Alex Fitch interviews Joe Lawlor, who with Christine Molloy make up the film-making duo ‘Desperate Optimists’: a couple who make short films in a single take. Alex and Joe discuss the new film ‘Daydream’ which premiered at the Liverpool biennial last year, Joe and Christine’s award winning series ‘Civic Life’ and mention their favourite examples of the long take in other people’s films…
Links: Desperate Optimists’ website
‘Daydream’ screening details
Buy ‘Civic Life’ on DVD
Civic Life review at backprojection.com

Originally broadcast 5th October 2006 (mp3 format, 27mb)

It’s the end of the year show… Alex Fitch asks various broadcasters and previous guests of I’m ready for my close-up to name their favourite film of the last 12 months. Guests include Emma Smart (BFI), Kim Morgan (Midnight Sex Talk), Kev. F. Sutherland (The Beano), Kai Clear (Film-maker), Grant Rogers (Artist / animator) and Toby Haggith (Head of cinema programming, IWM).

Other links: IWM student film festival
Alex’s film reviews

Originally broadcast 28th December 2006 (mp3 format, 26.5mb)

Happy Christmas (War is over): To (belatedly) coincide with the 90th anniversary of ‘The Battle of the Somme’ (both the event and the film), Alex Fitch is discussing the silent movie and its recent restoration with Dr. Toby Haggith (Imperial War Museum) and Andrew Robertshaw (National Army Museum). To make the film more accessible to modern viewers Toby has been involved with the rediscovery of the film’s original score and the commissioning of a new one, while Andrew has made a documentary re-editing the scenes of the movie into the order in which they were filmed to give the audience a unique insight into the making of the world’s first feature length documentary.

Links: Wikipedia page on the film
Andrew’s page about the battle and the film at the National Army Museum website
Imperial War Museum microsite about the battle

Originally broadcast 21st December 2006 (mp3 format, 26mb)

Alex Fitch interviews Kev F Sutherland (comics writer and commentator) about such topics as: Hollywood and the media’s fascination with comic books which contrasts with diminishing sales in shops. From appreciation of writers like Alan Moore and Chris Ware in The Guardian to comics based on TV shows and by TV writers, there seems to be cultural awareness of comics, but the question is: how do we get more adults and (more importantly) children reading this great art form again?

Links: Wikipedia page on Kev F. Sutherland
Kev’s own website

Originally broadcast 12th October 2006 (mp3 format, 25mb)

Alex Fitch presents an overview of this year’s Children’s television at Christmas with a special report on Sky’s live action adaptation of ‘The Hogfather’. Alex’s guest in the studio* is Ed Petrie, Children’s TV presenter / stand-up comedian and the show also includes short interviews with David Jason, Nigel Planer and Terry Pratchett.
*actually Ed’s brother’s bedroom, but let’s not diminish the glamour here!

Links: Wikipedia page on Terry Pratchett
Sky’s Hogfather site
Ed’s website

Originally broadcast 14th December 2006 (mp3 format, 27mb)

Martin Williams produced this programme focusing on the work of John Grierson. Grierson spearheaded the British Documentary Film Movement in the years before WWII. Featuring interviews with Ian Aitken, author of Film and Reform (Routledge 1990), Realist Film Theory and Cinema (Manchester University Press 2006) and editor of the Encyclopaedia of Documentary Film (Routledge 2005) and Brian Winston, author of Claiming the Real (BFI 1995) and Lies, Damned Lies and Documentary (BFI 2001).

Links: Wikipedia page on John Grierson
The John Grierson Trust

Originally broadcast 25th May 2006 (mp3 format, 27mb)

Alex Fitch talks to Emma Smart from the BFI about film adaptations of Stephen King’s novels and short stories. Featuring excerpts from his talk in Battersea earlier in the month and trailers from his earliest and most recent films…
(This show is dedicated to Grace, a King fan from Timsbury, near Bath, with thanks to The Times for getting me tickets to the Battersea event)

Links: The Times Online podcasts of Stephen King’s talk in Battersea 7th November 2006 Stephen King’s entry on Wikipedia

Originally broadcast 23rd November, 2006 (mp3 format, 26mb)

History and film have been inextricably linked since movie pioneers first shot footage of workers leaving factory gates and trains entering stations. In tonight’s show Alex Fitch explores the nature of history as a topic for film and the use of historical footage in films. The first half of the show is a discussion with James DeCarteret, Mark Stafford and Alison Goldie about recent films that depict and / or include historical events such as Hollywoodland and Nick Broomfield’s Ghosts and then Alex discusses the genre with Dr. Toby Haggith, the head of cinema programming at The Imperial War Museum in London.
[Sorry for the poor audio quality at the beginning and end – I was using unfamiliar equiptment in my lunch break at work!]

Links: The Third Australian History and Film Conference
www.historyonfilm.com
Imperial War Museum
Originally broadcast 30th Novemebr 2006 (mp3 format, 26mb)

Alex Fitch talks to historian Duncan Nott and Kev F. Sutherland, a comics artist and writer about Dare’s continuing appeal and cultural legacy…

Links: The official Dan Dare website
Unofficial fan sites – dan-dare.net & dan-dare.org where you can hear the clips featured in the show in full…
Spaceship Away – the home of new Dan Dare adventures

Originally transmitted on September 14th 2006 (mp3 format, 27.3 mb)

Alex Fitch talks to Matt Hulse, curator of and contributor to ‘The Audible Picture Show’, a touring collection of short films without pictures, which features such film-makers as Andrew Kotting and the Brothers Quay. Alex and Matt talk about the art of foley work, the under-appreciation of sound in modern society, the joy of found footage and the use of sampled soundtracks to create evocative soundscapes.
There will be a retrospective of Matt’s work and a ‘showing’ of ‘The Audible Picture Show’ on Sunday 14th January 2007 as part of The Halloween Society’s 4th Short Film Festival at the ICA. Please visit the sites below for more info.

Links: www.audiblepictureshow.org.uk
The Halloween Society
Institute of Contemporary Arts  

Originally broadcast 19th October 2006 (mp3 format, 27mb)