This week on The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with director Andreas Zerr about his new documentary, Sane Inside Insanity: The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror. The film arrives just in time for the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the cult classic that transformed midnight screenings into a worldwide cultural ritual.

Zerr’s documentary goes far beyond nostalgia, tracing Rocky Horror’s unlikely journey from a scrappy stage production in London to the longest-running theatrical release in cinema history. Featuring candid interviews with Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Barry Bostwick, Jim Sharman, Richard Hartley, Sue Blane, and many others, the film uncovers never-before-heard stories from the cast, crew, and the fans who kept the phenomenon alive for five decades.

On The Sounds of Film, Zerr discusses the decade-long process of making the film, the challenges of capturing such a sprawling cultural story, and his surprising personal journey from casual observer to passionate chronicler of Rocky Horror’s impact. Sane Inside Insanity opens in North America on September 25, 2025.

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This week on The Sounds of Film, Tom Needham welcomes Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of the most influential legal minds in America. Politico has described him as “one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America,” while Newsweek has hailed him as “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights.”

Dershowitz joins the show to discuss his latest book, Cancel Culture. In it, he explores the urgent debates surrounding free speech, due process, and fairness in public life. The book argues for careful judgment in deciding when, how, and whether to cancel, boycott, deplatform, or exclude—emphasizing the need for objective and principled standards.

While Dershowitz critiques the dangers of cancel culture—such as snap judgments, social media-driven punishment without due process, and applying today’s values to history—he also recognizes the intentions of those who see it as a tool for social change. He even acknowledges that cancellation itself can be viewed as a form of constitutionally protected expression.

For more information about The Sounds of Film, please visit soundsoffilm.com

Academy Award®–nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Connie Field joins The Sounds of Film to discuss her urgent new documentary Democracy Noir. The film examines how Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán systematically dismantled democratic institutions while maintaining power through popular support, nationalist rhetoric, and constitutional manipulation.