|
Director Matt Tyrnauer faces a Q&A from entertainment editor Amanda Palmer and the FPS audience about his new documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor.
 |
| Amanda Palmer is joined by Matt Tyrnauer, the director of Valentino: The last emperor |
For two years, Tyrnauer was allowed unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the legendary, outspoken, idiosyncratic clothing designer famed for his elegant gowns, designed for the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Kennedy.
The result is a unique insight into a rarefied world of glamour and excess, plus a psychological portrait of a complicated, truly talented icon of high fashion.
MAISHA
 |
| Critically acclaimed Indian director Mira Nair |
Indian director Mira Nair, famed for such films as Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, and Mississippi Masala, has helped start a programme for aspiring filmmakers in Uganda, a part of the world long deficient in cinematic instruction.
The programme, called MAISHA, the Kiswahili word for life, comes on the heels of The Last King of Scotland, which employed hundreds of locals as extras and seems to have kick-started national interest in film production.
Mira Nair, her team and her students discuss MAISHA, and screen a few samples of their work.
Stephen Daldry
 |
| Director Stephen Daldry, Oscar-nominated for every film he has made |
Director Stephen Daldry holds a rare and coveted record: each of his three feature films (Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader) has resulted in an Oscar nomination for its leading actress – including Oscar victories for the latter two (Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet, respectively).
Daldry speaks to Amanda Palmer about his work in both theatre and film, and explodes the myth that filmmakers need to restrict themselves to autobiographical subjects.
Johnnie To
 |
| Johnnie To's film Sparrow, set on the streets of Hong Kong |
Johnnie To is one of Hong Kong's most respected, reliable directors of the ever-popular cops 'n' robbers genre.
But his latest film is a love story - between the director and the fast-disappearing Hong Kong of his 1960s youth.
To tells FPS why he spent four years making Sparrow - slang for pickpocket but also a metaphor for the fetching woman who flits through the lives of a gang of charming pickpockets.
Although set in the present, the film visually evokes a bygone era.
And the set-piece finale, a scrum in a rainstorm involving two opposing gangs sporting meticulously choreographed black umbrellas, is an unforgettable cinematic image.
This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Thursday, May 7, 2009 at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0600 and 1630; Friday: 0130 and 0830; Saturday: 1130 and 2330; Sunday: 0630 and 2030; Monday: 1430; Tuesday: 1230 and 1930; Wednesday: 0300.
|