Features and reviews

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

From the Sight and Sound archive

“My one political film”: Ken Russell on The Devils

For a special 1995 Sight and Sound supplement on film censorship, the writer and director of The Devils detailed his ambitions for the film – including his rationales for its most scandalising scenes – and his run-ins with its range of detractors.

By Ken Russell

“My one political film”: Ken Russell on The Devils

Interviews

“We’re being asked to check our humanity at the door”: Cate Blanchett and Shahrbanoo Sadat on cinema’s power to reconnect us

By Lou Thomas

“We’re being asked to check our humanity at the door”: Cate Blanchett and Shahrbanoo Sadat on cinema’s power to reconnect us

Interviews

Beatrice Gibson on her Paris nocturne At Night: “One woman’s liberation can be another woman’s oppression, and vice versa”

By Sophia Satchell-Baeza

Beatrice Gibson on her Paris nocturne At Night: “One woman’s liberation can be another woman’s oppression, and vice versa”

Interviews

Take It Or Leave It: the making of Madness

By Stephen Dalton

Take It Or Leave It: the making of Madness

From the Sight and Sound archive

“It comes out of an anger about the way things are”: Martin Scorsese on The Departed

By Ian Christie

“It comes out of an anger about the way things are”: Martin Scorsese on The Departed

From the Sight and Sound archive

On Bresson: Olivier Assayas, Paul Schrader, Aki Kaurismäki and more discuss the French director

By Michael Brooke

On Bresson: Olivier Assayas, Paul Schrader, Aki Kaurismäki and more discuss the French director

Interviews

“There were riots in theatres”: how Exorcist II became horror’s most notorious sequel

By James Mottram

“There were riots in theatres”: how Exorcist II became horror’s most notorious sequel

Interviews

“I realised any attempt to replicate is going to be a failure”: Sophy Romvari on Blue Heron

By Hope Rangaswami

“I realised any attempt to replicate is going to be a failure”: Sophy Romvari on Blue Heron

Interviews

Saoirse Ronan on Bad Apples, bad teachers and her ambitions as a director

By Lou Thomas

Saoirse Ronan on Bad Apples, bad teachers and her ambitions as a director

Interviews

Desert of the disappeared: Patricio Guzmán on Nostalgia for the Light

By Chris Darke

Desert of the disappeared: Patricio Guzmán on Nostalgia for the Light

Interviews

“I never made a movie to just go make a movie, it was always an exploration of filmmaking”: our world exclusive interview with Tom Cruise

By Isabel Stevens

“I never made a movie to just go make a movie, it was always an exploration of filmmaking”: our world exclusive interview with Tom Cruise

Interviews

All about my mother: Annouchka de Andrade on Sarah Maldoror

By Annouchka de Andrade

All about my mother: Annouchka de Andrade on Sarah Maldoror

From the Sight and Sound archive

The making of a super-producer: Jeremy Thomas interviewed in 2014

By Nick James

The making of a super-producer: Jeremy Thomas interviewed in 2014

From the Sight and Sound archive

The discreet murderer of the bourgeoisie: an interview with Claude Chabrol

By Rui Nogueira and Nicoletta Zalaffi

The discreet murderer of the bourgeoisie: an interview with Claude Chabrol

Interviews

A home movie for Planet Earth: Ed Sayers on his Super 8 odyssey Super Nature

By Brogan Morris

A home movie for Planet Earth: Ed Sayers on his Super 8 odyssey Super Nature

Interviews

Gregg Araki on I Want Your Sex: “The despair of the bad makes the euphoria of the good even more intense”

By Blake Simons

Gregg Araki on I Want Your Sex: “The despair of the bad makes the euphoria of the good even more intense”

From the Sight and Sound archive

“We wanted the film to have a vibrancy, to be larger than life”: Danny Boyle on Trainspotting

By Geoffrey Macnab

“We wanted the film to have a vibrancy, to be larger than life”: Danny Boyle on Trainspotting

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

“It’s never quite brutal enough for Chris”: The Odyssey cast reveal how they created Christopher Nolan’s epic adventure

By Lou Thomas

“It’s never quite brutal enough for Chris”: The Odyssey cast reveal how they created Christopher Nolan’s epic adventure

Interviews

“I use musical theory to shoot an action sequence”: an exclusive online interview with John Woo

By Matthew Thrift

“I use musical theory to shoot an action sequence”: an exclusive online interview with John Woo

Interviews

John Waters on restoring Hairspray and Desperate Living: “The mistakes are part of the charm”

By Blake Simons

John Waters on restoring Hairspray and Desperate Living: “The mistakes are part of the charm”

Interviews

“Films very rarely do this”: the Nirvanna the Band duo on fair use, 80s blockbusters and guerrilla filmmaking

By James Mottram

“Films very rarely do this”: the Nirvanna the Band duo on fair use, 80s blockbusters and guerrilla filmmaking

Black Film Bulletin

“I want to make films about my community”: Akinola Davies Jr

By Nadia Denton

“I want to make films about my community”: Akinola Davies Jr

Interviews

“We use the street as a studio”: music video pioneers Tim & Barry on capturing the early years of grime

By Will Swinburne

“We use the street as a studio”: music video pioneers Tim & Barry on capturing the early years of grime

Interviews

Here be tourists: how a Scottish black comedy satirises cultural Disneyfication

By Katherine McLaughlin

Here be tourists: how a Scottish black comedy satirises cultural Disneyfication

From the Sight and Sound archive

A close encounter with Steven Spielberg

By Richard Combs

A close encounter with Steven Spielberg

Interviews

“We are living in a time when it’s a superpower to be a celebrity”: Tarik Saleh on the culmination of his Cairo trilogy

By James Mottram

“We are living in a time when it’s a superpower to be a celebrity”: Tarik Saleh on the culmination of his Cairo trilogy

Festivals

“When you look at the roles I played, I made a difference in every movie”: Bruce Dern on his life in film

By Nicolas Rapold

“When you look at the roles I played, I made a difference in every movie”: Bruce Dern on his life in film

Interviews

Sigourney Weaver on Star Wars: “It was a view of the future where different aliens worked and lived side by side”

By Lou Thomas

Sigourney Weaver on Star Wars: “It was a view of the future where different aliens worked and lived side by side”

From the Sight and Sound archive

“I make a daily effort to demolish my ignorance”: Roberto Rossellini interviewed in 1976

By Philip Strick

“I make a daily effort to demolish my ignorance”: Roberto Rossellini interviewed in 1976