Features and reviews

Discover the latest from the BFI, the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image.

Interviews

This is not a Vivaldi biopic: Damiano Michieletto on Primavera

Opera director Damiano Michieletto discusses bringing Antonio Vivaldi’s early Venetian years to the screen in Primavera, a film that blends Baroque music, modern soundscapes and a quietly radical story of art, ambition and female disquiet.

By James Mottram

This is not a Vivaldi biopic: Damiano Michieletto on Primavera

Interviews

“The hope is you’ll feel you’re in a continuous dream”: Gerald Fox on Kinaesthesia

By Josh Slater-Williams

“The hope is you’ll feel you’re in a continuous dream”: Gerald Fox on Kinaesthesia

Interviews

François Ozon on his adaptation of Albert Camus’s The Stranger: “The idea was to make a very erotic movie”

By Lillian Crawford

François Ozon on his adaptation of Albert Camus’s The Stranger: “The idea was to make a very erotic movie”

Interviews

How we brought the ‘Madfabulous’ life of Wales’s ‘dancing marquess’ to the screen

By Lillian Crawford

How we brought the ‘Madfabulous’ life of Wales’s ‘dancing marquess’ to the screen

Interviews

Mink Stole and Peaches Christ talk trash, collaboration and community: “Divine eating the dog poop was way past the tolerance level of most people”

By Blake Simons

Mink Stole and Peaches Christ talk trash, collaboration and community: “Divine eating the dog poop was way past the tolerance level of most people”

Festivals

“People crave being in the dark together”: Bill Morrison looks back on Decasia and the shift to digital memory

By Georgia Korossi

“People crave being in the dark together”: Bill Morrison looks back on Decasia and the shift to digital memory

Interviews

Elijah Wood on Ready or Not 2 and the appeal of horror movies: “The stakes have to feel real”

By Lou Thomas

Elijah Wood on Ready or Not 2 and the appeal of horror movies: “The stakes have to feel real”

Interviews

“How charming it is to make a silent film”: Bi Gan on Resurrection

By David West

“How charming it is to make a silent film”: Bi Gan on Resurrection

Interviews

Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Project Hail Mary: “We wanted the movie to feel like you were in the guts of a machine”

By Lou Thomas

Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Project Hail Mary: “We wanted the movie to feel like you were in the guts of a machine”

Interviews

“The bride is very disobedient”: Penélope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s noirish Frankenstein spin-off

By Lou Thomas

“The bride is very disobedient”: Penélope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s noirish Frankenstein spin-off

From the Sight and Sound archive

“I am not afraid of anything”: Andrzej Wajda interviewed in 2008

By Michael Brooke and Kamila Kuc

“I am not afraid of anything”: Andrzej Wajda interviewed in 2008

Interviews

Plague and panic in 1870s Wisconsin: inside the apocalyptic western A Prayer for the Dying

By Lou Thomas

Plague and panic in 1870s Wisconsin: inside the apocalyptic western A Prayer for the Dying

Interviews

“We wanted to give the characters a chance to gaze back”: Mascha Schilinski on Sound of Falling

By Carmen Gray

“We wanted to give the characters a chance to gaze back”: Mascha Schilinski on Sound of Falling

From the Sight and Sound archive

“When you stop shooting, that’s when the best thing is going to happen. You have to persevere”: an interview with Frederick Wiseman

By David Jenkins

“When you stop shooting, that’s when the best thing is going to happen. You have to persevere”: an interview with Frederick Wiseman

Interviews

Choosing 100 essential Black films: an interview with Ashley Clark

By Alex Ramon

Choosing 100 essential Black films: an interview with Ashley Clark

From the Sight and Sound archive

“Until you see someone like you doing something, you can never imagine yourself doing it”: Spike Lee on Malcolm X, role models and the press

By James Verniere

“Until you see someone like you doing something, you can never imagine yourself doing it”: Spike Lee on Malcolm X, role models and the press

Influences and inspirations

“There’s a kind of wet heat in there that you can feel”: Emerald Fennell on 7 films that influenced her version of Wuthering Heights

By Lillian Crawford

“There’s a kind of wet heat in there that you can feel”: Emerald Fennell on 7 films that influenced her version of Wuthering Heights

Interviews

“Children give you permission to dream”: Akinola Davies Jr on My Father’s Shadow

By Hope Rangaswami

“Children give you permission to dream”: Akinola Davies Jr on My Father’s Shadow

Interviews

“Friedkin saw American Animals and summoned me to lunch”: Bart Layton on his LA heist thriller Crime 101

By Lou Thomas

“Friedkin saw American Animals and summoned me to lunch”: Bart Layton on his LA heist thriller Crime 101

Interviews

“Time is a better curator”: Ethan Hawke on relevance, reinvention and the new rules of engagement

By Sam Wigley

“Time is a better curator”: Ethan Hawke on relevance, reinvention and the new rules of engagement

Interviews

“The sexiness of queerness is that there’s no fixed role”: Julia Jackman on 100 Nights of Hero

By Blake Simons

“The sexiness of queerness is that there’s no fixed role”: Julia Jackman on 100 Nights of Hero

Interviews

“Man of Principle”: Agnieszka Holland remembers Andrzej Wajda

By Agnieszka Holland

“Man of Principle”: Agnieszka Holland remembers Andrzej Wajda

Interviews

How I became Jean-Luc Godard

By Guillaume Marbeck

How I became Jean-Luc Godard

Interviews

“Claire Foy was a natural at falconry”: Philippa Lowthorpe on H is for Hawk

By Josh Slater-Williams

“Claire Foy was a natural at falconry”: Philippa Lowthorpe on H is for Hawk

Interviews

The Incomer: director Louis Paxton on his darkly funny tale of siblings, islands and isolation

By Lou Thomas

The Incomer: director Louis Paxton on his darkly funny tale of siblings, islands and isolation

Interviews

Andrea Luka Zimmerman: “The 90s were amazing, but the brutal violence was real”

By Georgia Korossi

Andrea Luka Zimmerman: “The 90s were amazing, but the brutal violence was real”

Interviews

Nia DaCosta on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple: “This whole movie is a tonal tightrope walk”

By Lou Thomas

Nia DaCosta on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple: “This whole movie is a tonal tightrope walk”

From the Sight and Sound archive

“This is definitely a closing movie because I collected everything”: Béla Tarr on his final film, The Turin Horse

By Jonathan Romney

“This is definitely a closing movie because I collected everything”: Béla Tarr on his final film, The Turin Horse

Interviews

Béla Tarr on Sátántangó at 30: “The length of a movie all depends on what you want to say. I don’t care what is acceptable”

By Alex Barrett

Béla Tarr on Sátántangó at 30: “The length of a movie all depends on what you want to say. I don’t care what is acceptable”

Interviews

Avatar costume designer Deborah L. Scott on creating costumes for CGI: “I started off dropping things in a fishtank”

By Scarlett Harris

Avatar costume designer Deborah L. Scott on creating costumes for CGI: “I started off dropping things in a fishtank”