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The Film Programme

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

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: Cruel Summer

The Class System And The British Film Industry

Cruel Summer

BBC Radio 4 - The Film Programme, Cruel Summer

With no blockbusters and several heatwaves, it's been a cruel summer for our cinemas.

With Ben Bailey Smith

With no blockbusters and several heatwaves, it's been a cruel summer for our cinemas. The Uckfield Picture House in Sussex is feeling the heat. With only dozens of customers each day, owner Kevin Markwick was relying on two films to bring audiences back to his family business. One of them, Mulan, is now being released for streaming only. Kevin tells us his plans for survival with temperatures in the 30s and only one blockbuster being released at the end of August.

As an actor, Ben Bailey Smith has worked on dozens of sets and is always surprised that there aren't more disasters, given the potential for something to go wrong. He enlists the help of historian Pamela Hutchinson to tell him about some of the biggest behind-the-scenes catastrophes  in movie history.

Writer/director Mark Jenkin was due to follow up his award-winning movie Bait this summer, until the pandemic intervened. He now has to wait a year to start shooting. Unbowed, Mark has started to write a new film, and  is documenting its progress in a series of audio diaries. This week, Mark faces the nightmare of the blank page.

Neil Brand continues his series of rejected scores and reveals how one piece of music by Ennio Morricone was used in two films and one TV series, and was even released as a single, ultimately reaching no.2 in the UK charts.

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