an internet blackout failed to dampen dissent in myanmar as thousands of people took to the streets of the main city yangon to protest against this week's military coup. they're calling for the release of elected leader aung san suu kyi and others detained by the army. pharmaceutical company, astrazeneca, says a small trial suggests the coronavirus vaccine it's developed with oxford university does not appear to offer much protection against mild or moderate disease caused by the south africa variant. but the firm believes the jab would protect against severe disease. a nation—wide road blockade in india by farmers protesting against new agricultural laws has ended. police detained dozens of protesters. more than 50,000 members of the security services were deployed around the capital delhi. a leaked document has revealed that borisjohnson is considering a reform of the nhs in england. the changes could see a reduced role for the private sector and sweep away changes

introduced by david cameron's government in 2012. nhs commissioners would no longer be required to invite private companies to bid to run services and there would be more focus on hospitals and social care services working together to improve patient care. our health correspondent katharine de costa reports. an ageing population brings with it the challenge of providing more complex care. hospital beds can often be tied up, waiting for a care package to support elderly patients at home. i think the devil will be in the detail... many health professionals feel controversial changes, made nearly a decade ago, left health and care services fragmented. i don't think you will find anyone in the nhs who won't be glad to see the back of competition rules. it's really got in the way of working effectively across the health and social care landscape, we all work better when we work cooperatively and we've seen that during the pandemic. i think where people's reservations will be

is about ministers having a much higher oversight and say in what happens in the nhs — they haven't always shown that they have the expertise to do that. in 2012, under the cameron government, lord lansley handed the control and finances of the nhs to nhs england, with an annual strategy set by the government. it meant that nhs services were bought for patients by gp groups, including from private providers. the new proposals roll back on much of this and will allow ministers to more tightly control how the nhs works, as well as deliver public health and social care plans. but health campaigners are not convinced. this government has been more dependent than ever before on the private sector. during the pandemic we've had private sector brought in to test and trace, we've had private sector brought in to run laboratories, parallel to the nhs. we've got a four—year plan now to use private hospitals, while nhs beds in large numbers remain closed and out of use. so, this isn't a government that's been looking to marginalise the private sector. but one former health secretary

supports the plans and wished he'd been able to get a grip on social care. the thing i didn't manage to do which i tried to do, which is the next really important step, is a ten year plan and a sustained funding increase for the social care sector because that goes hand—in—hand with the nhs. we need to be much better at looking after people at home. the department of health and social care said it was rightly considering where changes need to be made, with more details still to come, but labour's questioned the logic in making big changes during a national crisis, when services are already at breaking point. katharine da costa, bbc news. now on bbc news... in this special edition, talking movies will be bringing viewers highlights from this year's sundance film festival which for the first time will become globally accessible.

hello and welcome to talking movies. we are in a very snowy central park here in new york city. i'm tom brook. in today's programme we're going to be looking at highlights of this year's sundance film festival. normally we would be reporting from snowy park city, utah, where the festival is normally held, but this year because of the pandemic, sundance was largely a virtual affair. of course, the ski slopes of park city in utah have for years provided the backdrop to sundance, and it remains one of the world's most celebrated showcases. this year, it was abbreviated and mostly online, offering a slimmed—down line—up of feature films. 0n the plus side, though, the festival's footprint went

global, with some sundance content being made available to international audiences. like all the other film journalists and film critics accredited to sundance this year, i experienced the festival from my home here in new york, watching movies on my laptop, or, when i could make the connection work, on my television as well. it was a very efficient way of watching movies, but it was quite a solitary event, so, to compensate this year, sundance created elaborate networking opportunities online to bring together virtual festivalgoers like myself around the world. i'm going to help you navigate this world that is sundance online. despite an instructional video, finding your way around the virtual sundance film festival could be a bit difficult, but it was worth persisting, because some great films were unveiled. the festival has long been a champion of diversity. this year, more than half

the programming was directed by one or more people of colour. but what was remarkable was how many films got completed in time for the festival, with film—makers working under lockdown. brazilian director iuli gerbase, whose film the pink cloud was in the line—up, did not find it easy. we had to do many things remotely and dub some scenes with the actors. the actors had a microphone in their house, i was in my house and the sound editor in another house and we were all on zoom, and i was directing by zoom, but it all worked out in the end. if the pandemic was on the minds of film—makers, so, too was the recent political tumult there is in america. although few features directly critiqued the trump years, there was a sense that america's polarised politics could be good for the kind of independent cinema that sundance celebrates. i hope it is going to instil a new sense of enquiry and curiosity into film—makers.

despite some complications with getting reservations online, sundance�*s venture into being a virtual festival worked. obviously, it cannot match the real thing, but this year the festival succeeded in delivering some great cinema, much of it not mainstream and adventurous, binding together the independent film community at a very difficult moment in time. one of the opening—day movies, coda, which stands for children of deaf adults, generated a lot of excitement. it is powerful, you have a story and also a glimpse into a community whose depiction, historically, has been farfrom ideal. the main character in coda is the only hearing person in an otherwise deaf family. like most teenagers,

ruby is caught between two worlds, her childhood life with her parents and a future she dreams of — in this case, singing at a prestigious arts university. you can sing. it's my favourite thin. but the stakes are higher here because her family need her more than most. ruby is her family's translator to the world and a key employee of their struggling fishing business. the film effectively blends the emotions of a coming—of—age drama with an authentic depiction of deaf culture. director, sean hadar, a hearing person, worked hard to get it right. i spoke with a lot of codas i got there first hand experiences, i reached out to members of the deaf community, i made deaf friends, it really was, if i'm going to do this, i have to make sure that i have the people around me to be the check and balance to my perspective. depicting deaf culture authentically is not only the right thing to do,

but it also makes the most cinematic storytelling. watching the characters in coda have passionate discussions in american sign language is far more visually stimulating than having the characters simply speak aloud. the first time i watched an asl fight, i was like, this is awesome! like, talk about cinema! you know, you are stomping your feet, you are grabbing the other person... you don't walk away from a fight, because you have to be looking at each other. deaf communities take the representation of deaf people in film very seriously. there's even a social media campaign, #deaftalent, to call out projects that cast hearing actors in deaf roles. coda gets that one right, casting three deaf actors, including marlee matlin, oscar winner for 1986's children of a lesser god, in the key roles.

but there is more to it than casting. portraying deaf people well involves highlighting the ways in which they are no different to hearing people. often, they fall into two categories. it's an object of pity, being deaf is an object of pity, or, "oh, my god, how noble," they have overcome the odds, and, you know, they are a shining light in a dark time. those are the two narratives, and they are very two—dimensional. there is no depth. there is no background. there is no real story. it is just very superficial. and deaf people are like everybody else. slowly but surely, hollywood is starting to listen. millicent simmonds, a deaf child actor, recently starred in wonderstruck and a quiet place. a deaf actor who won a tony

for the recent broadway revival of children of a lesser god, will next star as a marvel superhero. sound of metal, about a man who loses his hearing and becomes immersed in the deaf community, was just released in december and is currently garnering serious 0scar buzz. coda, meanwhile, ended up as the smash of this festival. it won both the audience and jury awards committee, a rare honour, and was bought by apple tv plus for a sundance record $25 million. this means the issue of deaf representation is about to get its brightest spotlight yet. two high—profile actresses, both of whom have made a very positive impression on me over the years, rebecca hall and robin wright, made their directional debuts at sundance this year. sundance became the first major film festival to achieve gender parity in 2013 in its dramatic competition. this year, the organisers say

that half of its selection had at least one woman director. emma jones reports. what do you feel? that it is really difficult to be around people. notjust in front of but behind the camera, land is robin wright's directing debut. it is a powerful film for this time of isolation for many. a grieving woman, edie, wants solitude but finds healing in nature and the human company of miguel, played by mexican—born actor demian bichir. can we agree that you do not bring any news of life elsewhere ? what if aliens land here? i only wanted to direct a feature film. i didn't know what it was going to be after being on house of cards for six years. this one just resonated at the time, and this film was just

so beautiful and timely. you were robin's only companion in wilderness and she was directing you. what was that experience like? it seems like she has done it all her life, — directed herself, i mean. jumping from one position to another, changing hats very easily. acclaimed british actress, rebecca hall also made her directorial debut with passing. it stars ruth negga and tessa thompson and is a story about racism in 1920s new york. over half of all the faces who took part in virtual sundance this year were female film—makers, as the festival achieved gender parity across the board, eight years after it managed it in one of its competitions. nearly half of those projects were by non—white female directors, including a documentary about rita moreno, the first hispanic woman to win an oscar for west side story in 1962. moreno not only suffered sexual harassment, but also

appalling typecasting in her early career. i wanted to turn the parts down, but that is all that was offered, and i had to make a living. what i went through in my youth and did my hollywood years, which was in my 20s... here is what is really ironic, it is still happening. this was a0 or 50 years ago. it is still happening. isn't this crazy? what was apparent is that of the call for women's authentic voices to be heard, wherever they come from. writing with fire, which won a special impact for change jury award at the festival, is an indian documentary about a female—run news organisation, khabar lahariya. despite the discrimination they suffer as women for being dalits, the so—called

untouchable caste, their youtube channel has over 3 million subscribers. what happens when a dalitjournalist what happens when a dalit journalist with a camera asks uncomfortable questions and does it consistently? these were the questions that we were confronting. how do you fight a system that is nearly 3,000 years of oppression through your work? and i think that doing it in the most powerful, the most meaningful, the most non—violent way possible. that is something for women in film to consider as they continue to push for equal representation through the power of their work. edgar wright is one of britain's most talented film—makers, who really

made a name for himself with his satires like shaun of the dead and hot fuzz. he also made a name for himself with more mainstream films like scott pilgrim vs the world and, more recently, baby driver. this is his most recent film. is his first music documentary, called the sparks brothers. they have been creating cutting—edge music for 30 years and are called sparks, two brothers from california that have a distinct look and a body of work that spans over 25 albums. edgar wright has long been fascinated by them. growing up, they were sort of unreal to me, and the older i got, the fact that they were still making music that was really challenging and great and seemed to be getting better when the curve of most bands that they drop off, i was just kind of beguiled by them and needed to find out more.

sparks has a devoted following, more in europe than in their native us, but they are not exactly a household name. i know that lots of people i've shown it to when i was testing the movie did not know sparks at all, and would be dumbfounded about it because they were like, "how did i miss this entire chapter of musical history?" the film is packed with interviews and performances. it looks at the brothers' careers as musicians who have long been protective of their private lives, feeling a focus on that would distract from their music. they were comfortable with edgar wright, who had final cut on the film, doing a documentary. we had so much respect for what edgar had done as a film—maker and then also the passion that he felt for the band that it felt like if we ever were going to have a documentary about sparks, this was really the perfect person and the perfect time to do it. when you try to describe it to people, it's like, "what do they sound like?" "sparks."

his film is incredibly comprehensive, but also has an inspirational quality, showing that despite many ups and downs, the brothers have persisted where others would have just given up and they are still making music 50 years after they began. also, what is refreshing is that they never sold out. they never changed what they do to please others for commercial gain. wright can relate to that. i have certainly had some ups and downs and i think you do go through that thing where all of us just thought, maybe sell out and do something that you are not really, you're kind of compromising yourself, you sort of, sometimes have to double down and i admire sparks for that. covid has touched so many lives around the world, including, of course, people within the independent film—making community, so it was no surprise to find that at sundance, there were several films that

reflected our pandemic times, among them a documentary from acclaimed british film—maker kevin macdonald called life in a day 2020. the director has been telling talking movies in his own words about his very ambitious undertaking. in a year when we have all been brought together by covid, where nobody, really, in the world, has been untouched by covid and its consequences, this film, in a way that, you know, could appear kind of sentimental or hippyish but really is not when you see the film, it reinforces, kind of, the similarities between everyone in the world.

i was so surprised by how different this film was than the first one in that the film is kind of the same but the content is much more diverse. there is materialfrom nearly every corner of the world, filmed by people themselves who have smartphones with cameras and, secondly, because the things that people chose to film tended to be a lot more melancholy, sad, things, stories about loss, and i thinkjust generally people were a little bit more pensive. i have had two brothers, not one but two brothers die in police custody. we structured it around, kind of, human life, so we have got the birth of little children and then towards the end of the film we have old age and in the middle we kind of move through the years and then we kind of go through thematics even within that as well, so we go through a sequence which is about romance and love and sometimes heartbreaks,

people get rejected on camera or splitting up on camera. there is a sequence, obviously, about covid, there is a sequence about nature and how nature has returned during this time. it really did change the way i saw people. you cannot help but see these thousands of hours of footage and, you know, humanity in all its forms, without feeling uplifted by it and without feeling, you know, are we not kind of wonderful, in a way? sundance typically looks to the future with its new frontier section, in which interactive projects push the boundaries of storytelling. this year, some of the endeavours focused on social issues, including black experiences in america. but, as christian dailly reports, there was a wide range of engaging content on offer.

this year, i logged on to sundance's new frontier gallery from home, and inside this user interface i created a digital avatar of myself. it was like a video game. sundance attempted to recreate the physical space that they usually have at the festival, but, this time, it was in cyberspace. virtual reality, or vr is usually the main attraction at the new frontier section of sundance. the film festival was aware that many people in the world still do not own vr headsets, so some projects were easy to experience withjust a computer and i was glad to find a few dealing with black experiences in the united states. i wasjust in the wrong place at the wrong time, right? i the changing same is the first of a series about racial tensions in the united states.

it is a very respectful and very powerful experience where you basically walk in the shoes of a black man who gets pulled over in a suburb and taken to prison, like, for really no good reason, but thatjourney is really familiar and it shows you through your steps how familiar it is, how it feels like it was since slavery times, how it was during jim crow. i found another project that was the culmination of the work of five different artists called travelling the interstitium by 0ctavia butler. each work was somehow inspired by the pioneering fiction writer, who was passionate about putting black people at the centre of stories with science fiction or fantasy elements. one of the works, called quantum summer, put me on an island with music emanating from different parts of the environment. you walk around an island that i have created called planet inkwell and you can go to different sites on this island and you will hear

different songs, different raps, it is really an audiovisual meditation on the future of blackness, technology and ancestral intelligence. i also came across 4 feet high, a series about a young wheelchair—bound girl who was on a quest to express her sexuality in the midst of a growing political movement in her school to include sexual education in the curriculum. this project also incorporated vr. we wanted to break the usual image that society has about disability that is kind of an angel or on the other side like a heroine or something like that, so we wanted her to be like a normal teenager with the same questions and the same aims as we all have at that age. 0verall, what sundance was able to accomplish with their virtual presentation

of new frontier was notable and more accessible than their past physical gatherings, but, like some of the artists i spoke to, i missed the feeling of immersion that comes from placing yourself in an installation that sets the stage for you to experience an imaginative digital realm, and i hope to be able to do that in person again very soon. well, that brings our special programme looking back at highlights of this year's sundance film festival to a close. we hope you have enjoyed the show. please remember, you can always reach us online at bbc.com and you can find us on facebook and twitter. since we featured edgar wright's documentary about the sparks brothers, we thought we would leave you with their song about the bbc, which they say is a fantasy but also a tribute to the corporation. # now that i own the bbc # what am i supposed

to do with that thing? # now that i own the bbc what am i supposed to make of this thing # all this power, all this glory # all these djs # what was i thinking, what was i thinking? it's been called the beast from the east 2 and during sunday, we'll find a strengthening easterly wind that will bring in much colder air, and that means we're going to find snow falling more widely. the focus of the snow over the past few days has been in scotland and it's still snowing here now, but the emphasis changes more towards the south—east of england, where we're closer to storm darcy. that is bringing with it thicker cloud and added moisture, which is bumping into that really cold air

that we can trace all the way back through the baltic sea and up towards the arctic. so we're going to find snow falling by the morning in the south—east and east anglia. it may well be quite slippery elsewhere, and further north we'll find snow showers coming in off the north sea. let's focus on the heavier snow where we have this amber snow warning from the met office. it covers parts of suffolk, essex and kent, widely five to ten centimetres, more in some places. and it's going to be blizzards and drifting as well, with those winds continuing to strengthen. notjust snowing here, it's going to be snowing widely across the south—east of england and east anglia. further north, those winds will blow snow showers in off the north sea across scotland, northern england and northern wales, one or two for northern ireland, probably dry towards the south—west and parts of the midlands. but the winds will be strong, perhaps even gale force around some of those north sea coasts, and it will of course make it feel cold. temperatures will be lower than they were on saturday. add on the strength

of the wind, and it will feel much colder. and that run of cold easterly winds continues for the start of next week. that cold air coming over the slightly warmer north sea generates all the cloud, which generates the showers, which of course will be of snow. and those will stream their way in across england, heading towards wales. lots of snow showers coming to scotland as well. a bit drier for northern ireland. shouldn't see heavy falls of snow in the south—east of england, but it's certainly going to be very cold here, temperatures maybe below freezing all day without that temperatures maybe below freezing all day with that covering of snow and because we have those strong winds, it will feel much colder in the wind. we're likely to find some more snow showers mainly for eastern parts of the uk during tuesday, but by the middle part of the week, it may be a bit drier. not as windy, but it's still going to be cold.

this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories... an internet blackout fails to prevent protests in myanmar thousands take to the streets in the biggest demonstrations yet against the miltary coup. translation: as a citizen who was born in _ translation: as a citizen who was born in this _ translation: as a citizen who was born in this country, - translation: as a citizen who was born in this country, i - was born in this country, i cannot accept the unjust takeover by the military. because of this military dictatorship many of our lives have been destroyed. we cannot let our future generation meet the same fate. a study suggests the oxford astrazeneca vaccine doesn't protect against mild and moderate forms of the south africa variant of coronavirus.