The Film Programme

Francine Stock talks to director Diego Quemada-Díez about his immigration odyssey The Golden Dream and the influence of his mentor Ken Loach. Neil Brand tinkles the ivories and discusses where Jersey Boys fits in to biopic musicals. Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie is out this week and the Film Programme takes a look at the successes and perils of the sitcom movie. Director Peter Berg on Afghanistan war film, Lone Survivor. Film Critic Andrew Pulver takes a look at the life of Eli Wallach, the star of The Good the Bad and the Ugly and the Magnificent Seven, who has died aged 98. Presenter Francine Stock. Producer Ruth Sanderson.

With Francine Stock.Toby Jones discusses what it was like working with young refugees whose life stories form the plot of Leave To Remain, and reveals some tantalising details about his role as Captain Mainwaring in the forthcoming film adaptation of Dad's Army.French star Fanny Ardant plays a sixtysomething woman who embarks on an affair with a man twenty years her junior in Bright Days Ahead. She tells Francine why she doesn't approve of the term 'cougar' and why we shouldn't worry about getting older.Spring In A Small Town is considered one of the best Chinese films ever made. Released in 1948, a year before the Communists took power, the film was banned and its director Fei Mu fled to Hong Kong, where he died a couple of years later. In the week that it opens in British cinemas, The Film Programme discovers how the Shanghai film industry rivalled Hollywood before the Communist revolution.Dale Dye is an ex-Marine and military adviser on war movies like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon. He reveals why and ho

With Francine Stock.Amma Asante, the director of Belle, discusses the real life story of a mixed-race young woman who was brought up as an aristocrat by her uncle in 18th century London.Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris talk about Chinese Puzzle, the final instalment of a trilogy that's spanned 12 years and has proved a phenomenon in France, appealing in particular to the so-called Erasmus Generation.Of Horses and Men director Benedikt Erlingsson talks about Iceland's love of the horse and why it's regarded as a mythical beast that's beloved of actorsMiss Violence is the latest off-beat drama in the so-called Weird Wave of Greek Cinema, a claustrophobic chamber piece about a controlling father and acquiescent family. Director Alexandros Avranas reveals what this has all got to do with the financial crisis in Europe.

With Francine StockKevin Spacey talks about his documentary NOW: In The Wings On A World Stage about the making of his theatrical production of Richard III, which reunited the actor with director Sam Mendes for the first time since their Oscar winner American BeautyFruitvale Station, the true story of the fatal shooting of an African-American man by a police officer, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. Director Ryan Coogler reveals the difficulties of making a film about such a sensitive and controversial subject.The film industry is not well known for being eco-friendly. Single use sets, huge crews and jet-set promotional tours all create huge environmental impacts. But that's all about to change, and the programme explores the various ways that the industry is going greenAs Grace Of Monaco is released in cinemas, Alex Von Tunzelmann presents a short of history of the movie star bio-pic from The Charlie Chaplin Story to My Week With Marilyn.

With Antonia Quirke.Ken Loach talks about his latest political drama Jimmy's Hall, set after the partition of Ireland when pragmatism and idealism clashed, often violently.Emmanuelle Seigner describes working with husband Roman Polanski on Venus In Fur about the sado-masochistic relationship between an actress and a director. She explains why the film is definitely not autobiographical.Robert Altman's classic state-of-the-nation address, Nashville, is released on DVD for the first time, almost 40 years since it was released in cinemas. The film's star Keith Carradine reveals why actors never knew when they were actually on camera and Woman In Black director James Watkins discusses the movie's influence on his career.

With Antonia QuirkeActor/director John Turturro explains why his barber helped him secure Woody Allen's involvement on his new comedy Fading Gigolo and why Allen was his biggest critic.Composer Neil Brand on how music conjures up the creature in monster movies like Godzilla.Film buyer and exhibitor Clare Binns and critic Tim Robey discuss how the Cannes Film Festival has been for them, so far.What exactly does a scientific adviser do on a comic strip adaptation like Thor ? A theoretical physicist reveals all.

With Francine Stock.Viggo Mortensen discusses film noir and Greek mythology and the part they have to play in his new thriller The Two Faces Of January.Producer Rebecca O'Brien has walked down the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with director Ken Loach on ten separate occasions. She takes us behind the scenes at the festival, as she prepares to jet off to the South Of France with Loach's new drama Jimmy's Hall.Clare Binns is going to Cannes for a very different reason, to buy films for Picturehouse Cinemas, and reveals how business gets done at the festival; while critic Tim Robey is getting in training to watch 7 movies a day for over a week.Director Jia Zhangke tells Francine why his new blood-soaked epic A Touch Of Sin is not being shown in his home country of China, and why the film could not have been made without the Chinese version of Twitter, Weibo.Two historical advisers let us in on some trade secrets about what an adviser actually does on a film set.

With Francine Stock.Frank is the story of a singer who never takes off his over-sized papier mache head, on-stage or off. The director Lenny Abrahamson reveals why the film is only partly based on singer Frank Sidebottom, who also wore an over-sized papier mache head and had his own television programme in the 1990s.Stacie Passon, the director of Concussion, discusses her new drama about a suburban mother who becomes a call girl for other affluent women, and shares her reservations about the celebrated gay film Blue Is The Warmest Colour.As his last film, The Wind Rises, is released in British cinemas, The Film Programme presents a guide to the world of master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.The Film Programme finds out how The Creepy Guys got on in the awards ceremony for Sci Fi London's 48 Hour Film Challenge.

With Francine Stock.Stanley Kubrick's wife Christiane reveals how they met and fell in love on the set of World War I drama Paths Of Glory, and why he was misunderstood by the British press.The star and director of Blue Ruin, Macon Blair and Jeremy Saulnier, discuss their award-winning revenge thriller, and how the director had to dip into his own pocket, and his wife's, to get the film made.Walerian Borowczyk is best known as the director of La Bete, a surreal fantasy that was banned in cinemas across the country in the late 70s. Before that, he was regarded as one of the greatest film-makers of his generation, and a new season at the BFI hopes to restore his reputation.Anthony Chen, the director of Ilo Ilo, discusses his award-winning autobiographical tale about growing up in Singapore during the financial crash of the late 90s, and why Singapore audiences don't like art-house movies.

Actress Mia Wasikowska talks about acting with camels in Tracks, the true story of Robyn Davidson who walked 1700 miles across the Australian desert.Director Joanna Hogg discusses her latest dissection of middle-class alienation in Exhibition about two artists who have to leave their dream home, a modernist house in West London.Composer Neil Brand unpicks Clint Mansell's score for Noah and discovers the "God chord".The Film Programme follows two teams competing in Sci-Fi London's 48 hour film challenge, in which they have to make a short movie in only two days.

With Antonia Quirke.Film and theatre director Sir Richard Eyre reveals how he fell in love with James Dean at first sight.Steven Knight discusses his new thriller, Locke, which is set entirely in a car driving down the M6.Philip Hoare, author of the award-winning Leviathan, reflects upon the representation of the whale in cinema, from Free Willy to Moby Dick,via Orca The Killer WhaleSound editor Richard Hymns talks about the challenges of making a film without any dialogue in All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford as a yachtsman who is marooned at sea.Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Stephen Hughes.

With Francine Stock.Why of all the planets in our solar system does Mars hold the most fascination for film-makers ? As The Last Days On Mars is released, Sir Christopher Frayling, Professor Roger Luckhurst and novelist Naomi Alderman discuss the reasons for our obsession with the red planet and reveal why it all began with a simple mistranslation.A man walks into a confessional and informs the priest that he's going to kill him in seven days time. This is the premise for the new thriller from director John Michael McDonagh who tells Francine why he thinks there's not enough discussion about faith in modern cinema.Playwright Biyi Bandele discusses the problems he had making his adaptation of the best-seller Half Of A Yellow Sun in Nigeria.Lukas Moodysson, the director of We Are The Best, a Swedish coming-of-age drama about a young punk band in the 80s, reveals why he thought it was almost immoral to cast children in a movie.

With Francine Stock.Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky discusses his controversial blockbuster about Noah, which has been loudly condemned by some religious groups in the United States.Documentary film-maker Mark Cousins considers the history of kids in film and why he thinks children and cinema are made for each other.In the year that Film 4 won the Oscar for Best Film with Twelve Years A Slave, the news that its controller Tessa Ross has decided to leave the job stunned the British film industry last week. Director Roger Michell, Charles Gant and Briony Hanson reflect upon her legacy and the impact that her departure will have on the business.Kristin Scott-Thomas reveals how she got her big break and talks about the film that made her a star.

Francine Stock talks to director Sally Potter as Bradford Film Festival shows a retrospective of her work which include Orlando, Rage and The Tango Lesson. BAFTA winning Production Designer Eve Stewart shares the tricks of the trade in her latest project The Muppets Most Wanted. Although Eve has previously worked on the Kings Speech, the Damned United and Les Miserables, she tells how the lure of Miss Piggy and Kermit was too much to resist. Finnish documentary maker Petri Luukkainen talks to the The Film Programme about the experience of putting all his possessions in storage for his film My Stuff. Iranian born writer and critic Fahri Bradley gives her verdict on Asghar Farhadi's latest offering, The Past.

Francine Stock talks to the Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn about British prison drama Starred Up which co-stars Jack O'Connell. He explains how he finds virtue in the most unlikely characters, from Pope in Animal Kingdom to Russell in Killing Them Softly.The musician and composer Mica Levi on her first film sound track working with Jonathan Glazer on sci fi Under the Skin, with Scarlett Johansson. We visit her in the studio where she dissects the alien soundscape she created for the film.Producer Jeremy Thomas looks back on his career, the subject of a season at the BFI in London, Made In Britain. He has worked with directors from David Cronenberg to Wim Wenders and Bernardo Bertolucci. He recalls his earliest memories as a child hanging out in Pinewood studios and looks forward to the industry's future.As the conflict in Syria continues, two film makers reflect on their contrasting responses to the situation - Charif Kiwan of the Abounaddara collective which makes films of a few minutes duration focussing o

Francine Stock talks to writer and director Jonathan Glazer about Under the Skin, an unsettling sci fi film starring Scarlett Johansson. His previous work includes Birth and Sexy Beast. He explores the challenges of seeing the world through alien eyes.Spinal Tap, the rock mock doc, is 30 years old and Scott Jordan Harris and Sophie Monks Kaufman debate whether it still works for a new generation.The South By South West Festival, or SXSW, is underway in Austin Texas, covering film, music and interactive. Henry Barnes from The Guardian brings us his highlights from the festival including The Possibilities Are Endless, a documentary about the musician Edwyn Collins and his recovery from a stroke. And Pasquale Iannone of Edinburgh University takes us on a tour of Rome on film from Fellini to Sorrentino.

Francine Stock talks to Tilda Swinton about the much-anticipated film by Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel and why romance is particularly special to those aged under nine or over 90.And inspired by Anderson's take on hotel life, film historian Ian Christie and critic, Kate Muir look at these citadels of glamour, alienation, opportunity and even horror.The director Ted Kotcheff looks back at his 'lost' Oz psychological thriller Wake In Fright from 1971, now re-released, while critic Alice Tynan discusses why Australian cinema-goers at the time found its uncompromising portrayal of life in the outback hard to stomach.And why the craft of stunt artists demands a lot of bruises, but no recognition in the mainstream awards like the Oscars.

Francine Stock talks to actor Stellan Skarsgard about his role in the latest film by Lars von Trier - Nymphomaniac. Playing in two parts, it runs to around four hours and includes challenging explicit material. Skarsgard appears alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg as a man who rescues her from an alleyway after a beating. He explains why he enjoys working with the controversial director.Composer Alexandre Desplat discusses his score for Philomena which has been nominated for an Oscar. His work includes The Monuments Men, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Argo and Moonrise Kingdom. He describes the art of responding to the dynamics of a film script, without overwhelming it.The Unforgiven both starring and directed by Clint Eastwood won four Oscars in 1993. Now the tale of assassins employed by wronged women in the Wild West has been remade by director Sang-il Lee with Ken Watanabe in the lead role. Sir Christopher Frayling and Alexander Jacoby discuss the cross fertilisation of the Western and Japanese Samurai film across

Francine Stock talks to John Ridley, the Oscar nominated screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave about the journey from first historic hand account to the big screen also and the portrayal of race in mainstream cinema today. Critic Jonathan Romney critiques the work of director Jim Jarmusch whose latest movie 'Only Lovers Left Alive' hits theatres this week. Award winning production designer Maria Djurkovic and film historian Kim Newman discuss the enduring appeal of the French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Dialect coaches Andrew Jack and Julia Wilson-Dickson let the Film Programme in on the tricks of their trade.

Francine Stock brings a round up of the winners of this year's EE British Academy Film Awards with analysis from critics Robbie Collin and Catherine Bray.Plus the director Spike Jonze on his new sci fi romance, Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson. Phoenix plays a gentle, lonely divorcee who falls in love with his computer operating system. Jonze explains why he was attracted to setting the film in the near future.And the producer, writer and long-term collaborator with George Clooney, Grant Heslov on their latest project The Monuments Men. It follows a team of mainly American art experts who trek across Europe in the middle of the Second World War attempting to rescue art treasures from the Nazis. The cast includes Clooney along with Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin and Cate Blanchett.Producer: Elaine Lester.