only eight were directed by women. go left, go left! greta gerwig might be up for best director at the oscars for her coming—of—age film, lady bird. come to the left. but she is only the fifth woman in the academy's 90 year history to be nominated in that category. and for her work on the drama mudbound, rachel morrison is the first woman ever to be nominated for best cinematography. a former oscar winner is under no illusion that change will be swift. when i first started work on film, it was 99.9% male. now it's 75% male — we've still got a long way to go. meet two women determined to make a difference. they formed a company committed to producing more diverse films with more women behind and in front of the camera. the majority of the audience is female and the majority of material is male orientated and that dissonance just does not make sense any more.

the whole movement towards including more voices and more diverse storytelling, it just also makes good business sense. different perspectives, different angles — they may be the way ahead for hollywood. rebecca jones, bbc news, los angeles. it is all about the weather, susan. please tell us it will be warming up soon. soon. ican soon. i can promise you a heatwave or even average temperatures for this time of year but it will get milder than it has been, so the cold snap will ease and you can already see some signs of that, this is the rain across the south west of wales, further north still some snow for

southern scotland and northern ireland but milder air in the south will give us temperatures of five or 6 degrees. we will need to watch that doesn't turn to snow across the midlands and pushing up into northern england, then showers of rainfor northern england, then showers of rain for the south—west of england, some heavy or thundery and they could cause rapid thawing which could cause rapid thawing which could result in flooding, further north ice is an issue first thing but then milder air pushes its way north, misty and murky for many of us, some heavy rain for eastern england, further north we still have snow for scotland with colder air but further south, temperatures slowly recovering. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: weather warnings for snow and icy roads remain in place across much of the uk — hundreds of homes are without power in parts of wales and england. several flood warnings have been

issued for parts of england due to high tides and strong winds. motorists and rail passengers have been told to expect continued disruption on roads and railways. following theresa may's speech yesterday, the health secretary, jeremy hunt, says the prime minister's brexit offer showed that it is possible to get "frictionless" trade with the european union while leaving the single market and the customs union. the use of video assistant referees throughout world football has been unanimously approved by the body that sets the global rules for the game. now on bbc news: the nile is the world's longest river, flowing from lake tana in ethiopia, through sudan and into egypt. it's vital to all three countries. but who controls the water? alastair leithead reports in this special programme, damming the nile. the river nile is the

world's longest river. it's where the world's first war over water could be fought. the first of its two great tributaries, the white nile, flows from lake victoria, but ourjourney begins in ethiopia, following the blue nile from lake tana as it sweeps through africa's grand canyon to where a dam is being built close to the sudan border. lake tana, the source of the river, is a place of myth and legend. it's the biggest lake in ethiopia and many of its 37 islands have their own monasteries. it's a very sacred place for ethiopian orthodox christians. this monastery dates back to the 14th century.

some of these paintings are more than 400 years old. the nile appears in the old testament and legend has it that the ark of the covenant was briefly brought here. but all is not calm on these waters. the struggle for control of this great river is dividing the three countries that share it. the nile is the bringer of life, and from where it launches itself downstream it has the power to bring peace or bring war. this is where the blue nile begins its long journey. from here up in the ethiopian highlands it will cut through caverns and canyons, across plains through sudan and egypt and into the delta of the mediterranean sea. around 85% of that water comes from here and that is why a vast new dam being built in ethiopia

is dividing nations. this is the grand ethiopian renaissance dam and it is driving ethiopia's ambitious plans for industrial revolution, to put its growing population to work to power the region and to tame the river, but it's also at the heart of a row that has sucked in sudan and egypt and threatens peace in this part of africa. when it's finished, this will be the largest hydroelectric power station in africa and one of the biggest dams on the continent. it will not only power this country but the surroundings countries as well. ethiopia didn't even ask the countries downstream before it started building. that is the scale of this country's ambition. after just five years of work, it's almost two thirds complete.

this project is a project that is being built by ethiopians and that will benefit other african brothers, sisters and other countries. the project manager says it is costing at least $4.5 billion and that is probably an underestimate. he insists that downstream countries shouldn't worry as it is not consuming any water. this is a hydroelectric project. it is a non—water—consuming scheme project that is only dedicated to generate electricity. this shows how the government of ethiopia, how the people of the nations, are committed themselves to eradicate our common enemy — poverty. the construction works are impressive. this second dam sweeps across a 5km valley, joining two mountains to create the edge of a vast reservoir.

all this and a lot more will be flooded. once finished and filled, it will cover more than 1,800 square kilometres, larger than the size of greater london. it will flood the blue nile for nearly 250km upstream. if it is filled too fast, it will reduce the amount of water that flows to sudan and egypt. thousands of people have already been moved to make way for the lake. the power lines are ready and waiting for the electricity the dam will provide. 70% of ethiopia — that's 70 million people — don't have electricity. it is holding back the country's grand plans for development and it is why people support a project they are paying for. translation: if we had electricity, we would be able to get what the village needs. for instance, the villagers here make a living by farming. if we had electricity, we would be able to create jobs on our own,

including metal and woodwork. as well as that, we would also be able to own tvs, a fridge and so many other things. modernisation is already changing life in the capital, addis ababa. this is east africa's first metro system. the amount of construction going on speaks volumes. ethiopia wants to pull its people out of poverty, to create jobs and get over its historic image of drought and famine. it's africa's fastest—growing economy right now, but with a population set to double in 30 years, it needs to grow even fasterjust to keep up, hence the need for cheap renewable energy. but the cost of government ambition is human rights, freedom of speech and democracy. protests across the country

are being crushed. to the government, development is everything. it is one of the most important flagship projects for ethiopia. it is a project that will transform the country, it's very important. there is money to spend and the minister says that people will pay for the dam through a lottery, contributions and taxes. he insists that despite its fears, egypt will get more rather than less water. it's not about control of the flow, it's really about providing opportunities for us to develop our service. it has a lot of benefit for the downstream countries. construction on the dam is going on around the clock, such is the urgency to get this built and generate power, but because ethiopia didn't consult

with egypt or sudan before starting construction work during the arab spring, talks between the three countries keep collapsing. a new political order is emerging and egypt doesn't like it. i've spoken to senior people in ethiopia who have said that they are afraid of a war with egypt over water. that they might bomb this dam. that's the level of anger. what do you think about that? i don't think so. these kind of extreme ideas are not welcome. this will not happen in this region, i am sure. there is no record in history of war erupting because of water. the water belongs to all of us. we have to develop it in responsible ways, not thinking about war. but whatever he says, the blue nile can now be controlled by ethiopia and that is a big

concern for egypt when so much of the water that reaches cairo comes from here. sudan, however, its next stop, likes the look of the cheap electricity heading its way. the waters of the nile bring life to sudan. one of the world's biggest irrigation schemes was created here more than a century ago to grow cotton for britain's industrial revolution, but now it is the gulf states who need what sudan can grow. the blue nile heads north through these vast irrigated lands to join the white nile before meandering through a desert steeped in ancient history. we're following it to ask if a row over who controls its flow could lead to war. it's here in khartoum that the blue nile and the white nile meet and merge and then head north to egypt. the river has travelled about a third of the way

from its source to the sea and is growing and strengthening in size. so what does sudan, this vast country now emerging from years of us sanctions, think about ethiopia building this dam upstream? well, it thinks it's a great idea. land is not in short supply and with the power of the sun and the waters of the nile, sudan's agricultural potential is huge. this is alfalfa, top—quality cattle feed, and this farm can cut nine harvests a year for cows, but primarily for export to the middle east. sudan has the right to take billions of gallons of water every year through old treaties with egypt, but claims it hasn't been using its full allocation. the suggestion it now might is a source of tension with its northern neighbour. this farm is owned by a massive

private company that does everything from agriculture to mining, from cars to earth—movers to health care. its owner is sudan's richest man, who designed his own golf course in khartoum. for sudan, it is wonderful. it is the best thing that has happened for a long time and i think the combination of energy and regular water levels is a great blessing. cheap electricity can be used for a lot more than just keeping your cows properly air—conditioned. it can bring faster development to sudan, which isjust emerging from decades of crippling us sanctions and wants to take advantage of the opportunities. what do you think about the row between ethiopia and egypt about this dam? the nile is the lifeline of egypt so for them, i wouldn't say they're paranoid, but they are very concerned about

anything to do with that water. and the nile is a lifeline to sudan as well. welcome to the first—ever festival of music and culture in this village. this village is about half a day's drive north of khartoum. it was abandoned 20 years ago, the mud houses left without roofs as the villagers moved away from the river banks to avoid catastrophic flooding. this woman remembers two huge floods from when she was a child. her father was mayor.

this was their house. translation: it's an image from my life i will never forget. when the 1976 flood hit, it was during the date harvest, so people used boats to collect the harvest. it has lasted three weeks. the whole village left, but now a dam upstream regulates the flow of water so it doesn't flow as high, meaning they can hold festivals here and people can move back to this village, especially if there is cheap electricity on the way. it's a time of change in khartoum. with the lifting of sanctions, there is a strong cafe culture where issues of the day are discussed. most people here are in favour of the dam.

our experience shows that it is a blessing to downstream countries, especially if the intention is power generation. do you think there is politics between the changing fortunes of the three countries? water in general is becoming politicised not only in this region but elsewhere, but i think there will always be political will involving the three countries, i think it will work out. he's diplomatic, but this is far from resolved. talks between the three countries have collapsed and tensions across the whole region are growing as a result of it.

the rivalries go back to the time of the pyramids — the sudanese pyramids. this isjebel barkal and these are more than 2,000 years old. for a short time, the nubian kush empire ruled egypt from here. this was their capital. powers rise and fall but all are linked by one great river. this is egypt, the next stop on our trip, and what a way to see it. we are flying in a hot air balloon over luxor. the sun isjust coming up, it's a stunning way to see this country.

the reason we're here is to understand and get an explanation of why it is egypt is so opposed to this dam that ethiopia is building way up the nile. even though egypt built the aswan dam for its own development, it is angry with ethiopia's plan. from luxor, we will follow the river to cairo and onto the delta, the heart of the country's agriculture, where water is everything. the pharaohs used to worship the river as a god. egypt, they said, was the gift of the nile. civilisations flourished here on the banks of the river. these temples represent thousands of years of wealth and power. they are part of egypt's proud national identity. you don't take something so set

in stone and accept a country damming the nile upstream and threatening your lifeline. the ancient egyptians considered the nile as lifeblood. it was life itself. why? because they used the nile for everything. the nile was alive and still is alive for egyptian people in egypt. and decades ago, egypt decided the best way to protect its interests was to build a dam. work on the aswan high dam began in 1960 and took ten years. it created the giant lake nasser, nearly three times bigger than the new ethiopian reservoir will be. it regulated the flooding of the nile, generated power and allowed vast agricultural lands to be indicated.

tens of of thousands of nubian people were forced from their homes and an ancient egyptian temple had to be moved brick by brick, but it was a symbol of great pride — a nationalist project projecting power for revolutionary post—colonial egypt. it has been good for this man, who at 60 has been a fisherman on the nile for a0 years, like his father and grandfather before him. translation: our life and livelihood depends on the nile. we as a family lived by the river. we fished, we grow crops on the islands in the nile. our cattle are fed from the nile. all our food is from the nile. he has heard about the dam in the egyptian media. ethiopia wants to control the nile and its flow will be affected, but he's sceptical.

they say water won't be affected, but only god knows what could happen. if they dam the river, there will be wars and fighting. and there are even bigger concerns downstream in chaotic cairo. egypt relies on the nile for almost all its water but its population is growing fast. the united nations is warning there will be water shortages by 2025 because of wastage and pollution. but the government argues it is already recycling water, using it efficiently and importing wheat rather than using water to grow it. egypt's water minister says one big threat is climate change. it is unilateral action in upstream countries,

i am extremely angry for our nation which is 100 million. one of the key things i would mention to you, if the water coming to egypt is used by 2%, what does this mean? we lose about 200,000 acres of land. one acre at least. if one acre makes one family survive, the average family in egypt is five persons, so it means1 million will be jobless. he says that means more migrants heading to europe and more people to be recruited by terror groups. europe and egypt are suffering from what is happening in syria and libya and other countries, so what if egypt is added to these countries? what will happen? it is an international security issue. experts say egypt has the right to be angry. a dam was being discussed

but ethiopia started building without telling egypt during the arab spring. the impact downstream has not been properly assessed and although the grand ethiopian renaissance dam won't extract water, filling it too quickly will reduce the flow downstream and it is a trust issue. ethiopia can now control the river. it is very much a game changer. now if ethiopia is combining the physical power of being upstream country that can in one way or another control the nile flow and the economic power of being able to construct the dam depending on its own domestic resources, so yeah, it's an indication, it is a manifestation that the power balance is changing in the region, economically, politically and strategically as well. the last stretch of the nile is where its famous cotton is grown

alongside crops like rice, a notoriously thirsty crop. irrigating fields by flooding them is one reason why so much water is wasted. the delta is sinking as the dam stops the land being replenished, the reason the nile flood plains were so productive to begin with. it is now polluted and fish are dying and people are getting poorer. saltwater is moving gradually upstream. it is sad to see how this great river ends up. this is it, this is where the river nile reaches the end of its long journey. this behind me is the mediterranean sea. you can see the waves coming in, this is now saltwater. whatever egypt says or does, ethiopia is building this dam. it's not an idea or a plan, it's a thing.

it can already control the flow of the river nile. egypt has always been strong enough to dominate the countries upstream but that is changing. talk of war is a foolish thing to do to solve political crises and everyone we have spoken to, nobody thinks that is going to happen, but this is a really serious problem and needs to be sorted out quickly. the nile is the place where the world's first war over water can be avoided. this could even become a model of how countries can learn to share great rivers. but for now, it's up to ethiopia, sudan and egypt to navigate tensions on the world's longest river. although many of us still like out

our windows and see scenes like these, a change is on the way to bring us something less wintry in coming days but it will be a gradual change and not as dramatic as many of us would like. i cannot even promise you temperatures average for this time of year but the bitterly cold snap will ease. the jet stream is still way to the south of the uk at the moment but low pressure will push from the atlantic, starting to modify the air by dragging it away from the cold continent out into the atla ntic from the cold continent out into the atlantic before feeding it back to us atlantic before feeding it back to us and that bit of warmth under the airwill mean us and that bit of warmth under the

air will mean things are less cold into next week so we still said in the blue, relatively cool for the time of year but not the icy bitter cold of recent days. scenes like these will be common, though misty and murky skies as the milder air works its way across frozen ground. rain is pushing its way into the south, still some snow this evening for southern scotland and also in the north—east. the rain for the southis the north—east. the rain for the south is tricky in the next few hours as it looks like it will turn into an area of persistent snow as it tracks across the midlands and into wales, even down to lower levels that could be snow. thundery showers in the south west of england, some heavy rain in a short space of time could cause rapid thaw went and flooding, further north snow showers continue to drift into scotla nd snow showers continue to drift into scotland and the north—east of

england. milder across southern counties overnight but elsewhere are widespread frost and ice first thing monday, but the blue spreading of the map are showers of rain and not snow that will eventually affect scotla nd snow that will eventually affect scotland and northern ireland, snow becoming confined to the hills but still in northern scotland we are cold enough to mean flurries here. further south, eight or 9 degrees, the likes of which we have not seen for a while, and that is the trend for a while, and that is the trend for the week, gradually becoming less cold. a risk of snow will continue for scotland, the rest of us continue for scotland, the rest of us getting rain at times, rain for edinburgh and cardiff on monday, then into double digits in london. this is bbc news.

i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 3pm: more than 3000 homes in parts of wales and england are without power as the uk struggles with the bitter winter conditions. people in cardiff have been describing the situation. that's my car there, so that's not going anywhere and then all the local trains and buses are cancelled, people are just going around on sledges on the main road, it's quite entertaining. several flood warnings have been issued for parts of england due to high tides and strong winds. continued disruption is expected on roads and railways. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, says the prime minister's "honesty" in her brexit speech yesterday helped bring together remain and leave supporters. the use of video assistant referees throughout world football has been unanimously approved by the body that sets the global rules for the game.