Episodes
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In episode 6, we spoke to Amma Asante about growing up in racist London with her Ghanaian parents; being on Grange Hill as a child actor; going to secretarial college where she wrote her first script to get her typing speed up; and her trip to LA where she had a meeting with execs at a big studio. In this episode, we spoke to her about her first directing jobs in TV and then her break directing feature film, A Way of Life and then Belle, A United Kingdom and Where Hands Touch. This is the final episode of season one of the F-Rated Podcast. Do please tell everyone you know about this podcast.
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Episode 10 of the F-Rated podcast features a conversation with Briony Hanson, the British Council's Director of Film. Holly Tarquini, the founder of the F Rating, hosts the episode solo since her colleague Anu Anand is away. Briony Hanson's impressive background includes directing the Script Factory Training Organisation, heading Tyneside Cinema and the BFI Programme Unit, co-programming London's LGBTIA Plus Film Festival, chairing BAFTA's original debut award jury, and being a critic for BBC Radio 4's Front Row and Saturday Review shows.
Briony describes her role at the British Council, which is the UK's cultural relations organisation. The council aims to build trust between the people of the UK and people around the world, using various tools, including the arts. As the Director of the Film Team, Briony's job involves championing UK filmmakers on a global stage and promoting the diversity and breadth of UK film beyond the stereotypical representation. She also encourages the UK film community to have an international outlook and seeks collaborations and inspiration from the global film industry. The British Council works closely with international film festivals, bringing them to the UK and showcasing UK features.
During the discussion, Holly and Briony touch upon the perception of film as the "poor cousin" in the arts world, where other art forms like poetry often receive more public funding and support. However, Briony emphasises the power of film as a tool for cultural relations, capable of reaching and engaging audiences who may not typically engage with other art forms. Film can entertain, educate, inform, and challenge, allowing for a broader exploration of different perspectives and breaking stereotypes associated with the UK.
The conversation also delves into the F-Rating, which Holly founded in 2014 to highlight films directed and/or written by women. They discuss the underrepresentation of women, especially women of colour, in the film industry and the need for change. Briony shares her observations of the increasing presence of women filmmakers, but acknowledges that there is still work to be done, particularly in promoting intersectionality in film, including the voices of women of colour and those from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
The podcast episode concludes with a discussion on the impact of significant events such as Brexit, Covid-19, the murder of George Floyd, and the war in Ukraine. These events have had profound effects on the film industry and organisations like the British Council, prompting a need for adaptation and a greater focus on intersectional support.
Overall, the episode provides insights into Briony Hanson's role as the British Council's Director of Film, the importance of film in cultural relations, the progress made in promoting women filmmakers, and the ongoing challenges of intersectionality in the film industry.
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Multi-award winning film editor, Úna Ní Dhonghaíle ACE, BFE is best known for her work on the Oscar winning film 'Belfast', Bafta winning series 'The Crown' Series 1 and 2 and 'Three Girls', 'Stan and Ollie', 'Wallander', 'The Missing' Series 1, 'Dr Who', Roddy Doyle's 'Rosie', amongst many others. She has worked on the leading lights of British drama in what some are calling "The Golden Age of Television". Having completed a four year degree in Film and Media Studies in her native Dublin, Úna specialised in film editing at the prestigious National Film and Television School (NFTS), UK.
Úna has since gone from strength to strength, earning her first of five BAFTA nominations in film editing in 2009 for her work on the Abi Morgan's feature 'White Girl' and in 2020 for her editing of Sir Kenneth Branagh's 'Belfast'. Over a five year period, she co-directed and edited a documentary about her father entitled 'Invisible Man', for which she won the 2016 IFTA for Best Editing in Television. Úna has also received much recognition for her editing of the highly acclaimed BBC drama 'Three Girls' (currently shown on Netflix), winning the BAFTA award for Best Fiction Editing, the Technicolor Craft Award from Women In Film UK, the IFTA for Best Editing, the RTS Award for Best Editing of Fiction, the RTS West of England Award for Editing and the Televisual British Bulldog Award for Editing.
In 2018, Úna worked hard, editing three feature films, Roddy Doyle's independent film 'Rosie', Pathé's 'Misbehaviour', directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and 'All Is True' by Kenneth Branagh, as well as editing episodes 1 and 2 of BBC's acclaimed drama Andrew Davies' Les Misérables. In 2020, Úna had the privilege of editing Stephen Daldry's Bafta winning film, 'Together', written by Dennis Kelly and starring Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy. Úna has just finished editing a Disney/Bruckheimer film 'Young Woman and The Sea', starring Daisy Ridley, Stephen Graham and Christopher Eccleston, directed by Joachim Ronning, written by Jeff Nathanson and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. This film is due for release late 2023.
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Philippa Lowthorpe is a three times Bafta winning TV and Film Director. She became the first woman to win a Bafta for Best Director at the Bafta Television Awards in 2013. She was awarded her second directing BAFTA in 2018 for Three Girls, the highly acclaimed and multi award-winning TV Series which won 5 Baftas in total. She was lead director of the first series of "Call The Midwife", which became an immediate hit, gaining the highest viewing figures of any BBC show for the previous 10 years. Philippa was born in Yorkshire and grew up in Lincolnshire. She began as a documentary maker before moving into drama. She is known for The Third Day, Misbehaviour, The Crown, Three Girls etc.
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RTS award winning composer Nainita Desai is a World Soundtrack Awards, Ivor Novello, BIFA and Cinema Eye Honors nominee; a Bafta Breakthrough Brit, and the IFMCA Breakthrough Composer of the Year. Amongst various Bafta, Oscar and Emmy acclaimed productions, Nainita's recent projects include Oscar 2020 nominated and Bafta & Cannes winning feature doc For Sama, Sundance 2020 winning feature The Reason I Jump, Bad Boy Billionaires (No1 Netflix series in India), American Murder Netflix's most watched documentary to date, BBC drama series Unprecedented (James Norton, Olivia Williams, Gemma Arterton), and Interactive game / video game Telling Lies, the acclaimed release by Annapurna Interactive. Film4 labeled her as one of the top 5 'composers of 2020 who should be on your radar'.
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Amma Asante MBE is a multi-award winning writer and director who won a BAFTA for her first film, A Way of Life (2004). This made Amma the first Black director to win a BAFTA Film Award for writing and directing a feature film. The film went on to garner 17 additional awards worldwide, including FIPRESCI, and Grand Jury prizes.
Her follow up movie, Belle (2013) drew widespread critical acclaim, going on to become one of the highest grossing independent films of the year and saw Amma named one of CNN’s Leading Women of 2014, as well as being named by Variety as one of their 10 Directors to watch.
In 2016, A United Kingdom, (2016) directed by Amma for Pathé and Fox Searchlight US, was released and its European Premiere saw Amma celebrated as the first Black director to open the BFI London Film Festival in its 60 year history.
Amma’s most recent film, is Where Hands Touch (2018). The film which was inspired by historical events, is set in 1944 Germany and stars Amandla Stenberg.. She has also directed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale (season 3) and the critically acclaimed “Shirley” and “Betty” episodes of Cate Blanchett’s first US television series, Mrs America.
Amma was so insightful that we have split her F-Rated Podcast into two: this is Part One, about her childhood, growing up with Ghanaian parents in Streatham, working on Grange Hill as a child actor and writing her first screenplay.
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Gaby Chiappe is an experienced TV writer. She has written extensively for long-running series such as Family Affairs, Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty, Survivors and many more. She also wrote for the series Lark Rise to Candleford, Shetland, Vera and created and wrote (with Alexander Perrin) the series The Level for ITV and more recently The Beast Must Die for BritBox.
Gaby’s first feature film was Their Finest (Triple F-Rated, directed by Lone Scherfig), premiered at the London Film Festival it follows a former secretary, played by Gemma Arterton who is newly appointed as a scriptwriter for propaganda films and joins the cast and crew of a major production while the Blitz rages around them. Her next was Misbehaviour (also Triple F-Rated and directed by Philippa Lowthorpe) which tells the stories of both the women who disrupted the 1970 Miss World beauty competition in London - and the competition including the first ever Black Miss World winner.
Apologies for the recording quality - this was a lockdown recording and we had a microphone issue :'-(
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Weaving the world around her into intricate stories, Sarah’s many short films have screened internationally and won major awards. Her BAFTA-nominated directorial debut, Brick Lane, earned her The Alfred Dunhill Talent Award at the London Film Festival. Sarah went on to direct, Suffragette, featuring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson and Ben Whishaw. Her first full length drama, the Dennis Potter Award-winning, This Little Life for BBC TV, earned her the TV BAFTA for Best New Director, Best Newcomer by the Royal Television Society and Women in Film and TV Awards, as well as a nomination for the Douglas Hickox award for Best Debut Director at the British Independent Film Awards. Sarah’s latest film, Rocks, premiered at TIFF and garnered two BAFTAs wins and eight nominations.
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Helen O’Hara has been working as a film journalist for over fifteen years, after qualifying as a barrister and immediately getting bored. She started her film writing career on the staff of Empire, the world’s biggest film magazine, and remains their editor-at-large and co-host of the Empire podcast, where she can be found weekly singing the praises of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and complaining about La La Land. She is also the author of Women Vs Hollywood, "A call to arms from Empire magazine’s ‘geek queen’, Helen O’Hara, that explores women’s roles – both in front of and behind the camera – since the birth of Hollywood, how those roles are reflected within wider society and what we can do to level the playing field."
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Released on International Women's Day 2023 - of course and featuring Buffy the dog (of course she's called Buffy!).
Holly Tarquini began her career in television, spending over a decade in London as a Producer/Director of documentaries and unscripted programmes and series.
After setting up and running a guest-house for yoga students in India, she moved to the West Country. The multi-tasking skills gleaned in broadcast media combined with the haggling and negotiation talents honed in India proved a winning combination for running a film festival and since 2011 she has been increasing the profile of FilmBath - previously Bath Film Festival - quadrupling the turn over and gaining international recognition.
In 2014, Holly founded this, the F-Rating, a F-eminist film rating highlighting films written and/or directed by women. The F-Rating has since been adopted by over 100 cinemas and film festivals in the UK including the Barbican, The Irish Film Institue and IMDb.
Anu Anand is a BBC World Service anchor/presenter with 22 years experience in international news and current affairs. Anu has worked all over the world, reporting major stories like the death of Mother Theresa, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the 2004 Asian Tsunami, Nepal’s devastating earthquakes in 2014 and several Indian elections.
She was based in New Delhi for 8 years covering the country’s epic economic and social changes.
She has also worked for APTN, the Guardian, the Christian Science Monitor, Al Jazeera English and Marketplace, launching the global edition of Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service in 2017.
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We hear from producer, Rebecca O’Brien who has been an independent film producer for thirty-five years. Prior to becoming a producer she worked her way up through the industry in various production roles including location manager on MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985) and production manager on some early Channel 4 films.
Rebecca has produced fourteen feature films directed by Ken Loach, including LAND AND FREEDOM (European Film Awards winner, 1995), SWEET SIXTEEN (European Critics’ Award 2002 – Prix FIPRESCI), MY NAME IS JOE (1998) and LOOKING FOR ERIC (2009). In 2006 THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and in 2016 I, DANIEL BLAKE won the Palme d’Or in Cannes. THE ANGELS’ SHARE (2012) won the Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes. She also produced Ken Loach’s acclaimed archive documentary THE SPIRIT OF ’45 (2013), an essay on the moment, immediately post-war, when Britain elected its first socialist government and introduced the National Health Service, the Welfare State and nationalized key industries.
She has also produced a number of films by other directors including BEAN (Mel Smith, 1996) and PRINCESA (Henrique Goldman, 2001). Rebecca O’Brien is currently a member of the UK Film Industry Training Board and the British Screen Advisory Council. She runs the production company Sixteen Films with Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty.
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What we have in store for you with our new F(eminist)-Rated Podcast!
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