In the Studio

Production designer Maria Djurkovic takes us behind the scenes of Harry Styles' new movie, My Policeman, which was made in the middle of the pandemic. Lockdown presents a number of challenges, expected ones like social distancing and sick crew members. And unexpected ones, like studios being too full and staff being in short supply because more movies were being made during the pandemic, rather than less. Maria kept an audio diary during these unprecedented times for the British film industry, as she battles with crew shortages, schedule changes and a possible bout of Covid.

What if you could rewrite a part of history? What would you change, and where would you start? For multidisciplinary artist Nazanin Moradi, who was brought up in the Islamic Republic of Iran where women are, “second-class citizens in every sense,” the answer is easy; she would start at the very beginning of “time” to reverse the “unfair” gender roles. In her new project, the multidisciplinary artist challenges male domination and toxic masculinity, within a fragmented historical context where fantasy meets rebellion. She does this by changing the narrative of ancient Mesopotamian mythology, fixating on the legendary battle where the supremely powerful dragon goddess of oceans Tiamat, was killed by the storm god Marduk. Over a period of six months, reporter Sahar Zand spends time with Nazanin at various locations in London to find out how she embarks on the ambitious project, and how it’s affected by the protests in Iran, which take place as she nears the end of her work. Through the mediums of textile design, interpretive dance, digital editing, collage, painting and sculpture, Nazanin rebels against social conventions by using her own body through the creative process.

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf takes us behind the scenes of the making of Kandahar, his film about life in Afghanistan that captured the world's attention when President Bush asked to see it after the attacks on 9/11. He reveals how he managed to film on a smugglers' route between Iran and Afghanistan, and how he avoided the attentions of the Taliban. And he also reveals details of the documentary he is currently making about the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan.

Jarvis Cocker, the British indie pop star and frontman of the band Pulp, talks to Miranda Sawyer about his autobiography that's not an autobiography. Good Pop, Bad Pop is an inventory of all the stuff that's in his loft: badges, pencils, photographs, chewing gum, etc. But it's also about the memories that are stirred by those objects and seeing them for the first time in decades. He reveals the process of writing the Sheffield version of A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu.

Agatha Christie is the world's most translated author, with her work being available in over 100 languages. And one of her most beloved characters, Miss Marple, is about to be resurrected with the help of 12 contemporary authors. In The Studio talks to two of those writers: Dreda Say Mitchell who specialises in a different type of crime story, the gritty gangster genre, and Kate Mosse, who's known for her historical sagas. They reveal how they rose to the challenge of re-inventing one of the most famous characters in twentieth century fiction.

On 4 August 2020, a massive explosion destroyed the port of Beirut. It's impact was felt across the city, reaching the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut (AUB). The pressure from the explosion shattered a glass display at the museum holding 74 glass vessels, mainly Roman with a few Byzantine and Islamic. The team at the AUB collected the shards from the floor, separated them and sent eight of the broken vessels to the UK. And so began the journey of collaboration between Lebanon and England to restore these ancient vessels at the British Museum. Janay Boulos, a Lebanese BBC News journalist, follows the journey of restoring these vessels and they become a symbol of Beirut, broken into pieces, scarred, and slowly being restored to its formal glory.

The award-winning South African tenor was a 2014 finalist in the prestigious Belvedere Singing Competition, considered one of the most important global opera showcases. He has since headlined festivals and has worked with many of the world’s top opera directors and conductors. For this In The Studio, actor and filmmaker Tara Gadomski is following Khanyiso for two, fast-paced weeks, as he rehearses for his United States’ debut, singing the title role in Rossini’s Otello at Opera Philadelphia. Discover how he learns the part and takes care of his voice, what it’s like to go from practicing on his own to working with the whole opera company and orchestra, not to mention singing the high C notes while still jet lagged!

Glass: a functional material and silent witness to our daily lives, so unnoticed we’re usually looking straight through it. But in Venice, glass is an art form, and Ai Weiwei’s latest work is designed to make you look. Having mastered many mediums – wood, marble, even social media - the artist-activist is now turning his hand to glass. Through a collaboration with Adriano Berengo, on the glass-making island of Murano, he’s creating an immense chandelier, made up of over 2000 glass bones, organs and other surprising objects. Set to be displayed at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, La Commedia Umana is Ai’s attempt to “talk about death in order to celebrate life”. Join Alice McKee in Venice, speaking with Ai Weiwei and the Berengo Studios team, as she follows the life cycle of La Commedia Umana, from the furnace to the church.

For decades, illustrator Axel Scheffler has been keeping children and adults around the world entertained with his warm and witty illustrations, from the Gruffalo and Stick Man to worms with attitude, gobbly goats and smart giants. He has published more than 150 books, including collaborations with writer Julia Donaldson that have become modern-day classics, translated into dozens of languages and selling millions of copies. Axel was born in Hamburg in Germany and moved to the UK in his twenties, where he has been based ever since. We join him in his attic studio perched high above a leafy part of west London, where he is hard at work on his latest project. This one centres not on a fantastical creature with terrible teeth and terrible claws, but on a small, slightly scruffy dog who may or may not have played a role in the creation of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Writer and actor Dame Emma Thompson has conjured up the story and we eavesdrop on a rare conversation between the two - rare because Axel generally doesn’t collaborate directly with his writers. Axel also allows us to witness his unique process, from pencil sketch to finished illustration, as he creates a scene from the new book before our ears.

In the Studio follows Grammy-winning American composer Christopher Tin as he embarks on the creation of an ambitious new work. Based on poetry and inspired by folk music, The Lost Birds is a musical memorial to bird species driven to extinction by humankind. Edwina Pitman follows Christopher through his composition process, his collaboration with the prolific British vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The Lost Birds is an elegiac response to the noise of our times and a haunting tribute to those soaring flocks that once filled our skies, but whose songs have since been silenced.