The Film Programme

With Francine Stock.Anna Karina talks about her life and work with Jean-Luc Godard - why he asked her to take her clothes off in their first meeting and how he would disappear for weeks after apparently popping out to the shop around the corner.Stanley Tucci discusses his role in Spotlight, an Oscar nominated drama about the expose of a cover-up by the Catholic Church in Boston, and why he decided not to meet the man he was playing.Sound designer Eugene Gearty explains how he got inside the head of Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys bio-pic Love & Mercy.

With Francine StockAnchorman writer/director Adam McKay discusses The Big Short, his Oscar nominated tragi-comedy about the financial crisis that hit the global markets in the mid 2000s.Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien reveals why he cut out the plot from his martial arts epic, The Assassin, recently voted by British critics as the best film of last year.Ben Hopkins talks about his political satire Lost In Karastan in which an unemployed film-maker is hired by a dictator to make an epic extolling the virtues of his country.

With Francine StockThe Oscar winning director of Birdman, Alejandro Inarritu discusses his western The Revenant, which tested his actors, including Leonardo Di Caprio, to their limits and was reportedly described as a living hell by members of the crew.Director Lenny Abrahamson describes just how he made Room, a movie mainly set in a 11 x 11 foot cell.Critic Catherine Bray assesses the runners and riders in this year's Oscars race.

With Francine Stock.Eddie Redmayne reveals the research he undertook for The Danish Girl, a new drama about transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, and what he observed about women's body language.Celia Johnson's daughter Lucy Fleming talks about her coda to Brief Encounter, written exclusively for The Film Programme. Borgen writer Tobias Lindholm discusses A War, his new thriller about Danish troops serving in Afghanistan, and why that conflict has defined his generation in Denmark.

Francine Stock hosts a discussion about the roles of women in the film industry and whether anything is getting better in terms of jobs, pay and opportunities. Joining her are producer Elizabeth Karlsen, director Carol Morley and writer/actor Justine Waddell.Director David O. Russell talks Joy.

Francine Stock presents a festive edition with the best films of the year, as chosen by critic Tim Robey, film buyer and programmer Clare Binns and critic and producer Catherine Bray.

Francine Stock asks listeners: Do you remember the first time with Star Wars ?She hears from people who have seen the first film over 20 times, who could recite every line of dialogue, and were inspired to become pilots, designers and IT boffins thanks to Star Wars. And from an extra whose hair can be briefly viewed in his role as a X-Wing pilot and a listener whose father played the oboe on the famous soundtrack. Francine is joined in studio by scientist and presenter Adam Rutherford who has felt the Force on more than one occasion, and still has the toys to prove it.

With Francine Stock.Andy Serkis, best known as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings, and producer Jonathan Cavendish, discuss their new version of The Jungle Book which was made at The Imaginarium Studios, the centre they set up for performance capture technology.Bobby Henrey reveals what it's like to be a child star at the age of nine, why he quit the business at ten, and why he didn't tell anyone about his brief encounter with fame until several decades later. Sir Christopher Frayling uncovers the work of designer Harry Lange, responsible for the futuristic look of 2001: A Space Odyssey, who drew upon his experience at NASA to create the film's spaceships that are still cutting-edge technology.

With Francine StockTerence Davies talks about Sunset Song, which has been 18 years in the makingVirtual reality guru Chris Milk discusses the future of making feature films in the new medium.Mike Kelt reveals how to make it rain in the movies.Documentary-maker Mark Burman explains why he transcribed the script of Star Wars at the age of 13, after watching it 21 times.

With Francine Stock.Director Todd Haynes discusses Carol, his Patricia Highsmith adaptation starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as clandestine lovers in 1950s New York.Writer/directors Jonathan Glazer and Clio Barnard discuss the fusion of science and cinema and the Wellcome Trust Screenwriting Fellowship with the new fellow, whose identity was revealed in a ceremony on Wednesday evening.Marlon Brando recorded hundreds of hours of audio tape of his innermost thoughts, which make up a new documentary, Listen To Me Marlon. Director Stevan Riley, his co-writer Peter Ettedgui and critic Antonia Quirke discuss what the film reveals about his mercurial character.

With Francine StockJames Bond producer Barbara Broccoli explains why she's just produced a film called Radiator, about a middle-aged man caring for his two elderly parents that was made for less than one percent of the budget of Spectre, and why not all films should be made for teenage boys.Bridge Of Spies scribe Matt Charman reveals why he took off his clothes to pitch his Cold War spy thriller to Steven Spielberg on the phone.A rare showing of a 13 hour French movie that was totally improvised, Out 1, is playing soon in a West End cinema. Francine is granted a private screening and reports back from her marathon viewing session - was it all worth it and more importantly, will she ever recover the feeling in her legs ?And there's an opportunity for listeners to write their own coda to Brief Encounter - what Alec did next...

With Francine StockThe West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin discusses his biopic about Apple founder Steve Jobs and why the relationship between the character and the real person is the difference between a building and a drawing of that building.Director Sean Baker reveals how he made a feature film, Tangerine, with two smart phones, and why he'd still prefer people to watch it on a big screen.Documentary-maker Saeed Taji Farouky talks about his experiences of being embedded with the Afghan National Army in one of the most dangerous regions in the world.And a sound editor responds to bird-watchers' complaints about birdsong being used in the wrong movie locations.Image: Michael Fassbender portraying Steve Jobs. Image credit: Universal Pictures.

With Francine Stock Bradley Cooper reveals his plans to write, direct and star in a personal project and why he'd rather be bad in a great movie rather than great in a bad movie.Nick Hornby discusses his adaptation of Colm Toibin's novel Brooklyn and why he wanted to turn it into an old fashioned weepie that would break people's hearts.As the world's largest youth film festival, Into Film, begins, we hear from a 14 year old debutant who's just made a short movie in 5 days.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Brief Encounter, Francine Stock asks why it still makes grown men and women weep despite the restrained passions, clipped accents and various parodies. She enlists the help of fans Moira Buffini, Matthew Sweet, Thomas Dixon, Neil Brand and Antonia Quirke.

With Francine Stock.Director George Miller reveals the influence of Buster Keaton on his post-apocalyptic epic Mad Max:Fury Road.The maker of Cartel Land, an eye-opening documentary about the Mexican drug wars, Matthew Heineman, tells Francine what it was like to visit a secret meth lab and to be caught in the middle of a shoot-out.Composer Neil Brand dissects the opening of Jaws, and explains why a few notes can instil fear in us all.Debbie McWilliams is one of the women who gives James Bond his licence to kill. She's been the casting director for all the 007 movies since For Your Eyes Only and let us in on a few secrets, for your ears only.

With Francine StockWe can see Tom Hiddleston in three movies over the next few months; he explains why his films are like London buses.Actor Ben Foster mounts a defence of Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist he plays in Stephen Frears' new drama The Program.Yorgos Lanthimos discusses the reasons that his characters are transformed into animals if they don't find a a mate in his satire The Lobster.Chris Milk reveals the future of virtual reality and why it will supersede the medium of cinema.Cary Fukunaga discusses the use of child actors to play child soldiers in his harrowing war movie Beasts Of No NationProducer Catherine Bray remembers the time when she thought her hair might actually be space worms, after watching a horror movie at the tender age of ten.

With Francine Stock.The director of The Walk and Back To The Future, Robert Zemeckis explains the rules of employing 3D in film, and why it shouldn't just be used for effect.Foley artist Barnaby Smyth demonstrates how he followed in the footsteps of Emmeline Pankhurst and co for the sound effects to Suffragette, which required him to wear specially adapted high heels.Joe Wright, the director of Pan explains why Nirvana's Smell Like Teen Spirit makes an unlikely appearance in his new adaptation of J.M. Barrie's classic children's tale.Denis Villeneuve reveals the pressure of making the sequel to Blade Runner.

With Francine Stock.Director Justin Kurzel tells Francine why he believes that Macbeth is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.Greensman is not the latest super-hero but the name of the person who dresses a set with trees and shrubbery to make the indoors look like the outdoors. Richard Payne of Living Props reveals a few trade secrets.Cinematographer Robbie Ryan explains why the selfie is making better actors of us all.Matthew Sweet and Bryony Dixon of the BFI take us behind the scenes of a British film studio in 1928, just as new sound technology was about to change everything.

With Francine StockThe director of Hairspray and Pink Flamingos, John Waters, discusses whether shock value still has any currency.Sound editor Walter Murch reveals how he created the sounds of the future in 1971's THX1138Michelangelo Antonioni's romantic drama L'Eclisse has one of the most iconoclastic endings in world cinema, critic Pasquale Iannone explains why.

With Francine Stock.A new drama Everest depicts what happened to a group of mountaineers on Everest when a storm struck in 1996. Film-maker and climber David Breashears was on the mountain at the time and discusses the practicalities and the problems of recreating the fatal expedition with director Baltasar Kormakur.Alfred Hitchcock loved the Albert Hall so much that he filmed there three times, including a boxing movie The Ring, inspired by his frequent visits to see fights in the auditorium. Francine follows in the footsteps of James Stewart and Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much, which the director made not once, but twice.Critic Tim Robey and film buyer Clare Binns run a critical eye over the offerings at the Toronto Film Festival.