The Giaour Podcast

In this podcast we speak to Sound Designer, Editor and Mixer Raoul Brand, in the comfort of his studio in Soho, London, and explore the relationship of Sound Design to Music, along with the dark arts of harvesting and convolving... Music by Jono Podmore with Jie Ma, Drums Off Chaos  and The İstanbul Strings Voices Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore and Raoul Brand “All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music. For while in all other kinds of art it is possible to distinguish the matter from the form, and the understanding can always make this distinction, yet it is the constant effort of art to obliterate it.”― Walter Pater  

Athens-based Production Designer and Art Director Dimitris Ziakas returns for another podcast to tell us about The Giaour locations; Ottoman, Greek and Balkan architecture; and life in the harem.  Music by Jono Podmore with Jie Ma and The İstanbul Strings Voices Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore and Dimitris Ziakas

Athens-based Production Designer and Art Director Dimitris Ziakas brings us his personal experience of Balkan and Ottoman culture, from border patrols to the impact of saddle design and the intricate trails left by the historical interaction of Greece, Turkey and the Balkans. Music by Jono Podmore with Murat Ertel, Ümit Adakale, Fakih Kademoğlu and The İstanbul Strings Dedicated to Lorina Kamburova Voices Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore and Dimitris Ziakas

In this episode we meet musician and actress Jie Ma. Jie plays a traditional Chinese instrument called the Pipa and will appear playing the Pipa in The Giaour, both in the soundtrack and onscreen. We delve in to many aspects of Chinese culture: music, horses and Tai Chi... Music by Jono Podmore with Jie Ma and The İstanbul Strings Voices Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore and Jie Ma

In this episode we'll be discussing a vital aspect of the look of The Giaour: costume. We are very lucky to be working with designer/artist Djanina Baykoucheva, who heads the costume department at NuBoyana studio in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has given us a statement on the richness of the costumes of the Ottoman empire, which leads to tales of bandits on horseback, freedom fighters and men in skirts... Music by Jono Podmore with Drums Off Chaos Voices Rika Ohara and Jono Podmore Texts read by Agata Hryn and Nick Rawling

We talk to professor Rebecca Nesvet, Professor of Literature at University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. It was Prof. Nesvet's idea that The Giaour's "broken tale" was finished in the fifth canto of Don Juan (in which Juan spends a night in the Sultan's harem dressed as a woman) that originally drew Rika to the story.  Music by Jono Podmore with The İstanbul Strings Text read by Nick Rawling Voices: Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore, Rebecca Nesvet - recorded in L.A, London and Green Bay

A conversation with actor, L.A. opera/master chorale tenor and cathedral cantor at L.A cathedral, Charles Lane about his role as Baba in the film. Charles has worked closely with Rika throughout the development of The Giaour, and finds many links between the role and his own life and history: listen out for magic, music and matriarchy. Music by Jono Podmore with Fakih Kademoğlu and The İstanbul Strings Voices Rika Ohara, Jono Podmore and Charles Lane, recorded in L.A and London

As an introduction, Rika and Jono discuss some of the fundamental themes running through both the poem and the film. Race, gender, vampires and pronunciation of the word "giaour" feature alongside geopolitics, sex and power.  Music by Jono Podmore with Drums Off Chaos and Jie Ma Text read by Nick Rawling

A brief introduction to the series, with an outline of the story. Music by Jono Podmore with The İstanbul Strings, Drums Off Chaos and Jie Ma Voices Rika Ohara and Jono Podmore