The Film Programme

Francine Stock presents a new series in The Film Programme. This Woman's Work is a regular discussion strand with some of the most important women in the British film industry. This week she talks to two producers about their adventures in motion pictures: Elizabeth Karlsen and Serena Armitage.The Wound is a controversial South African drama about an initiation ceremony for young boys about to enter manhood. The director John Trengove and star Nakhane Toure explain why they think these rites of passage can actually be a good thing.Writer/director Michael Pearce reveals why his ambivalent feelings about his home of Jersey fuelled his thriller Beast, and why most of the fllm was shot in land-locked Surrey.Teacher Julian Bell takes us through the most irritating things that the movies get wrong about his job, and why they get no marks for accuracy.

Critics Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh plug the gap in their knowledge of Merchant Ivory, the team that brought us Room With a View and The Remains of The Day. Their choice is the film that brought together famous Hollywood husband and wife Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman as Mr and Mrs Bridge. But is it a gap worth filling?

With Antonia Quirke.Shirley Henderson reveals the meticulous research she conducted for her role as a woman in the advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease for her new film Never Steady, Never Still.Maxine Peake and Tony Pitts on why they found working men's clubs impossibly glamorous in the 70s and 80s.Midwives Kate Jackson and Christine Kelly reveal what the movies get wrong about their jobs.Director Justin Edgar writes three rules that other film-makers should follow when making dramas with disabled characters.And there is a podcast exclusive edition of Mind The Gap in which critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey fill the gap in their knowledge of Merchant-Ivory films.

With Antonia QuirkeAntonia talks to Noel Cronin, the man behind cult channel Talking Pictures TV, which specialises in those old movies you used to catch on afternoon telly, often when you were ill from school. He explains how he runs a TV station from his home in the Hertfordshire countryside.As Clint Eastwood growls his way back into cinemas as The Man With No Name in A Fistful Of Dollars, poet Bridget Minamore and critic Tim Robey discuss the appeal of the Strong, Silent Type.Ex-submariner Justin Beattie plumbs the depths of movies about life under the ocean waves and separates fact from fiction in movies such as The Hunt For Red October and Das Boot.

The League Of Gentleman star picks a hidden gem, The Amazing Mr Blunden, which he saw in school in 1974, preceded by a government information film. Originally broadcast 21/08/09

With Francine Stock.Carol director Todd Haynes discusses his adaptation of children's novel Wonderstruck and how he cast his lead actor from the deaf community.Director Robin Campillo reveals the autobiographical elements of his award-winning film about AIDS activists in the 90s, 120 Beats Per Minute, and how he had to come to terms with death at a very young age.Niellah Arboine offers three rules for putting black characters on screen that film-makers should follow.Director Sky Neal and producer Elhum Shakerifar take us behind the scenes of their documentary, Even When I Fall, about Nepal's first circus which has been set up by survivors of child trafficking.

Produced by Mark Burman

With Francine StockSteven Spielberg on Virtual Reality and his latest film Ready Player One Dan Tucker Curator Alternate Realities, Sheffield International Documentaries Festival considers the realities for VR, cinema and film directors.Actor/writer/director Julie Delpy explains why she's never lost an argument with her husband, and how that informed the famous fight in Before Midnight. And playing the French teacher Carine in the comedy-drama The Bachelors.The Scents of Cinema: critic, blogger and perfume expert Dariush Alavi considers the top-notes in the 2006 screen adaptation of Patrick Susskind's murderous tale, Perfume.

Ava DuVernay talks to Francine Stock about her new pre-teen, sci-fi fantasy film A Wrinkle In Time based on the award winning novel by Madeleine L'Engle. There's another episode of Pitch Battle and the search for a hidden figure of history who might be a suitable candidate for a bio-pic. Greg Jenner Horrible Histories writer and public historian makes the case for the celebrated Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean.In this week's A to Z of film-makers Y is for Edward Yang and Yuen Woo-Ping. Tim Robey of The Telegraph and Scott Jordan Harris, Roger Ebert's UK correspondent discuss the work of these two iconic film makers.

With Francine Stock.Here are five words you probably never thought you'd read in the same sentence - Joaquin Phoenix is Jesus Christ. Director Garth Davis explains why he cast the idiosyncratic actor in his biblical epic, Mary Magdalene.Archaeologist Paul Duncan McGarrity excavates the history of cinematic diggers, bonekickers, and tomb raiders, and sees how they measure up to real lifePalme D'Or winner Ruben Ostlund takes us around The Square, his satire on contemporary society involving an art curator, a PR campaign and a grown man impersonating an ape.In this week's A to Z of film-makers, X is for Xavier Dolan as critics Catherine Bray and Briony Hanson discuss the work of the Quebecois 28 year old wunderkind who's been making movies since he was 19.

With Francine StockWriter/director Paul King and writer Simon Farnaby reveal why Hugh Grant's character in Paddington 2, a pompous washed-up actor, was originally called Hugh Grant in the first draft of the script.Award winning director Lynne Ramsay discusses You Were Never Really Here and why her star Joaquin Phoenix barely understood a word she said when she offered him the role of a hit-man called Joe.Director Alexandra Dean discusses her documentary Bombshell about actor Hedy Lamarr's unlikely other career as an inventor of technology that preceded Wi-Fi and GPS.

With Francine StockDirector Sebastian Lelio discusses his ground-breaking drama A Fantastic Woman, with transgender star Daniela Vega in the lead, that could win Chile its first ever Oscar.The director of the award winning love story Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino, explains why it's his version of Dirty Dancing.Production designer Sarah Greenwood is in the enviable position of competing against herself for the Oscar for best production design, for Darkest Hour and Beauty And The Beast.

With Francine StockAward winning film-maker Clio Barnard discusses her latest drama Dark River, based on scientific research conducted at the Wellcome Institute.Critics Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Briony Hanson go toe-to-toe to get their chosen director into the Film Programme's A to Z. This week it's the Wachowskis versus Wong Kar-Wai. As an alternative option, Pamela Hutchinson makes the case for film pioneer Lois Weber.Composer Neil Brand reveals how Ennio Morricone's score for Cinema Paradiso changed the sound of romantic picturesRosemary Fletcher re-watches Kill Bill in the light of Uma Thurman's recent complaints about its director Quentin Tarantino's behaviour on set.

With Francine StockAlison Janney discusses her award winning role as Tonya Harding's mother in real-life ice-skating drama I, Tonya, and reveals why she's happy that she never met the real Mrs Harding.Sally Potter talks about her latest film The Party, as it's released for home entertainment, and explains why she thinks there are so few female film-makers in this country and what can be done about the situation.Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh present a beginner's guide to Greta Gerwig, as the actor's directorial debut Lady Bird is released in cinemas.In another edition of Pitch Battle, historian Tracy Borman makes the case for a bio-pic of Anne Of Denmark, the woman behind the Gunpowder Plot.

With Francine StockGuillermo del Toro on his Oscar nominated fantasy The Shape Of Water and why it's a parable for our troubled times.The director of Russian family drama Loveless, Andrey Zvyaginstev, reveals what his film has to say about the conflict in Ukraine.Could the director of Basic Instinct really be one of the greatest film-makers of all time. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh makes the case for Paul Verhoeven, while Simran Hans champions Luchino Visconti for inclusion in The Film Programme's A to Z.

With Francine StockDirector Paul Thomas Anderson discusses Phantom Thread, Daniel Day Lewis' farewell to the film industry.There's another episode of Pitch Battle, in which historians nominate a suitable candidate for the movie treatment, a historical figure who has not yet been the subject of bio-pic. This week Helen Antrobus champions Ellen Wilkinson, the five foot "mighty atom" who led the Jarrow March.Anna Smith explains why she's spent the last twenty five years watching Groundhog Day over and over again.Perfume expert Dariush Alavi examines one of the few films to have been named after a scent, Black Narcissus, and explains what the movie smells like to him.

With Francine Stock.Actor/director Julie Delpy explains why she thinks there are still only a few female directors and why, in her experience, some money men believe that women are too emotional to be in charge of a film production. Florence Pugh discusses the parts she's been offered since her break-through role in Lady Macbeth and why many scripts begin with a description of a female character's appearance rather than her intelligence.Composer Neil Brand reveals why Elmer Bernstein's score for The Magnificent Seven changed the sound of the westernCritics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw go toe-to-toe to get their director into The Film Programme's A to Z of Film-makers.

Alexander Payne gives Francine Stock the low-down on Downsizing.

With Francine Stock.Playwright and writer/director Martin McDonagh talks about his award-winning drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and why he never knows which direction his plot is taking when he's writing and is as surprised by the twists and turns as the audience.The heist thriller Baby Driver is choreographed to the songs that its hero is listening to on his headphones, from the coffee machine that's in sync with Harlem Shuffle to the shoot-out that plays out to the strains of Hocus Pocus by Dutch prog rock band Focus. Sound designer Julian Slater tell us how he did it.As two Churchill bio-pics are released within six months of each other, The Film Programme challenges historians and history buffs to offer better historical candidates for the movie treatment. Comedy writer Jack Bernhardt kicks off the Pitch Battle series with Headless, the tale of Lord Thomas Fairfax, a brilliant general and terrible politician, and his part in Charles I's downfall.

With Francine Stock.The Darkest Hour is the second bio-pic about Winston Churchill in 12 months. Director Joe Wright discusses our continuing fascination with Britain's most famous prime minister and reveals why he cast Gary Oldman in the lead role and why some people doubted his sanity when they heard the news.Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike is in studio to discuss her role in gritty western Hostiles.Sandra Hebron and Nadia Denton slug it out to get their chosen director into The Film Programme's A to Z of film-makers.