TOM NEEDHAM'S SOUNDS OF FILM Features D.A. Pennebaker Tribute & FOR SAMA'S Nainita Desai

THE SOUNDS OF FILM will feature Tom Needham's tribute to the late D.A. Pennebaker and a conversation with FOR SAMA composer, Nainita Desai, this Thursday at 6 pm EST on WUSB.

Oscar-winning filmmaker, D.A. Pennebaker, has died at age 94. THE SOUNDS OF FILM will pay tribute to the legendary director of Bob Dylan's 'Don't Look Back,' 'Monterey Pop,' and 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,' by re-airing Tom Needham's conversation with D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, who discuss their film, 'Unlocking the Cage,' which follows animal-rights lawyer Steven M. Wise as he tries to convince the legal system to recognize chimpanzees as legal persons.

'Unlocking the Cage' features Wise arguing that cognitively complex animals like chimpanzees and dolphins deserve to be treated as self-aware and autonomous beings. Through the film, Wise and his team make history by fighting to transform a chimpanzee from a "thing" with no rights to a "person" with legal protections. Ground zero for this controversial international story is Stony Brook University, who is targeted by Wise for its use of chimpanzees in laboratory testing. 'Unlocking the Cage' is available on First Run Features DVDs

Tom Needham will also be speaking with award-winning film composer, Nainita Desai. Working at the forefront of a new wave of artists, Nainita Desai is a BAFTA BREAKTHROUGH BRIT and has scored countless scores for film and TV. She is a Music+Sound Award 2016 winner for Best Feature Film Score, GOPO Romania Film Awards Nominee 2019 for Best Film Score, RTS West Award 2019 Nominee for BBC series Extraordinary Rituals, and Asian Women of Achievement UK Nominee for Arts+Culture 2019. Nainita's musical foundations are rooted in documentary where she has forged an enviable reputation, working with leading film makers on numerous projects that have garnered OSCAR, BAFTA, EMMY awards and nominations. Through the years, she has also worked as a leading music engineer working with many artists including The Damned, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, and Ravi Shankar.

TOM NEEDHAM'S THE SOUNDS OF FILM is the nation's longest running film and music themed radio show. For the past 30 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming live worldwide on the internet at wusb.fm. Past people interviewed for the show include Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Mike Leigh, Wallace Shawn, Carter Burwell, Chris Hedges, Connie Stevens, Tab Hunter, Tom Berenger, and EPMD.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Direction of a Play - Top 3

1. Joe Mantello - Death of a Salesman

20.4% of votes

2. Duncan MacMillan, Jeremy Herrin - Every Brilliant Thing

15.7% of votes

3. Whitney White - Liberation

9.2% of votes

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