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tv   Talking Movies  BBC News  October 22, 2022 5:30pm-6:01pm BST

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we'd have a laugh with it. we would. we would have a laugh with it, and then we would...it�*d be business as usual, do you know what i mean? and then it'd would be business as usual, you know, afterwards. no, but it'd be great! it'd be a laugh. yeah, yeah, yeah. "i want it," is what he's saying! "i want it! "when do we find out?" well, oscar nominations are still three months away, but when they are announced, many expect to see the names gleeson and farrell on that list. lizo mzimba, bbc news. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. we're back with the late news at 10.10. now on bbc one it's time for the news where you are. goodbye. now on bbc news, talking movies: bbc centenary special.
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hello from london, i'm tom brook. the bbc is 100 years old, and as part of the bbc 100 celebrations, talking movies is going to look at the contribution the corporation has made to the british film industry over the decades, through five top directors who have picked up their skills here at the bbc. i went to meet these filmmakers who've shaped modern cinema. the multi—award—winning ken loach, whose credits include the landmark movie, kes. mike leigh known for his legendary use of improvisation in films that have brought him seven 0scar nominations. james marsh, who won an academy award for his celebrated documentary man on wire. mary harron, who made the modern american classic american psycho starring christian bale, and sally el hosaini, a rising star in british cinema, having just launched herfilm, the swimmers, a story of two syrian refugee sisters to considerable acclaim at the toronto and london film festivals.
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the bbc may�*ve been around for 100 years but almost 50 years ago i came to portland place to a bbc appointments board, and i gotan apprenticeship as a bbc news trainee. since then, over the years, i have witnessed numerous men and women, talented people at the bbc, who've moved on to greatness in the film industry. the bbc helped to train the man who is, without any doubt, and elder statesman of british cinema — 86—year—old ken loach. with more than 50 directing credits to his name, he has made such classics as kes, the wind that shakes the barley and i, daniel blake. and he has won the top prize, the palme d'0r, and at the cannes
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film festival twice. radio: this is a british i broadcasting corporation. i met ken loach in bbc�*s council chamber in the heart of old broadcasting house in london. how did you come to actually work for the bbc? i was working... i left university and became briefly an actor — not a good one. he chuckles directed in the theatre, and then applied to the bbc as an assistant floor manager and got turned down. i applied as a director and got taken on, and did a course for six weeks, which was mainly about what forms you had to fill in to get the services you needed. we had half a day in total of what to do with your cameras, and that was the extent of the training. z cars theme music and he got his first real taste of directing with z cars. nobody gives a damn for the law! the much—loved police drama series that went on the air in 1962.
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i was doing z cars, a very popular series. didn't know what the hell i was doing but i learned on thejob. i've made it clear all along, i won't tolerate violence. the bbc was, around then, where i learned the craft, i learned everything. it was with the bbc�*s pioneering wednesday play tv drama series in the 1960s that ken loach really came into his own with productions like up thejunction, in 1965, which told of a woman getting an illegal abortion. yeah, well, you see, i can't keep it. now, there's no need to explain, how can. you ever explain anything? it's the most bloody- difficult thing in the world. how much money have you got, love? - the wednesday plays often dealt with controversial or pressing social issues. don't you go up there no more. i don't want no kid of mine going down the drain. and they represented a completely new approach to tv drama. away from the studio to shooting on film, cinema verite style. pop music
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ken loach: we cut stuff to - music, we could makejump-cuts. the film that's helped to perceive some presence in the business after up thejunction was cathy come home. you don't care, you only pretend to care! a 16mm film about a young family that becomes homeless, and then the mother has her children taken away because she has nowhere to go. you are not! screaming and it kind of raised a storm — questions in parliament and so on. i'm afraid our sympathies will be very much with ourselves. smashing glass isuppose, overall, our overall project from film to film was to give a presence and allow the voice of the working class to be heard. as a fervent socialist, ken loach has mixed feelings when it comes to the bbc on its centenary. he sees it as the voice of the state, but this diehard
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left—winger cherishes what he learned in his more than 15 years at the corporation. and as someone who listens and watches the output — and complains about alleged bias — he remains a lifelong fan. the bbc has helped to define who we are, it's helped to define our identity. i feel very passionate about it, i grew up with this. when we began we said, "this is the national theatre for people, it's the national theatre of the air." another great british filmmaker, mike leigh, is known for bringing realism to the big screen through his unique improvisational approach to creating his screenplays. he has made some 1a feature films, including such titles as mr turner, secrets and lies, and vera drake. the bbc means a lot to him — it is, after all, the institution where he created some really impressive television films
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and plays in the 1970s. for 50 years in his films, mike leigh, a seven—time 0scar nominee, has brought audiences stories of often ordinary lives, authentically told. growing up, how aware were you of the bbc in your home? 0h, totally! i mean, at first most people didn't have a telly. going to a primary school in salford, every so often a kid would come in and say, "hey, we've got a telly!" so that was a big deal. of course, we know there was only the bbc, it was the only channel. initially, mike leigh faced rejection from the bbc. having worked in theatre, he was turned down twice for the bbc�*s trainee director course, but he ended up being invited by the corporation in 1973 to direct a production for its highly respected play for today strand. you see, father, it's my husband. your husband? what about your husband?
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well? i don't love him. ken loach: i made this first play for today of the whole l series called hard labour, which starred liz smith as a cleaning lady in manchester. we filmed it up north, really in the area where i grew up in north salford. and in fact, i spent the next 12 years making these various play for today films. 0h, shut up, lawrence! don't tell me to shut up! angela, coat! no, it's all right. i really think- i ought to be going. that 12 years of making films at the bbc was massively important. apart from the fact that one was able to do what i'm committed to do — was and still am — which is to make films about real people and real people's lives. when mike leigh was directing plays for today, he believes it was a time for more openness for challenging drama. there are times i kind
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of feel a sense of, "oh, i'm not doing anything,". absolutely, but you objectively know that that's nonsense. yes, yes. he doesn't find the bbc so welcoming nowadays. there's now such a preoccupation with ratings and with... . . respectability and political correctness. and there's a certain kind of— of lack of adventurousness. it's difficult not to talk about this without sounding like a disgruntled or disappointed whinger, but that's because i'm a disgruntled and disappointed whinger. mike leigh's feature films are created by a unique process. improvise as though that person were really existing spontaneously. he doesn't start with a script. through exploration with his actors, and extensive on numerous bbc productions, principally in the early 1990s
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what i think spoils it is her stating what's going to happen. he really got to develop that approach at the bbc. well, by the time i'd worked at the bbc i'd done quite a lot of work developing the way that i work. and the great thing about working at the bbc is i could carry on developing that with greater resources, and obviously with a much wider reach— reaching much wider audience. so, yeah, i was able to do it and was to do so with great freedom and encouragement. i first met directorjames marsh when he was a young man, passing through the bbc new york office in the 1990s when he was working on a number of stellar documentaries.
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he has since moved on to movie greatness and is now considered a world—class filmmaker. he won an oscar trophy for man on wire. a documentary on tightrope walker, philippe petit. 59—year—old 0scar winning filmmaker james marsh cut his teeth working on numerous bbc productions, principally in the early 1990s on arena, the path—breaking bbc arts documentary series. he recalls being influenced by the bbc from an early age when his family bought its first television. i think the main impact on my career was watching play for today. such a tiny little picture, and tiny little people all boxed up together. and encountering alan clarke's work, for example. and cinema in britain at that time wasn't a particularly flourishing medium. this is the late �*70s, early �*80s, i guess, and beyond. and you could watch alan clarke's work and it was truly cinematic. i mean, obviously scum was a very controversial project but there are other films like christine, contact, penda's fen, the firm. these were great pieces of dramatic cinema that happened to be on your television. and how much did that experience
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of watching that kind of bbc programming make you think that perhaps one day you might like to work for the corporation, or did that not enter your mind? i think to answer the question honestly, it wasn't the bbc. i don't think many people grow up saying, "i want to—" maybe you do, tom, but i didn't. it was more the idea, "could you do this?" "could you make these things yourself?" james marsh came to the bbc as a researcher. he worked first on the nightly tv arts magazine, the late show in 1988, before moving to arena where he found his bosses — his mentors — were open to all kinds of ideas. i had these nights where they would have the whole night, and they would have a series of films interesting kinds of bits in between the films. and so i said, "i'd like to make a film in latin." speaks latin replies in latin about the medieval history of animal trials. the animals were put on trial in some parts of medieval europe when they committed a crime. so if a pig savaged a baby, the pig would be arrested,
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put in jail and formally tried, with defence attorneys and prosecution. so at the time there was enormous amounts of freedom to experiment, because no—one was really watching in terms of the hierarchies of the bbc. james marsh made several acclaimed documentaries during his time with arena, many of which were shot in the united states. he recalls how working for the corporation gave him a lot of access. the other thing about the bbc which was very helpful, is that it has a great soft brand, particularly in america, elsewhere too i'm sure, but america is where i often worked. and almost everybody would respond to "i'm from the bbc", for better or for worse, and you would get people to talk to you when they wouldn't talk to anyone else. so that opened doors for you and showed you you were working for a global organisation that had enormous respect in the world. but james marsh credits the bbc,
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or at least his days at arena, with some of his major career triumphs. he won an oscar in 2009 for his documentary man on wire, on the french high—wire artist philippe petit and his daring tightrope walk between the twin towers of the world trade center. without the bbc, i would not have become a filmmaker, that's for sure. i would not have made man on wire, which i guess is the film its structure is very inventive, it's full of dramatisations that are kind of comic. without my work on arena, i would never have made that film the way it turned out. there should be an oscar forarena, really! mary harron is one of america's most gifted independent filmmakers. she is probably best known for directing american psycho, definitely a film that showed off her prodigious skills as a filmmaker. but it was also a picture which ignited many passions. ijust fell in love with new york and got an apartment
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in st marks place for $200 a month. wow, what year was that? 1975. i went to visit mary harron at her home in northern manhattan. there's a little bit more if you want. i had come to see her to discuss her work at the bbc as a presenter and director on the late show 30 years ago. good evening. on that programme, she picked up directing skills that have led to a very successful filmmaking career. she is probably best known for american psycho. i simply am not there. a controversial and violent film... i have to kill a lot of people! ..that became a cultural landmark the world over. new card, what you think? a satire on capitalist greed and masculinity released in 2000 starring christian bale. this confession has meant nothing. her time at the late show at the bbc was instrumental in preparing her for being a film director. it was my film school. i really learned everything at the late show. tonight we'll be dissecting
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the extraordinary image which won this year's world press photography award. you were allowed to make a short film in any style you liked, there was no house style. there are no rules, go for it. this would be unthinkable in american television where it was all about a brand. but no, it wasn't, it was like, go and work something out. so i started doing things that became more and more experimental. she crafted late show documentaries as if they were full—blown features. walking down the hall, you get the feeling _ walking down the hall, you get the feeling you are on a doomed ship and it is sinking _ feeling you are on a doomed ship and it is sinking fast. there were a lot more production resources back then. but what she really cherished though was the eclectic editorial remit of the late show. you were allowed to take things seriously. i went and worked in american tv for a bit, there was much more consciousness of the need to entertain or, you know, what you have to do to keep an audience happy. so there was, in a way, you could go up and do something quite obscure which was great. the late show would have a whole
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discussion about some form of post—modernism, or noam chomsky, and then you would have some wacky game—show. and they were doing everything, and that was their strength. i'm very fond of the stuff i did for the late show. the bbc still touches harron's life. in new york, she often listens to bbc world service radio. on its centenary, she worries little about the future of an organisation which, as a director in the making, gave her so much. i would hope that the bbc could continue to be funded by the license. you can't have everything bashed around in the marketplace. experimentation and sort of incubating new ideas and new ways of making films has to have some kind of space to grow. 0therwise everyone just has to starve and try and do it on their own. but how great if you can have an institution that supports you? sally el hosaini epitomises the new
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face of filmmaking in britain. her latest feature, the refugee drama the swimmers won the prestigious opening—night slot at the toronto international film festival. and her first feature, my brother the devil, won a trove of awards. for her, the bbc has always been a very important institution, and it touched her life from a very early age. as a filmmaker, sally el hosaini is enjoying considerable success. at the toronto and zurich film festivals, her new feature film the swimmers, an inspirational portrait of real—life syrian refugee sisters, was the high profile opening night attraction. but it was programming created in this building, bush house in london, that once housed the bbc world service radio, that really nurtured sally el hosaini when she was growing up in egypt. i feel incredibly nostalgic and sentimental about the bbc, because what it does
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is amazing, really. as a child growing up in cairo, the bbc is the soundtrack to my childhood. we had this old radio that my dad bought as a student at liverpool university and taken back to egypt, and it took a while to heat up, once you turned it on, but then it would stay on most of the day. radio: the bbc world service... and so i remember being connected to music, news, culture, political discussion — all through the radio. and this is an era where it was pre—internet, so that was my source of staying connected with the uk and western values while living in egypt. sally el hosaini ended up working on bbc programmes as a researcher, script editor and script consultant 20 years ago. she feels she picked up skills at the bbc which she put to good use in her first feature film, the 2012 picture my brother the devil.
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a lot of stories i'm attracted to have those real roots, even the swimmers which i have just made, is based on a true story of the mardini sisters, who were syrian refugees who ended up at the rio olympics. so in a lot of ways the bbc was the place that i...learnt those skills, those skills in terms of striving for authenticity, integrity. although in herfeature films sally el hosaini has told stories involving characters of arab ancestry, she's also proud of her welsh heritage, and she is pleased the bbc broadcasts in the welsh language. speaks welsh it's wonderful that the bbc are so committed to continuing their output in welsh. it's so important that they represent the whole uk, and that's a very sensitive topic in wales, you know,
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maintaining the language is through output, it's on the bbc. so that's something admirable. speaks welsh it's so important in terms of our culture and heritage and maintaining the diversity of what it means to be british. in some ways, the bbc has been around for 100 years, it's an institution like the nhs. it's something british people should be proud of, a huge export around the world. the way that it faces the world, the way the world can approach the uk through the bbc, so ijust hope it holds onto its identity for the next 100 years, and it keeps going, and that it can continue to be publicly funded and not privatised, so that it can retain its core values, which...are very important. well, that brings this special bbc 100 edition of talking movies to a close, we hope you have
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enjoyed the programme. please remember you can always reach us online, and you can find us on twitter. so from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies production team here in london, it's goodbye as we leave you with this musical tribute to the bbc from the pop duo sparks. # now that i own the bbc # what am i supposed to do with this 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 and all these stories # what was i thinking? # what could i have been thinking? # hey rupert murdoch, help me out # i'm flying blind
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# you know the way to lay things out # now that i own the bbc...# hello, it's been very mild recently across the uk, and that mild theme continues in the week ahead, both by day and by night. we start this forecast, though, with a thundery element to the rain that we will be seeing on sunday. it's all down to this area of low pressure, which will be extending its way north and eastwards through the day on sunday. so some heavy, thundery showers pushing their way north and east, becoming confined to scotland through the afternoon. ahead of it, some sunshine. behind it, some sunshine. but also further showers starting to develop, and wherever we see them, it could be heavy and thundery. temperatures on a par with a saturday afternoon. 14—18 celsius. and then, through sunday evening, and overnight, we see another spell of heavy thundery rain pushing in from the southwest. as we start the new week, it is going to stay very mild, as i mentioned.
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there will be further rain at times. low pressure never too far away. but also some drier spells, and for some some drier days as well. moving from sunday into monday, low pressure is still very much in charge, still churning plenty of showers through monday morning. initially, across eastern areas. they will start to pull away, leaving some sunshine behind. but further showers piling in from the west as we head through monday. still the chance of a rumble of thunder or a flash of lightning. we will start to lose that risk as the day wears on. still looking at temperatures in a range from 14—18 celsius. 11 celsius for the northern isles. as we head into tuesday, we see a slight ridge of high pressure building. so for many a drier day. but look what is happening down to southwest. another system beginning to arrive, and that will start to push some cloud into the southwest approaches through the afternoon. but for many, it is a largely dry day. there will be some spells of sunshine. you might see some rain, though, developing across southwest england, south wales, and potentially into northern ireland by the evening. temperatures again in that range of 14—18 celsius. then the system continues
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to push its way northwards across the uk as we head through wednesday. notice the isobars are closer together so a windier spell of weather as well through the middle part of the week. but it's likely to be an overnight feature at this stage, so through wednesday, that rain starting to clear away from scotland. but following on behind will be plenty of showers, particularly in the north and the west. they should be blown through quickly on those strong south or south—westerly winds. temperatures 14—18 celsius, and still no sign of any overnight frost. as we head towards the end of the week, notice again we have got more low pressure system approaching. those isobars still close together. so wet, windy weather. on thursday, it looks like most of the showers will be across the west of the uk, through northern ireland, wales, southwest england, into northern england and scotland. elsewhere, actually, a mainly dry day with some spells of sunshine. look at the temperatures on thursday. potentially 20—21 celsius across east anglia and south—east england. and then by friday, it looks like this frontal system
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pushes its way eastwards, bringing showers or longer spells of rain to many. and again, still some gusty winds particularly in the southwest. it looks like the heaviest of the showers will be across western areas on friday. and then what we start to see actually is the temperatures starting to come down, because we see a subtle shift in the wind direction as this area of high pressure just starts to build. we start to pick up more of a westerly wind. there will still be some showers around, particularly the further west you are, but it looks as we head into the following weekend that things will start to turn a little bit cooler. but actually, all that is is that temperatures are coming closer to average. in summary, an unsettled week ahead, but still miles by day and by night.
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this is bbc news the headlines at six the former chancellor rishi sunak looks is set to officially enter the conservative leadership race after securing the backing of more than 100 mps rivals of borisjohnson dismiss claims by his allies that he's also reached 100 backers, with speculation rife he could enter the contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running, but has fewer supporters. ukrainian officials say around a million and a half households are without power following a new wave of russian attacks in other news — two mayors are calling for more funding for train operators in the north of england — it's after passengers face disruption to services you just can't keep up with all the
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cancellations. even when you're

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