The Film Programme - George A Romero; Scottish sci-fi; James Toback; Ealing rarities

Download George A Romero; Scottish sci-fi; James Toback; Ealing rarities

Forty five years after the release of genre-defining Night of the Living Dead, Francine Stock talks to the director George A Romero about inventing the undead zombie and where he might unearth horror in contemporary society. Plus why he doesn't rate Stanley Kubrick as a horror director.

As Gravity is released on the big screen, with an even bigger budget, we look at the trend for Scottish sci fi in short films with young directors Jamie Stone and Mark Buchanan. They discuss the magic of space and how to do it on a shoe string.

The writer and director James Toback, known for Fingers and Bugsy among others, takes his camera on the trail for the big bucks. With actor and friend Alec Baldwin in tow, they mingle at the Cannes Film Festival, lobbying for the cash to make their proposed film Last Tango in Tikrit. Follow their efforts, often hilarious, in the resulting documentary Seduced and Abandoned. James Toback explains just how flexible you have to be before the financiers show you the money...

And Ealing studio gems, and not the well-known comedies.. Melanie Williams, from the University of East Anglia, on the overlooked films from the famous studios including Young Man's Fancy and The Feminine Touch. They're now available on DVD as part of the Ealing Studios Rarities series.

Published on Thursday, 7th November 2013.

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