Song features a conversation with actor and model Gaia Weiss who has featured on screen in Judy, Vikings, Mary Queen of Scots and The Legend of Hercules. Doing ballet from the age of four, and drama from 7, performing and being on stage was always in her blood. Through a career that she says 'just happened' is thread of tenacity and doing the hard work. \The Scenes Live and Become - a film that Gaia describes as a lesson in humanity. It is the story of Christian Ethiopian mother who saves her son by sending him to Israel, where he is adopted by a family in Tel Aviv and must acclimate to his new life while guarding the secret of his past. The particular scene that moved Gaia was where the mother implores her son to 'go, live and become'. Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski is described as an impossible love story in impossible times. The film is a passionate love story between a man and a woman who meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatefully mismatched and yet condemned to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in 1950s Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, it’s the tale of a couple separated by politics, character flaws and unfortunate twists of fate. \The Songs Jerusalem by Alpha Blondy with an inspiring message of community and meaning of togetherness; something we can all take some inspiration from these days. Tezeta by Mulatu Astatke that joins Gaia whenever she needs to recharge from the frenetic nature of life. If you have nothing left, you can't give anymore. This song will fill your soul. Gaia discovered it under extraordinary circumstances: she was at Sting's house in Tuscany listening to Mia Moretti sing a captivating song that caressed her spirit. She Shazam'd it, and we get to listen to it today.

That Scene, That Song is a conversation about two songs and two films that have shaped Timi, his outlook on life or work, or that have profound personal meaning. Words from the soul and a voice from the heart - you will enjoy this conversation with a true original who is a the very beginning of what will be an extraordinary journey. Timi frequently breaks out into song to tell us about films and songs that have shaped his life: Timi's films: Bohemian Rhapsody A Star Is Born Timi's songs: Can't Give Up Now by Mary Mary And an original song from his grandmother; a signal in his youth that there was going to be no food for dinner.

What We Seee Presents Episode 3 of That Scene, That Song featuring Eddie Kadi. That Scene, That Song is a conversation about two songs and two films that have shaped Eddie, his outlook on life or work, or that have profound personal meaning. Eddie talks about a the very personal journey and early inspirations from Kinshasa to London and now to the heights of the comedy world with many strings to his bow, including presenting, acting music and - as you will hear thoroughly his story - giving back. Eddie’s two films: A.W.O.L. – Jean Claude van Damme https://youtu.be/7gAMarKpYvQ The Shawshank Redemption https://youtu.be/4uu-eWVhj3M Eddie’s two songs: Eau Benite, Simaro Lutumba https://open.spotify.com/track/6FZm33EIV0dY3XdLwuwxIQ Speechless, Michael Jackson https://open.spotify.com/track/1O1LkHTi3Lep9OHE8BvOVe?autoplay=true&v=T

What We Seee Presents Episode 1 of That Scene, That Song featuring Eliza Butterworth. That Scene, That Song is a conversation about two songs and two films that have shaped Eliza, her outlook on life, work, or that have profound personal meaning. \The Star Lincolnshire-born actor Eliza Butterworth stars in Netflix’s Saxon-age drama series The Last Kingdom. The only actor in her family, Butterworth describes herself as arriving to her craft “late in the game”, aged 15. She went on to land a place at RADA, where her lack of acting experience made her – in her words – “a blank canvas”. Four months after graduating, Butterworth bucked the struggling actor trend and scooped a role inThe Last Kingdom. Now in production for Season 4, the series follows the life of King Alfred the Great. Butterworth plays Lady Aelswith, wife of King Alfred, in turn played by Butterworth’s real-life husband, David Dawson. Aelswith is a Lady Macbeth-esque lover and confidant who challenges Alfred. Here, Eliza takes time out from filming in Hungary to talk about the films and songs that have made a profound impact on her. \The Scenes First up from the big screen is what Butterworth calls “a two-minute long scene of utter joy” from Tom Ford’s 2009 debut A Single Man, which sees a British professor “lose all sense of containment” with his lover. Second, a moment in 2002’s Amélie,Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s love letter to the quirks of Paris and its inhabitants. In the scene, a painterly figure becomes a metaphor for the movie’s lonely protagonist. There’s a cohesion to Butterworth’s choices, with both scenes hinging on a brief human interaction and the power of a kind gesture. \The Songs In her musical selections, the 26-year-old proves herself to be an old soul. Small wonder, perhaps, given that she’s currently playing a woman almost twice her age. She picks Maurice Ravel’s impressionistic piano movement, Une Barque sur l’Océan(1904-05) a sea-faring composition that “goes from twinkling, light waves to a thunderstorm” before sailing “back out into the beautiful calm of the ocean”. And, by way of contrast, the opening bars of George Benson’s infectious 1980 funk classic, Gimme The Night. \The Summary Whether she’s talking 70s disco or the vocals of Billie Holiday, Butterworth takes a magpie’s approach to culture, and her passions rarely derive from her generation. Along the way, the young actress talks characterisation, overcoming vulnerability, and her desire to go back to the classical texts that RADA gave her a love for.

What We Seee Presents Episode 5 of That Scene, That Song featuring musician, producer, composer and living breathing medicine man for the soul, Nitin Sawhney. That Scene, That Song is a conversation about two songs and two films that have shaped Nitin, his outlook on life and work, or that have profound personal meaning. The fascinating conversation follows Nitin’s life and musical journey as well as two indispensable pieces of advice for anybody struggling with identity, direction or motivation: \ Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s not enough to just be you. He emplore us to believe that you are enough as you are. \ Be process orientated, not goal oriented Expectation can be the enemy of happiness, so enjoy the process and you will never be far from happiness. When one focuses on goals, things can go one of two ways. It might be that you don’t achieve your goal and the you will be disappointed. And even if you do achieve it you will not have enjoyed the process and the satisfaction may be fleeting. He goes on to share two films and two songs that have had a profound impact on his life. \ Two films Pather Panchali By director and master filmmaker Satijit Ray and music by Bandichi Ravi Shankar who sat for 11 straight hours to create the score. The film is the first of the Apu Trilogy and Nitin finds it to be one of the most emotional moments in film history. Filled with sparse and simple scenes creating using a single, static camera that leaves space for imagination and emotion. Blade Runner And specifically the final "Tears in Rain" monologue scene with the late Rutger Hauer as a replicant passing away. An extraordinary speech highlighting the ‘otherness’ of the replicants; exploited and turned into slaves. Perceived as less than human struggling only to survive and to be perceived as equal. Mirros todays stories of refugees and immigrants - of so many people that have been repressed by cultures and nations. Hauer is expressing his last moments and wanting to share his experiences. \ Two Songs Mustt Mustt, the Massive Attack Remix, by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan This remix by Massive Attack captured everything that was going in with the dub scene and was the first high-profile band to mix an incredible Maestro of cavalli sagrams What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye Featuring sadly prophetic lyrics, and a question that Nitin asks himself every morning looking at the news. How is this happening… this crazy dystopian nightmare that no one can explain to me.

What We Seee Presents Episode 2 of That Scene, That Song featuring Charlotte Spencer. That Scene, That Song is a conversation about two songs and two films that have shaped Charlotte, her outlook on life or work, or that have profound personal meaning. \The star Episode two stars Essex-born actor Charlotte Spencer, who plays Esther Denham in ITV’s Jane Austen drama series Sanditon. Spencer set her sights on a career in acting at the age of three. She trained in ballet at the Brenda Taylor School of Dance, where she still teaches. The 28-year-old remembers her upbringing as “a middle-class lifestyle on a working-class wage”. Her father, a builder, and her mother, who worked at a school, remortgaged their house to her to London’s Sylvia Young Theatre School. Musical theatre dominated Spencer’s early life. Aged 12, she played Jane Banks in Mary Poppins, and on leaving school at 16 she landed a role in Oliver! Her first big TV gig came in 2014 when she played Carly in Line of Duty, for which she scooped a BAFTA nomination. With the highs, came lows. A two-year lull in work put Spencer on the verge of giving up her craft. Out of that darkness, she developed a passion for teaching. Today, Spencer juggles her acting work with coaching dance, theatre and singing. “I realised it’s actually the arts that keep me going, not just the acting,” she says. \The songs For her song choices, Spencer selects Joni Mitchell’s 1971 folk-rock masterwork Case of You, which she refers to as “genius” and “poetry”. She singles out the line, ‘I’m frightened by the devil / And I’m drawn to those ones who ain’t afraid.’ “I really relate. I’m excited by people that push the boundaries, who will say if something’s wrong. People who think differently,” says the Sanditon star. Spencer’s second choice is Otis Redding’s Cigarettes & Coffee(1966), the languid opening bars of which sound like morning sunlight yawning through blinds. She draws comparisons with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 on the imperfect reality of love. “It’s the most beautiful because it’s the most real,” says Spencer. \The scenes From cinema, Spencer chooses the opening of Disney’s original Beauty & the Beast(1992), which carves out an enchanted world and closes on the line “for who could ever learn to love a beast?” Here, Spencer circles back to the theme of imperfect love, praising a childhood favourite that taught her to seek out “someone who can see past ‘my beast’”. Moving from animation to art house, scene two comes from Paolo Sorrentino’s richly aesthetic drama The Great Beauty(2013) and is a continuous shot of Italian countryside. The wordless sequence, as Spencer puts it, “makes you watch our beautiful world for a moment.” \The summary Whether she’s talking about the “privilege” of having supportive parents or the casting call “failures” that were blessings in disguise, Spencer is reliably candid about the serendipitous nature of success. More than acting, dancing or singing, the power of storytelling in all its forms emerges as the Essex native’s true passion. “Our whole civilisation is built on stories,” she says. “It’s incredible to me how people feel like the arts aren’t important.” “Without art, you can’t survive,” she adds.