The Film Programme

With Francine StockToby Jones reflects on his new role, a king who becomes obsessed by a flea, in the historical drama Tale Of Tales.When David Bowie announced the retirement of Ziggy Stardust to a stunned audience in 1973, D.A. Pennebaker was there to catch that historic moment on his camera. As he was when Jimi Hendrix set alight to his guitar at the Monterey festival and Germaine Greer verbally jousted with Norman Mailer at a town hall debate. Pennebaker and his partner Chris Hegedus discuss their five decades of film and history making.Francine talks to the winner of the first awards for Virtual Reality at this year's Sheffield Documentary Festival.Dominique Nasta reveals why film-going was compulsory in communist Romania and a few other things you might not have known about cinema in the Eastern Bloc.

With Francine Stock.Film-maker Mark Cousins and composer David Holmes discuss their documentary I Am Belfast and reveal why they rarely went to the cinema at the height of The Troubles.How virtual reality puts us in the shoes of someone with epilepsy, a migrant living in the so-called Calais Jungle, and an Irishman caught up in the Easter Rising in 1916. These are three of the films nominated for the first VR awards at this week's Sheffield Documentary Festival.The Amazon makes up almost half of Columbia and yet very much is known about the jungle in the rest of the country. Film-maker Ciro Guerra has tried to put that right with his drama Embrace Of The Serpent, and he tells Francine how he taught indigenous people to act and why his leading man is one of the last people in the world to speak his particular language.

With Francine Stock.Francine asks Shane Black, the creator of the Lethal Weapon series, why buddy movies tend to be about men and whether The Nice Guys will ever be The Nice Gals.Director Louise Osmond and producer Rebecca O'Brien talk about their seemingly irreverent documentary on Ken Loach - Versus, and reveal how the radical director once stood as a Conservative candidate, albeit at a school election.Two independent cinema owners, Alistair Till and Kevin Markwick, tell us how they plan to survive a summer of sport. And why they are both praying for rain.

With Francine Stock.The director of Love And Friendship, Whit Stillman reveals why, of all Jane Austen's novels, he decided to adapt her unfinished novella Lady Susan. And why he's written a novel of his own screenplay.The co-creator of Ali G and The Flight Of The Conchords TV series, James Bobin discusses the difficult of adapting Alice Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll's well known but little read sequel.Composer Neil Brand tells us the score about another classic opening scene - how Roy Budd's jazz soundtrack gave Michael Caine the edge in Get Carter.

With Francine Stock.Tom Hanks talks about A Hologram For The King, why America is still great, and Hollywood's relationship with China. He reveals the advice he was given about what you need to have a hit film in the People's Republic.Director Pablo Larrain discusses The Club, his controversial drama set in a safe house for disgraced priests in Chile and the reaction of the Catholic church to the film.Film reviewer Tim Robey and film buyer Clare Binns assess the hits and misses of this year's Cannes festival, including Ken Loach's first movie since he announced his retirement two years ago.

With Francine StockDirector Antonia Bird, one of the few female directors to carve out a career in the British film industry, is remembered by friends and colleagues Ronan Bennett, Mark Cousins and Kate Hardie.The only female director to be nominated for a feature film in this year's Oscars, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, discusses Mustang, her controversial drama about the treatment of young girls in rural Turkey.Critic Tim Robey and film buyer Clare Binns reveal what they're looking forward to in this year's Cannes film festival.

With Francine StockDirector Stephen Frears and writer Nicholas Martin discuss Florence Foster Jenkins, their bio-pic of the New York socialite and would-be singer whose voice made grown men weep, mostly with laughter.Actor Angela Pleasence talks about the making of Symptoms, her psychological thriller that was nominated for the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974 and disappeared from view a year later, only to re-emerge in 2014.From Johnny Guitar to Jane Got A Gun, The Film Programme presents a short history of women in westerns, with our guides Rosalynn Try-Hane and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh.

With Francine StockLaszlo Nemes discusses Son Of Saul, his Oscar winning film about life and death in a Nazi concentration camp.Sir Christopher Frayling takes us behind the scenes of The Sound Barrier, David Lean's celebration of British engineering and innovation that was somewhat economical with the facts.1916 was the year that the pictures got big, but with Snow White, Sherlock Holmes and special effects blockbusters taking over cinemas, what has really changed 100 years later. Historians Matthew Sweet and Kevin Brownlow explain.

Francine Stock visits the Flatpack Festival in Birmingham and tries out Blind Cinema, where she is blindfolded as a small child whispers in her ear, describing the action on the screen.The director of the record-breaking Woman In Black, James Watkins explains why the release of his new film, Bastille Day, a violent thriller set in Paris, was delayed after the terrorist attacks in the French capital.

With Francine Stock."I wanna be like you, I wanna talk like you, be like you too" could easily be the refrain sung by Hollywood producers intent on flooding the market with re-boots, remakes, sequels and prequels. As The Jungle Book is the latest to get a computer-generated makeover, Francine talks to the King Of The Swingers, director Jon Favreau. Many of us who live in the city dream about moving to the country when they retire. Many cinephiles dream about moving to the country and setting up a cinema. Alastair Till and Suzie Sinclair have done just that. They sold their business in London and built a cinema in Newlyn in Cornwall, without any previous experience of the film industry. Francine pays them a visit to see how they're getting on.Director Agnieszka Holland recalls her life in exile after she defected to the West from her home country, Poland, in 1981, and what happened when the communist authorities stopped her contacting her daughter.

With Francine StockDirector Jacques Audiard reveals why he cast a former Tamil Tiger to star in his drama Dheepan, which won the prestigious Palme D'Or at last year's Cannes festival.Composer Neil Brand unravels the mysteries of the score to one of the greatest openings in cinema history, Citizen Kane.Location scout Philip Lobban explains how a key scene in a recent James Bond film was set in Surrey and Scotland simultaneously, with the help of some digital trickery.Couple In a Hole director Tom Geens on his debut movie, which took five years to get financed and was abandoned after two days when his lead actor broke his leg, and why this turned out to be a happy accident.

With Antonia Quirke.Ex-Arab Strap front man Aidan Moffat talks about his controversial attempts to re-write traditional Scottish folk songs, as documented in the new film Where You're Meant To BeTerence Davies, the director of Distant Voices, Still Lives, talks about his love for Doris Day as a sing-a-long version of Calamity Jane is about to released in cinemasSebastian Schipper describes how exactly he made Victoria, a heist movie that sprawls across Berlin and was shot in just one take.

With Antonia QuirkeBen Affleck discusses the parallels between Bruce Wayne and Donald Trump in his super-hero movie Batman V Superman.Antonia visits one of the few remaining video shops in this country, 20th Century Flicks in Bristol, which has an eleven seater cinema where you can watch one of their 19,000 films.Alan Clarke, the controversial director of Scum, The Firm and Rita, Sue and Bob Too, is remembered by writer David Leland and actor Phil Davis who explains why he is a cult hero of British cinema and television.Director Pablo Larrain discusses his award-winning drama The Club about a safe-house for disgraced priests, where neighbours are unaware of their crimes, until one of their victims turns up.

With Antonia Quirke.Director Ben Wheatley discusses his adaptation of J.G. Ballard's dystopian satire High-Rise and why he's literally terrified of the 70s. Producer Jeremy Thomas explains why it's taken him 40 years to get the novel to the screen.Special effects pioneer Roy Pace explains how he made the world turn backwards in Superman using a globe he bought in Woolworths.Antonia attends the Into Film awards ceremony for young film-makers and hears from judge Michael Sheen.

With Antonia Quirke.Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson discuss their stop-motion comedy Anomalisa, how they made a love scene with puppets and why it took 6 months.Cinematographer Billy Williams recalls the tensions behind the scenes of the notorious naked wrestling bout between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates in Women In Love.Director Robert Eggers reveals the difficulties of working with a goat on his supernatural horror The Witch, and why ravens are better actors.

The Coen Brothers talk to Antonia Quirke about Hail Caesar, a parody of Hollywood in the early 50s and explain why they believe there were Reds under the beds in the film industry at the time.

With Antonia Quirke.Clare Binns and Tim Robey assess the runners and riders in this year's Academy AwardsAntonia talks to Nikolene, an Inuit in Greenland, about why her local video shop is still popular, especially in Winter, and hears from Simon Brzeskwinski, whose decision to close his video shop, Video City, in Notting Hill led to very public displays of grief.

The Film Programme this week explores the work of American animator and film maker John Lasseter.Presenter Francine Stock talks to John about his moving making techniques and films including Toy Story, Frozen and his latest release Zootropolis.John also shares his experiences of working for both Pixar Animations and for Disney.Presenter: Francine Stock Producer: Anna Bailey Editor: Jereome Weatherald.

With Francine Stock.Film-maker Sarah Gavron talks about Suffragette and the marked reactions to the film since it was released in cinemas.Director Mark Jenkin shows Francine how to develop film in instant coffee.Debut director Stephen Fingleton discusses the unexpected challenges of making his low budget feature, The Survivalist, a post-apocalyptic drama set almost entirely in a small hut.

With Francine Stock.Toby Jones reveals why he was in two minds about playing Captain Mainwaring in the new film version of Dad's Army.Director Grímur Hákonarson tells Francine why casting the sheep was as important as casting the actors in his Icelandic drama RamsAdam Rutherford assesses Matt Damon's portrayal of a botanist in The Martian.