The Bigger Picture, presented by The British Film Institute

Writer-director-actor Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behaviour) joins Anna and Hen in the BFI's "glitzy" green room (there are mirrors on the ceiling) to talk about her new film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and her new TV series, The Bisexual. Desi talks about why America loves pro-life cinema, the art of the sex scene and why it's alright to remain a teen at heart.

Elsewhere, Anna slaps Hen down for knowing nothing about Joan Crawford, while Hen goes ... bananas for Mike Leigh's Nuts in May.

The BFI Podcast is ...

BFI Southbank Programmer Anna Bogutskaya

BFI Digital editor Henry Barnes

Producer Peter Sale

Thanks to our guest, Desiree Akhavan. Watch The Miseducation of Cameron Post trailer and find out more about The Bisexual.

Screen therapy:

• Watch Nuts in May (BBC iPlayer)

• Five things you (and Hen) should know about Joan Crawford (BFI.org)

• Listen to another brilliant Desiree Akhavan interview (WNYC)

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BlacKkKlansman, the latest film from Spike Lee, tells the story of the black Colorado cop who konned (sorry) the klan into accepting him as a member, then brought down a chapter of the white supremicist group from the inside. Critics Kelli Weston and Kambole Campbell join us to talk Spike, race, "passing" and, inevitably, Trump.

Elsewhere, Anna's been CTRL+Ting herself silly thanks to her love of desktop documentaries, while Hen thinks Last Chance U - Netflix's documentary series about small-town American football - can't lose.

The BFI Podcast is ...

BFI Southbank Programmer Anna Bogutskaya

BFI Digital editor Henry Barnes

Producer Peter Sale

Special thanks to our guests, Kelli Weston and Kambole Campbell.

Things to see and do:

• The Guardian's Charlie Phillips on desktop docs.

• The Slenderman documentary, A Self-Induced Hallucination.

• Transformers 4: The Pre-make.

• GQ on Last Chance U

• Spike Lee's alma mater - the traditionally black Morehouse College, invites white students to attend (from Vice).

• The best (old) Spike Lee interview out there.

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Check your damage at the door as we raise a cup of Hull Clean to the greatest, bleakest teen movie - Heathers. Thirty years old, but still looking fresh, the film's a cynical, nasty, brilliant work. Anna interviews its director, Michael Lehmann and actor Lisanne Falk, who played Heather McNamara.

Elsewhere on the show ... Hen says CONTINUE to an article about the making of the Street Fighter film, we handle Sharp Objects and try to think about what The Rock is like in bed. AND... the definitive answer to the question that's been plaguing Heathers fans for 30 years.

The BFI Podcast is ...

BFI Southbank Programmer Anna Bogutskaya

BFI Digital editor Henry Barnes

Producer Peter Sale

More Very:

• Seven Things We Love About Heathers
• Sharp Objects Is Stunning, Raw, and Violently Beautiful
• The Rock: Friend or Foe?
• 'I punched him so hard he cried': inside the Street Fighter movie

The Last Line

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Maurice, released in 1987 was "the OG Call Me By Your Name" (says Anna). This episode we examine the impact the Hugh Grant-starring gay love story had on film culture, rave about Atlanta season 2 and review First Reformed, Paul Schrader's glorious sermon on grief, faith and capiltalism.

Anna and Henry are on Twitter. More on producer Pete at his website.

Further reading / watching / listening:

• Where to begin with Agnès Varda.
• Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This.
• That amazing New Yorker profile of Donald Glover.
• ScreenPrism's video essays.
• Hugh Grant on Maurice.
• Paul Schrader on First Reformed.

This episode of the BFI podcast contains clips from the following:

• You Must Remember This. Written and performed by Karina Longworth, 2018.
• Atlanta Season 2 trailer, HBO / FX Network, 2018
• Maurice, directed by James Ivory in 1987. Re-released by BFI Distribution, 2018.
• A Very English Scandal, directed by Stephen Frears and released by the BBC, 2018.
• First Reformed, directed by Paul Schrader, released by A24 in 2018.

Our theme music is a track called Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland in 2013.

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We're talking about Westworld, so we'll need another host. Anna Bogutskaya - events programmer at the BFI Southbank - starts on the pod as co-host from this episode. We talk - well argue, really - about the Westworld season 2 finale, review the new British bullying drama Pin Cushion and hear from Arcadia director Paul Wright.

When you're done with the show you can watch Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan's full Q&A, dig into Arcadia and get stuck into Anna's interview with Deborah Haywood about Pin Cushion. You can also contact Hen and Anna with your thoughts, fears and feedback and find out more about producer Pete.

This episode of The BFI Podcast contains clips from the following:

• Westworld, Season 2 (various promotional clips), released by HBO in 2018.

• Arcadia, directed by Paul Wright and released by the BFI in 2018.

Our theme tune is a song called Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland (2013) and used under licence through Audio Network.

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Archive chat this episode from Vanessa Redgrave, talking to Simon Callow in 1991 about Antonioni, the "terrifying" British film industry of the 1960s and shaving her head for the concentration camp film Playing for Time. Elsewhere we talk to Pin Cushion DoP, Nicola Daley about creating the candy-coloured world of the phantasmagoric bullying drama, discuss the future of film criticism with Cinema Rediscovered producer Tara Judah and find out what kind of babysitter revolutionary fashion designer Alexander McQueen was, thanks to his nephew, Gary.

The BFI Podcast is written, presented and produced by Henry Barnes. This episode contains clips from the following:

• Pin Cushion. Directed by Deborah Haywood and released in 2018 by Pinpoint.
• McQueen. Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui and released in 2018 by Lionsgate.

The following tracks are used under licence through Audio Network, unless otherwise credited:

• Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland and released in 2013.
• Lazy Daze, written and performed by Barrie Gledden and released in 2003.
• Apartment, written and performed by Chris Blackwell and released in 2009.
• Silent Future, written and performed by Christopher Alcock and Nick Ramm and released in 2017.
• Games, written and performed by Bob Bradley, Nick McEnally and Josh Weller and released in 2018.

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From the stars to the gutter this episode as we plummet from the Star Wars galaxy - via an interview with Solo: A Star Wars Story third AD Donald Bentley - to the monstrous creations at the heart of Alex Winter's Freaked, which opens Glasgow's Weird Weekend festival (tickets here). Plus, Ian McKellen reminiscences about acting in his 1969 feature debut, A Touch of Love, and My Friend Dahmer director Marc Meyers wrestles with the issue of making a biopic of Jeffrey Dahmer's pre-murderous days.

The BFI Podcast is written, presented and produced by Henry Barnes. This episode contains clips from the following:

• In the Heart of the Sea. Directed by Ron Howard and released in 2015 by Ron Howard.
• Solo: A Star Wars Story. Directed by Ron Howard and released in 2018 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
• My Friend Dahmer. Directed by Marc Meyers and released in 2018 by Aperture Entertainment.
• Freaked. Directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter and released in 1993 by 20th Century Fox.
• Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam. Directed by Çetin Inanç and released in 1982 by DVD Rulers.
• Crime Wave. Directed by John Paizs and released in 1985.

The following tracks are used under licence through Audio Network, unless otherwise credited:

• Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland and released in 2013.
• Rogue Moon, written and performed by Joachim Horsley and released in 2018.
• Obscurity, written and performed by Richard Lacy and released in 2017.
• Amongst Friends, written and performed by Gerard Presencer and released in 2016.
• Butter Queen, written and performed by Butthole Surfers and released in 1993.

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Move 'em on, head 'em up! Head 'em up, move 'em on! This episode we round up, rope, tie and brand some archive audio of Clint Eastwood as part of the BFI Southbank's Sergio Leone season. Speaking in 1985, the actor, writer and director talks about playing The Man With No Name, explains why female actors play better psychopaths and remembers the time Muhammed Ali requested that he run him out of town. AND! Special bonus content as listeners Christopher Attaway and Bethan Lewis introduce their audio series I've Never Seen a Western.

Elsewhere, we mark the marriage of Harry and Megan with Wedding Bells, a collection of free films exploring how British wedding films have changed over the years, and talk to Bath Film director Holly Tarquini about the F-Rated Day, an event spun-off from her feminist film classification system, The F Rating. Finally, we interview Filmworker director Tony Zierra, who's documentary tells the story of Leon Vitali, a man who worked himself to exhuastion in the service of the great Stanley Kubrick.

LINKS:

• Listen to the rest of Christopher Attaway and Bethan Lewis's I've Never Seen a Western.

• Watch our free Wedding Bells films on BFI Player.

• Find out more about Bath Film's F-Rated Day.

The BFI podcast - four stories from across the British film industry - is written, presented and produced by Henry Barnes.

This episode contains clips from the following:

- Rawhide "Incident of the Hostages", directed by Don McDougall and released in 1963 by CBS.

- For a Few Dollars More, directed by Sergio Leone and released in 1965 by United Artists.

- A Fistful of Dollars, directed by Sergio Leone and released in 1964 by United Artists.

- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone and released in 1967 by United Artists.

- Play Misty for Me, directed by Clint Eastwood and released in 1971 by Universal Pictures.

- Filmworker, directed by Tony Zierra and released in 2018 by Dogwoof.

This episode contains the following music, all used under license via Audio Network, unless otherwise stated:

- Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland. Released in 2003.

- Space Race, written and performed by Ivor Dvorkin and Duncan Pittock. Released in 2007.

- Opas Dance, written and performed by Chaz Kkoshi. Released in 2011.

- Western Sky, written and performed by Philip Guyler and Lincoln Grounds. Released in 2012.

- Mother 2, written and performed by Guimba Kouyate, Jon Grandcamp, Pablo Love and Campbell E Browning. Released in 2014.

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We go wild this week with a menagerie of animal-based filmic bits and bobs from across the British film industry. Weekend and 45 Years director Andrew Haigh leads in Lean On Pete, his Pacific Northwest-set drama about a wandering teen and an ageing racehorse; Writer-director Michael Pearce introduces his sprightly, nasty debut Beast and film-maker John Bradburn displays an infectious enthusiasm for Pandemic, his interactive film about pig-human hybrids. Plus, we talk to New York film journalist Nick Pinkerton about The Other Side of the 80s, his extended feature about alternative 80s film-making, which makes Sight and Sound's front cover next issue. Nick is technically an animal, which we mention only to stretch our conceit to its breaking point.

*Play Pandemic here! https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/pandemic-behind-the-scenes/*

The BFI podcast - four stories from across the British film industry - is written, presented and produced by Henry Barnes: twitter.com/henryhbarnes?lang=en.

This episode contains clips from the following:

- Lean On Pete, directed by Andrew Haigh and released in 2018 by Curzon Artificial Eye.

- Pandemic, directed by John Bradburn and released in 2018 by The Science Museum.

- Cutter's Way, directed by Ivan Passer and released in 1981 by United Artists.

- The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes and released in 1985 by Universal Pictures.

- E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, directed by Stephen Spielberg and released in 1982 by Universal Pictures.

- The Terminator, directed by James Cameron and released in 1984 by Orion Pictures.

- Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis and released in 1985 by Universal Pictures.

- Beast, directed by Michael Pearce and released in 2017 by 30 West.

This episode contains the following music, all used under license via Audio Network, unless otherwise stated:

- Throwback Jack, written and performed by Tim Garland. Released in 2003.

- Island Love, written and performed by Tom Peters and Lorenzo De Feo. Released in 2017.

- Your Love Part Two, written and performed by Lyndrey Holder. Released in 2017.

- Time is on Your Side, written and performed by Pete Masitti and John Andrew Barrow. Released in 2017.

- Left of the Dial, written and performed by Alex Chilton and The Replacements. Released in 1985.

- Don't Skip Out on Me, written and performed by Richmond Fontaine. Released in 2016.

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