Darius Marder's Sound of Metal went into 2019's Toronto International Film Festival without a distributor. Now, a year-and-a-half on, it's a six-time Oscar nominee and perhaps the most hard-fought of all of this year's crop of Best Picture candidates. Joe Utichi meets Marder and stars Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci to take…
About as far from a typical Oscar contender as you could imagine, the indie Sound of Metal has nonetheless proved to be a genuine long-distance runner since it debuted a year and a half ago at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival. Few would have guessed that an intense, up-close study of a heavy metal drummer who suddenly…
Riz Ahmed has become the first Muslim nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards for Sound of Metal, not long after Mahershala Ali made his own history with two Best Supporting Actor wins in 2017 and 2019. And for the UK-born star, reflecting on his nomination this morning, it’s a humbling…
Amazon Studios’ compelling drama, Sound Of Metal has become an unexpected sleeper this awards season, emerging initially with little fanfare to becoming a strong Oscar contender. Its star Riz Ahmed has won several critics prizes already, and is nominated as lead actor for the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and SAG…
For an independently made film, Amazon's Sound of Metal has some remarkably complex and sophisticated technical challenges, including its intricate sound design. "We went for it, " writer-director Darius Marder says of the unique sound work the film called for. "My brother said he wished we had a documentary crew…
If heavy metal isn’t your bag, and the thought of watching a heroin-addicted musician lose his hearing makes you uncomfortable, do not fear. Both those elements help set the table for the powerful new film Sound of Metal, but this fine movie is so much more than its premise. In fact, with director/co-writer Darius…
Making his directorial debut in the Platform competition, Darius Marder came to TIFF with Sound of Metal, an unusual and somewhat formally experimental drama starring Riz Ahmed as Ruben, the drummer with an alt-metal duo. After suddenly losing his hearing, Ruben has to rethink his future, both as a musician and…
EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has closed a U.S. rights deal on Sound of Metal, the Darius Marder-directed drama that stars Nightcrawler‘s Riz Ahmed as a drummer in a band who most come to terms with a new reality of silence when he begins to lose his hearing. Pic also stars Olivia Cooke, Mathieu Amalric, Lauren Ridloff…
In Darius Marder's Sound of Metal, Riz Ahmed is Ruben, a drummer who loses his hearing in the midst of a nomadic music tour with Lou (Olivia Cooke), and finds solace in the deaf community.
Before filming, Ahmed embarked on an intensive six-months of drum lessons. But still, he claims his skills are not up to scratch…