Ep 164: Oppenheimer: Behind Every Great Film About a Man There Are Great Women

On today’s episode of Girls On Film, Anna Smith talks to four of the women Heads of Department who helped create Oppenheimer.

Anna speaks to its editor Jennifer Lame (Midsommar, Don’t Worry Darling) about her career, which led her to edit one of the biggest films of 2023. Jennifer shares her instinct-driven approach to her work and reflects on her position as a woman editor.

Next up Anna has a conversation with legendary costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, whose credits include Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Bridgerton. Ellen speaks about her first foray into costume design, hunting for the perfect hat for Oppenheimer, and the joys of putting together costumes for the film’s women characters.

Finally, Anna speaks with Head of Hair Jaime Leigh McIntosh (Blonde, Babylon) and Head of Makeup and Prosthetics Luisa Abel (Knives Out, Interstellar) about the extraordinary attention to detail required when working in IMAX format, and about the role of the women characters in the Oppenheimer story.

Oppenheimer is based on the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning book 'American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. It stars Cillian Murphy with an all star supporting cast including Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr.

At the time of writing it was announced that Oppenheimer, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is up for eight Golden Globes at the 2024 awards.

Oppenheimer is available on demand now.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Sidney Lumet, 2007)
Fatal Attraction (Adrian Lyne, 1988)
Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992)
The Wiz (Sidney Lumet, 1978)

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Host: Anna Smith
Executive Producer: Hedda Archbold
Producer: Lydia Scott
Assistant Producer: Charlotte Matheson
Audio editor: Jack Howard
House band: MX Tyrants
This episode is in partnership with Universal Pictures.

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