The Brutalist has been one of the most talked about films of the year and taps into a rich vein of films and television that dramatise the immigrant experience. From The Godfather Part 2 to Small Axe, The Emigrants to Home and Away and An American Tail - Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode examine how filmmakers have investigated and portrayed the perils, patterns and adventure of human movement across the globe.Mark speaks to film critic Christina Newland about the history of immigrant epics in Hollywood - from Once Upon a Time in America to The Brutalist.Ellen then speaks to writer and creator of the tv series Get Millie Black, Marlon James, about his experience watching Small Axe for the first time. Ellen also talks to director Sir Steve McQueen about his anthology series Small Axe and how the films act as their own immigrant epic for the Windrush generation.Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:46
Sex Work
Pretty Woman was released in 1990. One of the most beloved and successful romantic comedies of all time, the film tells the Cinderella story of a sex worker, played by Julia Roberts, who finds love with a slick businessman - Richard Gere - after he picks her up on Hollywood Boulevard.Fast forward to 2025 and the astonishing Oscar success of Anora - director Sean Baker’s tale of a young sex worker whose whirlwind affair with a Russian billionaire’s son turns bad, fast.So how has the way we treat sex work on screen changed? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the long and thorny relationship between cinema and sex work. Mark speaks to film historian and critic Pamela Hutchinson about how sex work has been tackled in over a hundred years of movies - from early silent films like Pandora’s Box, to the work of Sean Baker. They discuss Jane Fonda’s Oscar-winning turn as a ‘call girl’ in Klute, and look at how male sex worker films like Midnight Cowboy might approach the subject differently. Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Andrea Werhun, the writer, performer and real-life sex worker who served as a consultant on Anora - about her work on the film, and her love for another Richard Gere sex work film, American Gigolo. And Ellen also speaks to Kristen Lovell and Zachary Drucker, whose 2023 documentary The Stroll traced the history of trans sex workers in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Kristen and Zachary discuss why sex work has been a key part of trans history - and what they think Anora’s success means for sex workers. Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:40
Studio Ghibli
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode waltz into the magical world of Studio Ghibli, as the animation giant celebrates its 40th birthday.Ellen speaks to the film, TV and video game critic, Kambole Campbell about Studio Ghibli's origin story and key aspects of visual style. Also, the animator and co-founder of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, Nora Twomey discusses the emotional impact of films like My Neighbour Totoro, and Grave of the Fireflies. Mark meets actor, Emily Mortimer who discusses the process of re-dubbing for the film, Howl's Moving Castle. And the animator and director, Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the collaborative relationship forged with Studio Ghibli, while working on his feature length production, The Red Turtle.Producer: Mae-Li Evans
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:40
Hotels
With the latest series of the much-discussed drama The White Lotus recently wrapped up, Screenshot asks why cinema and TV make so many return visits to hotels as a setting.Whether sinister and scary like in The Shining or Psycho, fabulous but faded like The Grand Budapest Hotel, or comically chaotic like in Fawlty Towers, hotels offer a myriad of possible opportunities for drama. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode check in to check out their rich history on screen. Ellen talks to film critic Hannah Strong about the timeless appeal of screen stays from the 1932 classic Grand Hotel to The White Lotus - and about how directors Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola have made hotels the focus of some of their most famous films. Ellen also speaks to Sean MacPherson, hotelier, cinephile and co-owner of the storied Hotel Chelsea in New York City, about the glamorous allure of historic hotels - and the impact of the movies on hotel design. Mark speaks to writer and critic Anne Billson about the seedier - and scarier - side of hotels on screen, from the Coen Brothers' 1991 cult classic Barton Fink, to the 1990 Roald Dahl fantasy The Witches. And Mark also talks to director Rodney Ascher, whose 2012 documentary Room 237 explored Stanley Kubrick's The Shining from the unusual points of view of a number of theorists - all of whom seem to have checked into the film's Overlook hotel and never been able to leave.Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
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42:41
Doppelgangers
With the Robert Pattinson starring film Mickey 17 fresh out in the cinema, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the world of doppelgangers and doubles on screen.Ellen speaks to academic and doppelganger scholar Adam Golub about the difference between clones and doppelgangers and what the doppelganger tells us about life in 2025. Ellen then talks to an actress about what its like playing a clone.Mark speaks to director Richard Ayoade about his 2013 film The Double. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is an adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novel from 1866. Mark and Richard discuss adapting such a classic novel, the distinct look of the film and the idea of Jung's 'shadow self' and its influence on doubles on screen.Produced by Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image revealing fascinating links and hidden gems from cinema and TV to streaming and beyond.
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