The Listener

63rd TIFF: Greek Premiere

Steve Buscemi returns to directing with a phone-based drama where Beth, a helpline volunteer, spends endless nights listening to the thoughts and feelings of the lonely, broken, hopeless and worried. Conceived during the peak of the recent pandemic, the film's premise recalls the loneliness and social breakdown of the time of covid isolation while Tessa Thompson’s mesmerizing performance brings to life the “other side” of a help hotline, the daily – and nightly – routine and personal challenges of a social worker.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Steve Buscemi

Script: Alessandro Camon

Cinematography: Anka Malatynska

Editing: Kate Williams

Sound: Kirbie Seis

Music: Aska

Actors: Logan Marshall-Green, Derek Cecil, Margaret Cho, Blu Del Barrio, Ricky Velez, Alia Shawkat, Jamie Hector, Casey Wilson, Bobby Soto, Rebecca Hall

Production: Olive Productions

Producers: Wren Arthur, Steve Buscemi, Oren Moverman, Lauren Hantz, William Stertz, Sean O’Grady, Tessa Thompson

Co-producers: Billy Mulligan, Kat Barnette, Joyce Pierpoline

Costumes: Bic Owen

Production Design: Mboni Maumba

Executive producer: John Hantz, Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Suzanne Warren

Make Up: Kristina Frisch

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: USA

Production Year: 2022

Duration: 96΄

Contact: Bankside Films

Steve Buscemi

is an actor, writer, director and producer. The Listener is Buscemi’s fifth feature as a director, previous credits being Trees Lounge, Animal Factory, Interview, and Lonesome Jim. Buscemi is known for acting in such films as Reservoir Dogs,

Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Death to Stalin. He starred in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, which garnered him a Golden Globe® Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy® nominations. TV credits including The Sopranos, which earned him Emmy® and DGA Award nominations, 30 Rock, Nurse Jackie, Portlandia, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Love. He currently co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS anthology series, Miracle Workers.