The Film Programme

Writer Paul Laverty talks about his film The Olive Tree and the political impact of his Ken Loach collaboration I, Daniel Blake.Director Kleber Mendonça Filho tells us what happened after the cast and crew of his film Aquarius used the red carpet at Cannes to protest against the Brazilian government.Is cinema too left-wing? And does it have any political impact anyway? Toby Young, Maitland McDonagh and Will Massa discuss.And we reveal the results of our poll - will it be Claire Denis or Ava DuVernay?

With Francine Stock.Olivier Assayas reveals the secrets of Kristen Stewart's screen presence in Personal Shopper, and the connection between phone technology and spiritualism.This year's winner of the foreign language Oscar, Asghar Farhadi, who boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony in protest against Donald Trump's travel ban, tells Francine that the interests of the USA cannot be preserved by the humiliation of other states.Beauty And The Beast features the first gay character in a Disney movie. Critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh wonders if a company once known for its gender stereotypes and traditional family values is becoming a bastion of liberalism.Critics Jonathan Romney and Corrina Antrobus slug it out to get their chosen director into The Film Programme's A to Z of Film - this week it's Claire Denis versus Ava DuVernay.

With Adam Rutherford and Francine Stock.

With Francine StockThe controversial director of Basic Instinct and Robocop, Paul Verhoeven, tells Francine Stock why Isabelle Huppert agreed to star in his latest contentious movie, Elle, after he had been turned down by several Hollywood actresses.Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh recommend a few films for anyone wishing to have their own Isabelle Huppert festival this weekend.Director Kelly Reichardt explains why her films are light on plot and dialogue and often end in the middle of a scene.

With Francine Stock.Stephen Woolley, producer of The Crying Game, reveals why the film almost never got made and the lengths he went to keep the movie's famous twist a secret.Critics Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh talk about twists that work and twists that don't, without giving away the twist.Sandra Hebron and Ceyda Uzun slug it out to get their chosen director into The A To Z Of Film. This week it's James Cameron versus Jane Campion in the battle of the weepies - Titanic versus The Piano.

With Antonia Quirke.Director and agent provocateur John Waters reveals why his straight-laced parents paid for one of the most outrageous movies in American film history, Multiple Maniacs.First there was crowd funding and now there's crowd building. Antonia visits Newcastle's The Star And Shadow, which is being built by volunteers from the local community, who make up for in enthusiasm what they lack in experience.Could you watch a whole movie where feet are the stars ? Andy Robinson has just made a film with no faces or voices or anything above the ankle. He discusses the challenges of keeping his camera and his feet on the ground.

With Antonia QuirkeAnnette Bening reveals why she's rarely seen without a cigarette even though she gave up smoking long ago.Antonia meets Sylvette Baudrot, the only woman in film history to have worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanksi and Laurel and HardyFoley artist Sue Harding demonstrates the tricks of her trade with the help of a cabbage, a melon and a couple of coconuts.

With Francine Stock.Ang Lee discusses the future of film and why cinema will become elitist. And why that's a good thing.Jeff Nichols, the director of Loving, on his real-life drama about an inter-racial couple who were arrested in Virginia for the crime of getting married.The A to Z of Film continues as two critics slug it out to get their chosen director into The Film Programme's alphabet of cinema.

With Francine StockDanny Boyle revisits Trainspotting for its sequel T2 and reveals why he's been watching the original over his daughters' shouldersRebecca Hall reveals how she got under the skin of a newsreader who shot herself live on air, for her real-life drama Christine.Film director Shola Amoo reports from the Sundance Festival as the British film industry tries to make inroads in the American market.

With Francine StockOscar winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker takes Francine behind the scenes of one of the great set-pieces in Martin Scorsese's classic gangster picture Goodfellas. And reveals why the director once considered burning all copies of the movie.The Film Programme begins a new series about cinema history that hopefully will change cinema history - The A to Z of Film. Two critics slug it out to get their chosen film-maker into the programme's alphabet of movie directors. This week, critic Naima Khan and Jonathan Romney face off as Andrea Arnold takes on Michelangelo Antonioni.Critics Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh consider how Natalie Portman's perfomance as Jackie Kennedy compares with other portrayals of the First Lady from actors as diverse as Katie Holmes, Joanne Whalley and ex Charlies Angel Jaclyn Smith.

With Francine StockFrancine takes a trip to La La Land, the musical which has just swept the board at the Golden Gobes, with critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey.Another awards contender Manchester By The Sea is released this week, and Francine talks to its writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, who explains why he thinks Hollywood scripts are getting worse and have to explain everything to audiences "as if they're idiots".Comedian Lucy Porter discusses her love for Colleen Moore, the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 1927, whose lasting legacy is a fourteen foot dolls house she carefully designed, which is now preserved in a museum.

With Francine Stock.Francine meets Alejandro Jodorowsky, the cult director, mime artist and graphic artist, who was discovered by John Lennon and who once attempted to make a version of Dune in which Salvador Dali was paid one million dollars a minute to play a hyper-realistic robot.Animator Jason Stalman takes us behind the scenes of The Corpse Bride and Fantastic Mr Fox and reveals why he sometimes wants to strangle the puppets he works with.As the awards seasons begins in earnest with The Golden Globes on Sunday, industry experts Clare Binns, Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh run the rule over the front-runners.

Francine Stock talks to Andrew Garfield, the star of Martin Scorsese's Silence.

Francine Stock and guests discuss the best films of 2016.

Francine Stock talks to Gareth Edwards, the director of the first Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One, who reveals what makes his film so different from the seven other episodes in the franchise. Adam Rutherford tries to explain how Rogue One fits into the ever-expanding Star Wars universe and why some works have been deemed "non-canonical".Few directors can be genuinely described as unique. Rama Burshtein has that honour, being the first and only female film-maker who is part of the Orthodox Jewish community. Her latest work, Through The Wall, is a rom-com about an Israeli woman who arranges her own wedding, despite the fact that she has no groom, in the belief that God will provide.

With Francine Stock.Francine visits the setting and locations of The Proud Valley starring Paul Robeson, actor, activist, singer, linguist, lawyer and honorary Welshman. Historian Phil Carradice explains why Robeson became a folk hero in the Rhondda Valley and about the miners' campaign to get his passport returned when he was blacklisted by the United States government and banned from leaving the country.The Proud Valley is being shown across South Wales and is the opening film at The Phoenix in Ton Pentre, a community cinema that closed its doors last year. There, Francine meets volunteer projectionist Mike Chapman, who has traced the history of the venue to its early days when it was a music hall, starring such turns as Ned Edwards and "His Two Little Queenies, the smallest artistes on the variety stage" as they were billed.Otto Bell, the director of The Eagle Huntress reveals why he spent his life savings to make a documentary about a 13 year old Mongolian girl who tried to become the first female eagle h

Francine Stock revisits the manicured lawns and gothic horror of Blue Velvet as David Lynch's surreal masterpiece celebrates its thirtieth anniversary. She is accompanied on her journey to the heart of suburban darkness by critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Tim Robey.

Francine Stock visits Campbeltown on the west coast of Scotland where the community have come together to save their art deco cinema, The Picture House, one of the most architecturally important in Europe, from terminal decline.The Uckfield Picture House celebrates its centenary this month and for over fifty years it's been owned by one family. Kevin Markwick has been with the cinema since he was babe in arms and talks about his life in pictures.

Producer, writer, professor and former studio boss James Schamus tells Francine Stock why he took the plunge and directed his first film, Inidgnation, after three decades in the business.In an exclusive interview, award-winning writer/director Carol Morley reveals what her next project will be, even before a word is written or a scene is filmed.

Historian Kevin Brownlow tells Francine Stock about his 50 year quest to restore Abel Gance's silent masterpiece Napoleon to its five and half hour glory, and why the search for missing scenes still continues even though the film is about to be released on DVD for the very first time.Composer Carl Davis takes us through his score, which borrows freely from the work of Beethoven, who dedicated his 3rd Symphony to Napoleon, only to regret it later.