Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference and, ultimately, the strength of the human spirit

This week, we will be joined by first-time director Sarah Gavron and actor Tannishtha Chatterjee for a special preview screening of Brick Lane, an adaptation of Monica Ali’s best-selling novel. Set in multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit.

At the tender age of seventeen, Nazneen’s life is turned upside down. After an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence – whilst serving her role as both wife and mother. But Nazneen submits, as she must, to fate and devotes her life to raising her family and slapping down her demons of discontent. Until the day that Karim, a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life.

Director Sarah Gavron and lead actor Tannishtha Chatterjee join Amanda Palmer at a Q&A to talk about how they took Brick Lane from novel to the big screen and the controversy that it stirred.

Francis Ford Coppola: Youth Without Youth

After an eight-year absence Francis Ford Coppola releases Youth Without Youth

The word ‘legend’ gets overused a lot, but this FPS truly features two cinematic giants. The first is Francis Ford Coppola, who, after an eight year absence from filmmaking, releases the much anticipated but surreal Youth Without Youth. It stars English actor Tim Roth as an ageing professor who searches for the meaning of life and the origins of language, after his youth is miraculously restored. He finds love in the arms of a mysterious linguist, played by Alexandra Maria Lara. Amanda Palmer talks to Coppola and the principal actors about speculation that the film parallels Coppola’s own state of mind. We are taken back to post-Godfather days and the journey the renowned director has made to reach his ultimate film. 

Werner Herzog: Rescue Dawn

Werner Herzog discusses his latest feature Rescue Dawn

Our second legend is Werner Herzog, a leading light of the German New Wave of the 1970s and ’80s. His collaborations with bug-eyed genius actor Klaus Kinski, especially Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre: Wrath Of God, involved testing the very limits of human endurance – they were filmed in the South American jungle, under the harshest and most dangerous conditions imaginable. His latest feature, Rescue Dawn, continues that theme, though it is also by far his most accessible, mainstream film. Starring Christian Bale (Batman Begins), it is based on a true story that Herzog himself told 10 years ago in the documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly. Bale portrays the German-born American pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Laos in the 1960s and imprisoned in a horrendous camp. Dengler’s bold escape and 27-day trek through impenetrable jungle is one of the most incredible survival stories ever told. Herzog discusses Rescue Dawn and looks back at his own fantastic career.

Mike Hedges, Sound Engineer

Mike Hedges demonstrates exactly what a sound engineer does

Mike Hedges, a double-Oscar-winning sound engineer, demonstrates exactly what it is that he does. As he talks us through the gradual build-up and mix of sound tracks for an exciting scene in the film The Indian Runner, we learn how live sound, music and the re-created effects provided by so-called Foley artists each play an important role in our cinematic experience.

Watch this episode of The Fabulous Picture Show here:

Part 1:

Part2:

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show will be broadcast at the following times GMT:

Saturday 17^th November 14:30, 22:30; Sunday 18^th November 02:30, 12:30; Monday 19^th November 00:30, 07:30; Tuesday 20^th November 06:00, 13:30; Wednesday 21^st November 11:30, 19:30; Thursday 22^rd November 05:30 Friday 23^th November  03:00, 16:30; Saturday 24^th November 06:30