The Bigger Picture, presented by The British Film Institute

The new podcast from the British Film Institute launches with the first of a two-part episode on Martin Scorsese, featuring a previously unreleased interview with the film-maker from 1987, as well as clips from the archive of writer-director Paul Schrader and actor Robert De Niro revealing what it's like to work with one of the most precise directors in film. Join Henry Barnes every two weeks for an audio adventure through the BFI's archives. Each fortnight Henry will be joined by a special guest to dig into their cinematic passion, be it a director, a genre, a franchise or a meme. This week, BFI Southbank chief programmer Geoff Andrew clambers into the pod to kick off our Marty party. This episode contains short clips from the following: - Citizen Kane. Directed by Orson Welles, released by RKO Productions and Mercury Productions in 1942. - 8 1/2. Directed by Federico Fellini, released by Cineriz and Francinex in 1963. - Rocco and his Brothers. Directed by Luchino Visconti, released by Titanus and Les Films Marceau in 1960. - New York, New York. Directed by Martin Scorsese, released by Chartoff-Winkler Productions and United Artists in 1977. The following audio tracks are used under license from Audio Network Limited: - Throwback Jack by Tim Garland, released 2013. - String Theory by Terry Divine-King, released 2012. - Canyon Lands by Adam Drake, released in 2011. - Angel Island by Terry Divine-King, released in 2015. - Good Deeds by Sam Wedgwood, released in 2017. For more on the BFI's Scorsese season go to bfi.org.uk.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tyler Perry became a media power player through Madea, his riotous spin on the mammy stereotype. Now the richest man in entertainment, Perry's success lies in serving a black audience that has been consistently ignored by Hollywood. In the final episode of our Black Star mini-series, we look at how stars like Perry, Spike Lee and Shonda Rhimes have begun to re-wire the industry. We also examine the role of the black star in Trump's America. This episode of the Black Star contains short clips from the following: - Marlon Wayans's appearance on the Essence Live chatshow on 21 January 2016.- Boo! A Madea Halloween, directed by Tyler Perry and released by Tyler Perry Studios and Lionsgate in 2016. - The Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode "For Sale by Owner", directed by Shelley Jensen and released by The Stuffed Dog Company, Quincy Jones productions, David Salzman Entertainment and NBC Productions in 1994. - Annie, directed by Will Gluck and released by Village Roadshow Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment and Columbia Pictures in 2014.- And Fences, directed by Denzel Washington, which is set for release by Bron Creative, Macro Media, Scott Rudin Productions and Paramount Pictures on Christmas day

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last of our suite of salons, Experimenta programmer and BFI head of cinemas Helen de Witt takes Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s (aka Desperate Optimists) Further Beyond and Alia Syed’s On a Wing and a Prayer as the point of departure for a conversation about journey, exile, and personal and formal risk-taking. Raising questions about the unreliability of mediation through narrative, and responding to a hazardous situation through recreating and embodying biographical details, both films use bravely exposed formal innovation to throw light on all too current questions of migration and displacement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anja Kirschner (Moderation), Larissa Sansour and co-director Søren Lind (In the Future, They Ate from the Finest Porcelain) are invited into the BFI Studio for a lively conversation with Experimenta programmer and curator of artists’ moving image at the BFI National Archive, William Fowler. From horror to sci-fi and beyond, this salon explores how artist filmmakers are reinterpreting and manipulating genre filmmaking, what notions of genre cinema might mean when situated within an art discourse, and other related questions.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate the London Film Festival screening of EXPRMNTL, a documentary about the first experimental film festival, founded in 1949, we reflect on where we have got to in the intervening years. Is there still a place for experimental film festivals? What are they for? What is the relationship between the mainstream and the fringe in contemporary film culture? To discuss these and other questions Experimenta programmer and director of LUX Benjamin Cook is joined by the directors of two of the foremost 'experimental' film festivals Amy Fung, artistic director of Toronto’s Images Festival and Peter Taylor, director of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Questions of how the past intersects with, and is activated by, the present are concerns addressed in this Experimenta Salon that brings together Sarah Pucill (Confessions to the Mirror) and Ruth Maclennan (Hero City) in conversation with Experimenta programmer and BFI head of cinemas Helen de Witt. Creating dialogues between past and present across spans of time, both artists investigate the role of their own subjectivity in revisiting different pasts; activating those through their individual contemporary aesthetic practice to allow something new to arise from the dialogue.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to the 90s and the ascent of the black star as box office titan. Following in the footsteps of Pam Grier and Richard Pryor, actors like Eddie Murphy and Whoopi Goldberg used their immense popularity as comedians to push for top billing and some of the biggest pay packets in the business.- Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway. Directed by Thomas Schlamme and released by Vestron in 1985- The Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1985 by Warner Brothers- Ghost, directed by Jerry Zucker and released in 1990 by Paramount Pictures- The Toy, directed by Richard Donner and released in 1982 by Columbia Pictures- Sister Act 2, directed by Bill Duke and released in 1993 by Touchstone Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The one, the only, the mighty ... Pam Grier. This week the Black Star podcast pays tribute to the figurehead of the Blaxploitation movement: a star who became one of the only black women to take the fight to the men in the action genre. We also track Blaxploitation's influence, from the hip hop of Snoop Dogg and the Geto Boys to the genre's late-90s resurgence thanks - in part - to Quentin Tarantino.The Pam Grier episode of Black Star contained short clips from the following: -Foxy Brown, directed by Jack Hill and released in 1974 by American International Pictures-Coffy, directed by Jack Hill and released in 1973 by American International Pictures-Original Gangstas, directed by Larry Cohen and released in 1996 by Orien Pictures-Jackie Brown, directed by Quentin Tarantino and released in 1997 by A Band Apart, Mighty Mighty Aphrodite Productions, Laurence Bender Productions and Miramax.-Black Dynamite, directed by Scott Sanders and released in 2009 by ARS Nova and ApparitionAnd a clip from the Fox TV show Empire, first broadcast in 2015 and released by Imagine Television, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions, Little Chicken Inc and 20th Century Fox Television.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Black Star podcast continues with the story of a civil rights campaigner, who also happened to be one of the 1950s' biggest movie stars: Harry Belafonte. Tracing Belafonte’s political awakening back to Paul Robeson – and that star’s unlikely political awakening thanks to a group of striking Welsh miners – we see how Belafonte’s activism has inspired a whole new generation of political black stars. The Black Star podcast is a six-week series celebrating some of the most influential black film stars across the ages. This episode of Black Star contains short clips of the following: -The Banana Boat Song, performed by Harry Belafonte and released by RCA Victor in 1956-Jesse Williams’s speech at the 2016 BET awards, held on June 26th of this year and presented by BET Networks-Amandla Stenberg’s video essay, Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows, produced by Quinn Masterson and Amandla StenbergAND-Harry Belafonte’s address to the 2016 #MKNOW event, footage directed by Paul Fant

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first black person to win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel struggled to escape the maid archetype that was the source of her success. A trailblazer, the Gone with the Wind star nevertheless became went on to perpetuate the black maid stereotype, even after her Oscar win. In the years since, black Oscar nominees have consistently been rewarded for playing abused, impoverished characters with ties to crime. We ask how much things have improved since Hattie's time. This is episode two of the BFI's Black Star podcast, a six-part series presented as part of the Black Star season, which celebrates the power and versatility of black actors.This episode of the Black Star podcast contains a clip of Hattie McDaniel accepting her Oscar in 1939, which is owned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.It also contains short clips from: - Gone with the Wind. Directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Selznick International Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Released in 1939.- 12 Years a Slave. Directed by Steve McQueen; produced by Summit Entertainment, Regency Enterprises, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions and Film4 Productions. Released in 2013- Precious. Directed by Lee Daniels; produced by Lee Daniels Entertainment, Smokewood Entertainment, Harpo Films, 34th Street Films. Released in 2009- The Help, directed by Tate Taylor; produced by DreamWorks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media, Image Nation, 1492 Pictures and Harbinger Pictures. Released in 2011.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.