Little White Lies No. 109

Inside the issue…

Chapter One: Romance

First Love
On Tilda Swinton’s introduction to the world, in Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio.
Words by Juan Barquin

A Nurse’s Tale
Jarman, Britten and Swinton swirl together in the heady War Requiem.
Words by Lillian Crawford

In Praise of ‘Bento’s Sketchbook’
This late John Berger gem is front and centre of a Tilda Swinton reading list.
Words by David Jenkins

Sticky Gold Stars: Swinton Special #1
On Peter Wollen’s Friendship’s Death.
Words by Marina Ashioti

Chapter Two: Kiss Chase

Orlando Magic
Exulting Tilda Swinton’s masterful metamorphosis in Sally Potter’s classic.
Words by Esther Rosenfield

No Fear
Shooting the breeze with Swinton collaborator and friend, John Maybury.
Words and interview by Lucy Peters

Sticky Gold Stars: Swinton Special #2
On Susan Streitfeld’s Female Perversions.
Words by Marina Ashioti

Chapter Three: Joyce

The Bionic Woman
Talking with the maverick Teknolust director, Lynn Hershman Leeson.
Words and interview by David Jenkins

Childish Things
On discovering the wonderful world of Tilda through corporate merchandising.
Words by Yasmine Kandil

Brigadoon Part 2
A short oral history of 2008’s Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams.
Words and interviews by David Jenkins

Julia: An Anecdote
The 2008 Erick Zonca film holds chilling echoes of reality for writer Juan Barquín.
Words by Juan Barquin

Chapter Four: T

Lady Stardust Sang His Songs
Why David Bowie and Tilda Swinton were an artistic match made in heaven.
Words by Willow Catelyn Maclay

Changes
With her love of shapeshifting and make-up, is Tilda Swinton the new Lon Chaney?
Words by Tom Huddleston

Sticky Gold Stars: Swinton Special #3 

On Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange.
Words by Marina Ashioti

Chapter Five: Mysterious Object

Dream Academy
Memoria, ‘The Maybe’ and the science of sleep according to Tilda Swinton.
Words by Mick Gaw

Method in Madness
Composer Simon Fisher Turner on making sounds to compliment Tilda.
Words and interview by Mike McCahill

Joanna on Tilda
A moving testimonial from Joanna Hogg on her great friend and accomplice.
Words and interview by Sophie Monks Kaufman

In the back section… 

Ari Aster
The maverick filmmaker speaks to David Jenkins on how preaching to the choir was the furthest thought from his mind with provocative neo-western satire, Eddington.

Eva Victor
The writer/director/star of festival sensation, Sorry, Baby, speaks to Sophie Monks Kaufman about bellybutton piercings and finding a sombre humour and reflection in the subject of sexual abuse. 

In review… 

Ari Aster’s Eddington
Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t!
Jasmin Gordon’s The Courageous
Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Young Mothers
Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck
Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger
Jan-Olé Gerster’s Islands
Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby
Neo Sora’s Happyend
Michael Shanks’s Together
Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls
Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s Mother Vera
Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail
Joseph Millson’s Signs of Life
Plus, David Jenkins reviews eight exciting Home Ents releases, and Tilda Swinton closes off the issue with a diary entry from July 29th, 2025.