The Isis interviews Tan Pin Pin, award-winning Singaporean filmmaker
Interviewing a consummate documentary maker is a dangerous game. Only ten minutes into our interview do I realise Tan Pin Pin has been fielding all the questions, and that I’ve been giving her a dull, derivative account of my university life (Shakespeare, procrastination, The Isis Magazine). Hoist
Artist of the Week: Eulalia D’Souza
Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m Eulalia-Marie. I turned 21 yesterday. My parents are from India, and some of my grandparents are from Kenya. I write poetry, and I want to write prose but I suck at big projects. I have a really short attention span. I call it a “sunburnt attention span” as [&
Apocalypse Soon: A Review of Pacifiction (2022)
The title of Albert Serra’s* most recent film Pacifiction is meant to be a portmanteau of ‘Pacific’ and ‘fiction’, but it might just as well be viewed sideways as an addled variation on the word ‘pacification’. The film, a nearly three-hour submersion into the lush, narcotic,
Drunk On A Flight: An Interview with Singer-Songwriter, Eloise
Releasing her debut album ‘Drunk On A Flight’ earlier this year, Eloise’s sweet, mellow voice, jazz-infused harmonies, and delicate lyrics are the perfect soundtrack to hazy afternoons and warm summer nights. Gearing up for tours in Europe and North America, I managed to catch her for a conver
Interview: Alexandra Byrne, Oscar-winning Costume Designer
Alexandra Byrne is an English costume designer, since the 80s she has been designing costumes for theatre, TV, and film. Her career has spanned many different genres as well as mediums, from period dramas (1995 Hamlet, 1998 Elizabeth, 2004 Finding Neverland, 2020 Emma) to Marvel films (2012 The Aven
Artist of the Week: Leah Aspden
This week we spoke to Leah Aspden, a 3rd year English student at St Anne’s, who does “too much theatre, probably”. She is an actor, comedian, and the new President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Hi Leah! We’ve seen you play Macbeth in Macbeth, Lucifer in Immaculate, and the
What We Talk About When We Talk About Oxford
When critiquing the Blue Guide — the iconic series of travel guides published from 1918 — Roland Barthes writes that “the human life of a country disappears to the exclusive benefit of its monuments”. Perhaps nowhere are his words more relevant than in our own ‘city of dreaming spires’.
Rock’n’roll flotsam: Bar Italia at the Jericho Tavern
On Sunday 14th May, a mixed crowd of students, locals, and (according to The Times) “various figureheads from Oxford’s music scene” gathered in the Jericho Tavern for a show by Bar Italia, a London-based band currently touring to promote their new album, Tracey Denim. I use the word ‘perform
The Last Dinner Party: you are cordially invited to tone it up
The Last Dinner Party have only released one single and yet they’ve supported the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, played a sold-out show at Camden Assembly and are performing on the Woodsies (fka John Peel) stage at Glastonbury, shared with Christine and the Queens, Rina Sawayama and many more. How i
