This month Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator at Watershed, wonders why is it that African films continue to excite audiences and garner international attention, yet are woefully under-represented in British cinemas. With a particular focus on Senegalese cinema Mark introduces some of the key directors and films in African filmmaking from the last 50 years, and looks forward to the 10th Afrika Eye Film Festival which takes place at Watershed and across Bristol this November.

In this month's podcast Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator, asks what is curation in the film exhibition world? And how is it different from programming, scheduling or booking? And indeed do audiences care how a film comes to be on at a cinema as long as it is something they like and it is showing? He asks these questions having recently worked with a group of Watershed's Future Producers who have created a season of late night sensory cinema that asks what LOVE is Like.

In this month's podcast Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator, talks about why the Watershed hosted Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival holds a vital and unique place in the annual film calendar. Mark selects some of his highlights from the upcoming festival and tells us it's the perfect opportunity to see the talent of tomorrow, hear from the filmmakers themselves and to share the all too rare pleasure of seeing short film on the big screen.

In this month's podcast Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator, reflects on his recent visit to Bologna, Italy, for Il Cinema Ritrovato festival. The festival has been going for nearly 30 years and has grown to become a vital and important film festival. The title of the festival roughly translates as Cinema Revisited or Cinema Restored and focuses on representing restored and often neglected archive films from around the world. Mark considers the value of watching old films and having a festival dedicated to them, and argues that these films still have historic importance and resonance today.

In this month's podcast, to mark the centenary of the birth of legendary American director Orson Welles, Watershed Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove talks about the the impact of Orson Welles work. Mark looks back over the career of this landmark figure, not only in the history of cinema, but also in his early days shaking up the worlds of theatre and radio. Mark also discusses the films, some well known and some less often seen in cinemas, all of which are screening in July as part of the The Magnificence of Orson season at Watershed.

This month Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator at Watershed, reflects on his five film highlights from the Cannes 2015 film festival including; Carol directed by Tod Haynes and based on a once shocking Patricia Highsmith novel, an idiosyncratic Icelandic film about two sheep farming brothers and Taklub which explores how survivors rebuilt their lives after a super typhoon – which Mark says is one of the greatest films he has seen in a some time.

This month Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator at Watershed, and Palliative Care Consultant Julian Able discuss May's Caring About Dying season of films at Watershed. The films are screening as part of the cultural programme of the 4th International Public Health and Palliative Care Conference, of which Julian is the Chair of the organising committee. The conference explores how to reframe death and dying and brings these two subjects out in the open to talk about loss and suffering, and how to foster community participation and resilience in response. In this podcast Mark and Julian talk about our contemporary context for dying, the professionalisation of end of life care and the films screening at Watershed – Amour, Still Alice and Last Orders – and their vivid portrayal of the realities and emotions brought on by death.

This month Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator at Watershed and Phil Johnson, Senior Programme Producer at St Georges Bristol delve deeper into our Folk Noir strand of screenings and performances that looks at the darker side of folk music and film.

This month Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator at Watershed and Professor Tim Cole from University of Bristol reflect on some of the themes, ideas and discussions that have emerged from films recently screened at Watershed as part of Conversations About Cinema: Impact of Conflict. This season of screenings, events and conversations, co-created by Mark and Tim, continues until July and looks at how film and filmmakers address the impact of conflict.

This month Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator, talks about The Impact of Conflict and discusses the Playable City with Watershed Producer Hilary O'Shaugnessy. Mark discusses how film and filmmakers have and do address The Impact of Conflict, in particular in relation to new cinema release Selma. Selma is a gripping drama that focus on Martin Luther King in a vivid retelling of the months leading up to the historic 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, that would secure voting rights for African Americans - a story that resonates with contemporary American events and screens this month at Watershed. Hilary talks about the notion of the Playable City and Watershed's past successes in making Bristol recognised as the original Playable City and upcoming Playable City activity in 2015.