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The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights

The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights from the film world

The Film Programme: Jessica Hausner; Portrait of a Lady on Fire

20/02/2020

Jessica Hausner; Portrait of a Lady on Fire

BBC Radio 4 - The Film Programme, Jessica Hausner; Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Little Joe, Pitch to Production and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Little Joe director Jessica Hausner,  Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel - stars of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Matthew Sweet on assigning authors rights for films.

Her performance in Little Joe won Emily Beecham best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Also starring Ben Whishaw it is a scifi take on the dangers of genetic engineering in flowers. It's the first film in English for Austrian director Jessica Hausner and she reveals what inspired it and the themes that recur in her films.

Continuing our series on how to get a movie made, Pitch to Production, Matthew Sweet explores the tricky business of assigning rights with Clare Israel of film and literary agents David Higham Associates and development consultant Rowan Woods.

Another winner at Cannes in 2019 was the French film Portrait of a Lady on Fire which took Queer Palm and Best Screenplay prizes for its writer and director Céline Sciamma.  Set in eighteenth century France it is the story of the developing attraction between a female portrait painter and the young woman sitting for her. Its stars Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel who talk about the difference between being the observed and the observer in art and the fun they had shooting sex scenes.

Presented by: Antonia Quirke
Producer: Harry Parker

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