The Film Programme

Matthew Sweet talks to the writer and star of Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig. Directed by Noah Baumbach it tells the story of a friendship between two women as their lives begin to take different paths. Greta ponders why female friendship isn't often seen as worthy of the big screen treatment. As the hot weather continues, how are cinema takings holding up? Number cruncher Charles Gant and independent cinema owner Kevin Markwick chew over the trends, hits, misses and surprises at the box office so far this year and look ahead to what the rest of 2013 has in store. The writer and comedian Mark Gatiss is back with the last of his cinema spin offs from 1970s sitcoms. This week it's Porridge, an altogether subtler affair, he argues, than the previously discussed movies of On The Buses and Are You Being Served. The silent epic The Birth of a Nation was released in 1915 and has been controversial ever since, particularly for its depiction of race. It portrays the Civil War and has been described as a recruitment tool for