this is bbc news, the headlines... joe biden has accused russian president vladimir putin of being a butcher in his treatment of ukrainians, saying he cannot remain in power. the us president was speaking in poland where he met ukrainian refugees. the white house said mr biden had not meant he was supporting regime change in russia. the western ukrainian city of lviv has come under heavy rocket fire. the regional governor said five missile strikes hit a fuel depot and an industrial plant. lviv�*s mayor said no—one was killed but five people were injured. and there have been tributes for taylor hawkins, the drummer with the rock band the foo fighters, who's died at the age of 50. officials in colombia say he used opiods, marijuana and anti—depressants

before he died. his body was found in a hotel room in the capital, bogota. now on bbc news, talking movies. hello from los angeles. i'm tom brook, and welcome to talking movies and our preview of the 94th annual academy awards, which takes place this weekend at the dolby theatre, here on hollywood boulevard. we report on the three—way race for best picture. will the oscars' top prize go to belfast... be careful what you wish for. ..the power of the dog... well, well... ..or coda?

how the war in ukraine is making some stars a little hesitant when it comes to celebrating the oscars. they pray that somehow, - some way there can be laughter and joy in that part of the world. - also, kenneth branagh tells me how his best picture contender, belfast, has changed him. i've gone on a very long and circuitous journey. and deaf actors and stories front and centre at the academy awards. it's like i've woken up in this dream world and i'm trying to edge my way through. and the three women who will be fronting the oscars telecast. all that and more in this special oscars preview edition of talking movies. of course, in recent weeks, the whole world has been consumed by developments in ukraine. here in hollywood, the film industry has been energised and outspoken. hollywood's biggest night of the year is taking place more than 6,000 miles from kyiv in ukraine, but the war is on the minds of many

attending the ceremony. some stars are uneasy — among them, maggie gyllenhaal, nominated in the adapted screenplay category. she can't quite get her head around the idea of celebrating at the oscars in a time of war. it's very difficult to think about getting dressed up in fancy dresses and going to parties. you know, the party aspect of it, the excess is really hard to hold in your mind at the same time as what's happening in ukraine. here are the nominees for best picture. the war has also changed the way in which some of the movies in the best picture race are being perceived. sir kenneth branagh believes his possible best picture winner, belfast... we're looking to cleanse l the community a wee bit. you wouldn't want to be the odd man out. | ..a semi—autobiographical story of his own family's life upended by the troubles in northern ireland in the 1960s... are we going to have to leave belfast? ..is pertinent to the suffering in ukraine. in the world we live in, the kinds of appalling events that are happening in ukraine, we...we have this dark but perhaps unusual opportunity

to view things almost as they're happening, and perhaps to, wherever possible, in whatever small ways, intervene. art can play its part in that, in terms ofjust reminding people of the human connection, which is vital at times of this disruptive, revolutionary kind of energy, to keep connected. the story of belfast, i think, lets people see how vital, even while communities are being torn apart, to try and hold on to that which bonds them and unites them. the bravery of the people of ukraine... at awards events in recent weeks, many winners have expressed their support for ukraine. the babies in ukraine... lady gaga, who will be presenting an award on oscars night, told me she would like to see some sort of tribute to the people of ukraine at the academy awards. absolutely. i think that we all should be making sure that we keep ukraine in our hearts at every moment.

we all have a real obligation right now. and when one of the oscars hosts, amy schumer, appeared on the drew barrymore show, she said she wanted president zelensky of ukraine to have a presence in some form at the oscars ceremony. i wanted to find a way to have zelensky like, you know, satellite in or make a tape or something, and just because it...just because so many eyes get...there's so many eyes on the oscars that... but, you know, i'm not afraid to go there. but you know, it's not.... it's not me producing the oscars. the academy didn't respond to a request for information on what they're planning to do at the ceremony in relation to ukraine, if anything, but it needs to get its messaging right. the oscars is on a slippery slope, losing its cultural relevance in a way that hasn't quite hit home. last year, it got its lowest ratings ever. it can't afford to be out of touch with the cultural zeitgeist at a time of war.

going into the oscars, new zealand film—maker jane campion�*s western psychological drama, the power of the dog, which portrays a mean—spirited, misogynist rancher, played by benedict cumberbatch, was the oscars frontrunner with 12 nominations. but how will this acclaimed, masterful epic fare at the ceremony? will it take home the top oscar trophies? well, emma jones has been finding out. open up the gate. let him out. you sure? he's not ready. go on. let him out. emma: no toothless hound... he'sjust a man, peter. ..the power of the dog has 12 oscar nominations. only another man. the movie and its new zealand—born director, jane campion, has devoured this awards season, taking prizes for best director... jane campion. ..and best picture. the power of the dog. its success was predicted from the moment campion won a silver lion at last year's

venice film festival. we were just so excited that so many people could get our movie, because i think it's quite a courageous kind of film, isn't it? it's a little bit of a mystery, as you know, and you see, very strong piece, so i found that very exciting. campion brings delicacy and subtlety to the story of phil, played by benedict cumberbatch, a rancher in 1920s montana who displays rough cruelty to his brother's new wife, rose, played by kirsten dunst... ..and herson, played by kodi smit—mcphee. now get us some food. it's bought best actor and best supporting actor nominations for all the main cast. told you i'd teach you. but they all cite campion, who won the 1993 cannes palme d'or and best original screenplay oscarfor the film the piano... can you hear me? ..as the reason they got involved. i was terrified of meeting jane. you know, she was coming with all the respect

i have for her iconic work and her presence in cinema, so i didn't know her, and then i met her and just completely fell for her, just adored her, and she opened this portfolio of the kind of look— book of what she'd imagined. the delicacy and the intimacy and the rawness of it was really unexpected. and i thought, this is going to be a magic combination, her lens on this world. i honestly was interested in it to work with jane. . i had been an admirer of hers for so long. i she's just a director i've - always wanted to work with. so, to have that opportunity, i would have played phil, - you know, it's not really... like, that's what i - was drawn to, isjane. the power of the dog was a huge hit with festival audiences wherever it was shown, including here in london, but it only had a very limited cinema release because it's a netflix film aimed, like alfonso cuaron�*s roma and martin scorsese's the irishman, directly at the oscars.

those films didn't win best picture. will this year be any different? netflix have got two contenders this year — the power of the dog, the elena ferrante adaptation, the lost daughter, by maggie gyllenhaal. get up! mommy, get up! they've got skin in the game. they've got a chance, but again, these are not hugely popular movies. they're not top of the netflix streaming charts. they're prestige vehicles that netflix is doing to ultimately win the golden bauble, to say, "look, we make movies. "we're not here to destroy cinema." they might find themselves getting to the top of mount olympus and finding, really, there's nothing much there. no doubt, netflix subscribers will look for the film off the back of a best picture oscar accolade, but it's campion herself who is the movie's best hope of gold — a film—maker who smashed glass ceilings when they were virtually indestructible. the feeling is that she's earned that best director oscar.

tom: sir kenneth branagh�*s picture, belfast, has many fans among academy members here in los angeles. it's a story inspired by his childhood in northern ireland when family life in his household was upended by the troubles. but it is a feel—good film, and that may well resonate with academy voters seeking comfort during these tumultuous times. we caught up with sir kenneth recently when he was here in la. he's spent time with awards voters, drumming up support for his largely autobiographical, affectionate coming—of—age drama... and action! ..revolving around nine—year—old buddy in belfast, played byjude hill, whose familiarfamily life is changed forever by the troubles. this is the time to think about making a new start. i know nothing else but belfast. - exactly. there's a whole world out there. oscar voters have warmed to the film. the response has been very moving.

lots of people feel as though they empathise with buddy, that in some form or another, we have all been buddies, and i think they feel as though there are many belfasts, many, many ways of understanding how difficult it can be to leave the place that you call home. and i think they're incredibly appreciative of the lightness of touch in the film. in the middle of, you know, grim circumstances, the coping mechanisms of laughter and music and dancing and ad hoc parties is at play. so, seeing the lighter side, whenever possible, in a very tough situation is something that people seem to have responded to. this is your most personal film to date. do you think it has changed you, making it, as a person? has it made you into a better human being and film—maker? i think that you learn from everything that you do if you're lucky enough to be involved in work that involves notjust introspection, but challenges you to look at other people and learn from the way their own human

development occurs. for me, belfast was about declaring who i am, where the creative dna comes from, where the actual dna comes from, the place, the people and also the spirit, the values, if you like, of working—class north belfast in the late �*60s, at a time of trouble. from there, i've gone on a very long and circuitous journey, it's been a very privileged one, but i'm very proud and pleased to have landed back, creatively and personally, in the heart of who i am, who i was and whether i like it or not, who i'll always be. well, thank you very much for the interview, and good luck on oscars night. thanks, tom. thank you very much. coming up in talking movies, more from hollywood boulevard in our preview of the academy awards. applause tonight we are here to celebrate. the oscars tv ceremony is in trouble. last year, it recorded its lowest ratings ever. some said this was partly due to the fact that the ceremony didn't have a host, so this

year there will be a host for the first time since 2018 — in fact, three of them. kizzy cox has been looking at the three women who will be fronting the oscars telecast and seeing if they have what it takes to bring about a ratings miracle. kizzy: this year's academy awards ceremony will have three different hosts, all women — amy schumer, regina hall and wanda sykes — each hosting for one hour of the broadcast. all three women are pretty good on theirfeet, so to be a good oscar host, you have to pay attention, you have to be funny, you have to be respectful, because this is hollywood's biggest night to celebrate what we're supposed to be about. regina hall, an actress famous for her work in the scary movie franchise and the hit film girls trip, is an experienced host, having helmed the bet awards. ba—da—ba—ba—da—ba—ba—da! i mean, am i right? amy schumer, a comedian known for her sketch comedy show inside amy schumer...

wait, it's me! it's me! ..has hosted the mtv music awards, and wanda sykes, a comedian and actress who's appeared in dozens of tv shows and movies, including evan almighty... did you fall in a mine shaft?! ..and bad moms... let's try some role—playing. ..has hosted her own talk show. but will their skills and appeal actually improve ratings? i never have believed that the host has anything to do with it. i believe it really does... the biggest years were the years you had blockbusters in contention for best picture. titanic... ..lord of the rings... those are the top of the line. but those days are over. the real question is, is whether the films that the academy nominates are ones fans are even interested in. are viewers really going to tune in to an awards show for films they didn't even see? they always nominate

films that the general public hasn't heard of. but what the academy does so well that often gets overlooked is that they inspire the general public to now seek out these movies. but inspiration clearly hasn't been enough to keep viewers interested in the oscars show. for now, the jury's still out on whether the old—school oscars, hosted or not, can do anything to appeal to the tiktok generation. they consume content differently. they are watching a lot of these movies from home, on their couch, on their phones. how can you put on an awards show that will excite people and get them interested to tune in for the event? tom: one oscar—nominated film that i really liked was flee. it's an animated documentary which tells of an afghan refugee fleeing from kabul more than 20 years ago. but it's much more than a story of a man fleeing from the country of his birth.

it's achieved quite a feat in terms of nominations. it's been nominated for best documentary feature, best international film feature, and best animated feature, all at the same time. noah gittell reports. noah: flee, the ground—breaking, oscar—nominated animated documentary may defy easy categorisation, but its story has resonated with a wide variety of audiences. it's not the first film to portray the refugee experience as a harrowing ordeal, but the film succeeds by never politicising its subject. at the heart of flee is one man, amin, telling his story to his childhood friend, danish film—maker jonas poher rasmussen. it's this opportunity to subvert the traditional narratives around refugees that first drew rasmussen to the idea of making flee. the refugee story is often simplified. being a refugee becomes their identity, but it's not. and because flee, amin�*s story, is told from the inside of

a friendship, i'm hoping that i can give a lot more nuance to the refugee story and give a human face to the refugee story and show that they have, you know, complex psychologies, like you and me. using animation is one of the film's masterstrokes. it's a choice that separates flee from other documentaries, giving the film a pleasing visual style that makes the quite painful story more accessible. but the film might not have even been possible without it, as the animation allowed amin to feel comfortable sharing his story in the first place. the fact that he could stay anonymous and wouldn't meet people in the street who would ask him about his traumas, his secrets, things that he can't small—talk about, was really key to free him and to make it, to enable him to open up and share his story. flee has been featured prominently at many different

events this awards season, where it's won considerable recognition. what may help the film at the oscars, however, is its subject matter — the plight of refugees — something very much in the news. do you think viewers, voters will find more resonates with them in the film now? probably. yeah, you know, it's become sadly relevant to what's going on right now. it really gives a spotlight to a very important subject. through this film, i'm able to give some nuance and perspective to the refugee experience, and it's amazing to see how the european countries open up their borders and their hearts and arms to refugees from ukraine right now, and i really hope this is a change, you know, in how people will treat refugees in general, notjust from ukraine, but also from afghanistan and syria and all the other places in the world where you have refugees coming. flee faces stiff competition, so it may leave the

oscars empty—handed. but given that the film is nominated in three categories, globalaudiences will at least hear its name called repeatedly during the telecast, ensuring this powerful story becomes more known around the world, especially to those who need it. when it comes to oscar nominations, deaf people traditionally don't get much representation, but this year things may be a bit different because two nominated films feature deaf stories and deaf people. critics have long bemoaned the way in which hollywood portrays deaf people in its films, so some are asking, does oscar season 2022 herald a new, more inclusive era in terms of the way in which deaf people are represented in film? # you're all

# all that i need...# this oscars race has thrust deaf stories, people and actors into the limelight. with three nominations is coda — very popular with academy awards voters... ..a coming—of—age story with three deaf actors in key roles. the japanese road movie, drive my car, displays korean sign language at one point. and the oscar—nominated documentary short, audible, has also been getting attention. it's an intimate look at the life of a young deaf footballer. translation: there are so many more deaf people out _ there that need to have access to their dreams, that act, that want to be in movies, that want to show their stories, that can do drama, that can be the heart—throb, that can be the comedian, and we have amazing skills that we want to share with the rest of the world. all of my life, i've been fascinated with asl,

with the deaf community and our acting skills. and so this is a good thing, this is a great thing, exposure to the hearing world. now it's time for me to stick my neck out and try to predict which films and individuals will be taking home the top oscar prizes. best adapted screenplay will go to the power of the dog, best original screenplay being perhaps the one trophy belfast picks up. you're buddy from belfast, where everybody knows you. best documentary feature, that prize will go to questlove for summer of soul. best international feature film will almost certainly be awarded to the critical favourite, the japanese road movie, drive my car. best supporting actress has to go to ariana debose from west side story. and troy kotsur will win best supporting actor for his role in coda.

best actress, that's tough to call, butjessica chastain seems to be the favourite... this is who i am. ..for her leading role in the eyes of tammy faye. and best actor, well, i predict with a good degree of confidence that prize will be awarded to will smith for his brilliant work in king richard. you're going to be - the greatest of all time. best director, that prize belongs to jane campion for her work on the power of the dog, and she will win. so, to best picture. the conventional wisdom has it that the power of the dog will win the most coveted oscar prize of all. but i'm going to go out on a limb and say that sir kenneth branagh�*s belfast... # everlasting love. ..# ..will be the 2022 oscars best picture winner. hey, buddy! well, that brings our special preview of the academy awards to a close. i hope you enjoyed the programme. please remember you can always reach us online at...

...and you can find us on facebook and twitter. pleasejoin me on oscars night, when i'll be reporting live with my colleague, peter bowes, from los angeles on the academy awards results. so, from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies team here in hollywood, it's goodbye as we leave you with the oscar—nominated song from the james bond film no time to die. # no time to die # hm—mm—mm # no time to die # oo—oo—ooh # fool me once, fool me twice # are you death or paradise? # now you'll never see me cry # there's just no time to die.#

hello, there. well, for most of us, saturday brought much in the way of sunshine. top temperature, 20.5 celsius was recorded in north west wales in porthmadog. i want you to concentrate, though, on the skies in eastern england, where we had lots of sunshine and temperatures quite widely 17—19 degrees. big change on the way, though, for sunday afternoon, as those temperatures are going to be a lot lower. now, the reason for that, is we are going to see an area of cloud that at the moment is in the north sea and that is set to swing inland as the winds of change direction to more of an easterly around our area of high pressure. now, there really will be just two types of weather around on sunday. it is going to be a cold start for many of us, a few patches of frost around. you're either in the sunshine, which many of us will have, or this zone of thick low cloud, which could bring a few

spots of morning drizzle, be a bit misty as well. perhaps tending to brighten up a little bit into the afternoon across parts of the south—east, but a slow process and there could be areas where the cloud lingers all day. lincolnshire, norfolk, most prone, temperatures there could just get to around eight or nine, still in the best of the sunshine, it will be another warm day for most, with temperatures again reaching the high teens. there will be more of that dry weather, more sunshine to go around on monday as well, but, across the far north of scotland, in shetland, we are going to start to see the winds turn to a more northerly direction and some colder air will be edging in here. still, weather wise for most parts of the uk, we are looking up fine, blue skies and much more in the way of sunshine. still mild for the time of year, but into the middle part of the week, we get these much colder northerly winds diving their way southwards, they are going to absolutely hammer the temperatures. that changeover really starting to take place on tuesday. there will be quite a bit of cloud around, a number of showers and that colder air starting to make further inroads across northern scotland. just six or seven for aberdeen

and stornoway, still quite warm with temperatures into the high teens across parts of wales and south west england. now, for wednesday, there will be some further showers around, temperatures continue to drop away and some of the showers turn wintry of the higher ground and then, look at this, wednesday night, into thursday, into friday morning, which is april fools' day, could see a spell of hill snow across the pennines and wales and maybe down to lower levels. we will be keeping a close eye on developments over the next few days.

welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories. president biden meets ukrainian refugees in poland, before delivering a stark warning to russia's vladimir putin. don't even think about going on one single inch of nato territory. as the president prepared to speak, russian missiles hit a fuel depot in the western ukrainian city of lviv, close to the polish border. as fears grow of hidden spies and saboteurs within ukraine itself, we have a special report from the city of odessa. is china moving away from its zero—covid strategy — shanghai records more than 2,000 new cases in a day, but is not going into full lockdown. tributes from across the music industry

for taylor hawkins, the drummer with