Róisín Tapponi

Robert meets Dr Róisín Tapponi to discuss her decadent debut novel Scene City, an insider's tale of hedonism and identity amid the London art world. The effervescent first novel from film programmer and writer Róisín Tapponi, Scene City follows art history student Romy into the belly of the beast that is London's commercial art world. At risk of becoming too caught up in the rarefied glamour of it all, she tries to earth herself by writing what she sees, and soon begins developing a storyline starring her own merry band of gays... and a version of herself. Dynamic, smart and gossipy in the style of Babitz or Capote, Scene City is a book about authorship, authenticity and whether the search for meaning and the pursuit of pleasure are at all compatible. Dr Róisín Tapponi is an academic, curator and founder of Shasha Movies, an independent streaming platform for South-West Asian and North African film and video. As a writer and critic she has contributed to frieze, Artforum, The Guardian, Vogue and more, and has delivered talks on film at institutions such as BAFTA, Venice Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, CPH:DOX and Sheffield Doc Fest. Aside from her writing, Tapponi is a film programmer and Founder of Shasha Movies. For many years, she has worked at the forefront of global independent film and video, across programming, community-building and strategy. She has curated film programmes at The Academy, MoMA, 52 Walker St. David Zwirner, e-flux, Anthology Film Archives, Film Forum, Metrograph, Frieze, Chisenhale Gallery, Art Jameel and many more. Tapponi has delivered talks on film at institutions such as BAFTA, Venice Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, CPH:DOX and Sheffield Doc Fest. She is also a curator working more broadly across other mediums, and in 2023 curated a series of performances at Lisson Gallery. In 2023, Tapponi was awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 for Europe. She was on the Elle 40 Women in Art List in 2025, selected by Eva Langret. Tapponi was on the jury of the Frieze Artist Film Award, CPH:DOX Artist Film Award, the Arab Critics Awards presented at Cannes Film Festival, and President of the Jury at St. Moritz Art Film Festival, and she now sits on the Curatorial Board. In 2022, Tapponi was Guest Curator of the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). She was also the Juror of the Sheikh Saoud al Thani Photography Award, and the Film Curator of Tasmeem Doha, an international art and design biennial. At 25 years old, Tapponi completed her PhD in History of Art at University of St. Andrews, where she received a fully-funded scholarship. She has guest lectured on film at universities including Oxford University, Sothebys Institute, Columbia University, UC Berkeley, the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (UCL), Royal College of Art (RCA) and Northwestern University. Tapponi starred in a new theatre play, titled Pretender, written and directed by Saam Farahmad, which premiered in London in May 2025. Tapponi (b. 1999) is Assyrian Iraqi & Irish. She also founded and ran Habibi Collective, ART WORK Magazine and Independent Iraqi Film Festival (IIFF), since disbanded. Follow: @RoisinTapponi Visit: https://www.roisintapponi.com Dr. Róisín Tapponi is a novelist and film programmer based in London. Her debut novel, Scene City, is out now with Verso Books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.