The Fabulous Picture Show

Bullhead

A look at one unusual young man and his involvement with the Belgian hormone mafia.

Belgian director Michael Roskam wanted to make a gangster film with a distinctly local flavour – although rural west Flanders is more “livestock” than “Lock Stock”. 

But the murder of a policeman investigating illegal steroid use in cattle farming provided Roskam with the local angle he had been seeking. And the result is Bullhead, a sui generis look at one unusual young man and his involvement with the Belgian hormone mafia.

Bullhead was a surprise hit of this year’s Berlin Film Festival, and filmmaker Michael Roskam joins Amanda Palmer, Al Jazeera’s head of entertainment, and the FPS audience for a beefy Q&A session.

A Separation

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A Separation

Also ringing all the bells at Berlin this year was A Separation, an Iranian drama that won the top prize, the Golden Bear. 

A Separation looks at the deterioration of an Iranian marriage, but its subtext is a message about modern Iranian society. 

Iranian cinema was only recently regarded as amongst the world’s finest, but the current political situation has had a devastating effect.

FPS speaks to director Asghar Farhadi about A Separation, and looks at the current generation of Iranian filmmakers – some of whom, like Jafar Panahi, have been imprisoned for their work, plus others who have been banned and threatened. 

Even the Rain

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Even the Rain

What would you do if your government told you that all the water in your area was privately owned – and you were not even permitted to collect rainwater?

Well, this actually happened in Bolivia, and the film Even the Rain offers a dramatic account of what happened when the people tried to rise up against this aqua-tyranny.

Mexico’s Gael Garcia Bernal stars alongside indigenous non-professionals as a filmmaker who stumbles into this sad situation.

The script was by Paul Laverty, a long-time screenwriter for British filmmaker Ken Loach. 

FPS speaks to Laverty about the centuries-old inspiration behind this stirring new feature.

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Friday, June 3, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1930; Saturday: 1430; Sunday: 0430; Monday: 0830.