A Behind The Scenes Look At "The Testament Of Ann Lee"

The Next Best Picture Podcast

Tv & Film

4.2 • 542 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"The Testament Of Ann Lee" had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews from critics, with Amanda Seyfried receiving acclaim for her performance (often described as "career-best" and earning nominations from the Golden Globe Award and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress. Directed and co-written by Mona Fastvold (with "The Brutalist" filmmaking and real-life partner, Brady Corbet), the historical musical drama follows the founder of the Shaker religious sect in the 18th century with a supporting cast that includes Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Abbott. Fastvold was kind enough to spend some time speaking with Next Best Picture Owner & Editor In Chief Matt Neglia, while Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg spoke with Dan Bayer, and Cody Dericks had the opportunity to speak with production designer Sam Bader, costume designer Gosia Karpiuk, and hair, makeup, and prosthetics designer Stephanie Pasicov. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from Searchlight Pictures. Thank you, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You are listening to The Next Best Picture podcast and this is my interview with the director,
0:05.2	co-writer for the film The Testament of Anne Lee, Mona Fast Fold.
0:09.7	Followed by Dan Baer's interview with the film's composer, Daniel Blumberg.
0:14.7	Followed by Cody Derrick's interview with the production designer Sam Bader and the costume designer
0:20.7	Gosha Karpiuk, and
0:22.7	the hair and makeup prosthetics designer Stephanie Pasakoff.
0:26.3	We hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the Testament of Anne Lee.
0:30.6	The time is near at hand.
0:33.6	I know it.
0:35.6	Do not be frightened.
0:38.3	Hello everyone and welcome to the Next Best Picture podcast, where I am so overjoyed to be joined this year following the success of the Bruteless last year with Brady Corbe.
0:49.3	Now we have Mona Fastball and director's chair for The Testament of Anne Lee.
0:53.3	Mona, thank you so much for coming back and wonderful seeing you again.
0:58.0	Thanks for having me back.
1:00.0	Yeah, one of the highlights of last year for me was really getting to know you and Brady
1:04.0	and understanding your artistic journey, both personally and professionally,
1:09.0	and just understanding your deep love for the cinematic language.
1:13.8	And I was so excited as we were wrapping up
1:17.5	the Brutalist Awards run last year
1:19.3	to know that Testament of Van Lee was coming
1:21.6	and that we would get this opportunity.
1:24.1	And now that it's been received by festival audiences so far,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Next Best Picture Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Next Best Picture Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.