Features and reviews
Discover the latest from the BFI, the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image.
Banel & Adama: Ramata-Toulaye Sy on her Senegalese love story turned cautionary tale
Her debut feature, Banel & Adama found director Ramata-Toulaye Sy competing at Cannes. As it arrives in the UK, we spoke to her about the current wave of French-Senagalese filmmakers and her magic-tinged story of climate crisis.
By Rachel Pronger
Layla: Amrou Al-Kadhi on their sparkling drag queen romance
By Lou Thomas
Chasing Amy and the LGBTQIA+ community: “There’s no consensus on this movie. It remains complicated to a lot of people”
By Josh Slater-Williams
Edge of Summer: Lucy Cohen on her dreamy Cornish holiday coming-of-age drama
By Jamie Dunn
“Unsuitable for females”: Copa 71 and the story of the unofficial Women’s World Cup
By Faye D. Effard
“You can’t let the audience get ahead of you”: Raoul Walsh interviewed in 1972
By James Childs
“I love any animation style that’s got a tactile feel to it”: talking to Harry Plowden, a new voice in British animation
By Jez Stewart
The City of God phenomenon: a new interview with Fernando Meirelles
By Sam Wigley
Stephen Fry on his new Holocaust survivor drama Treasure: “A script can be idea-shaped or human-shaped. This was human-shaped”
By Lou Thomas
From The Descent to Caspar David Friedrich: the influences on Stone Age horror Out of Darkness
By Sam Wigley
“Why does a guy like me dream about making a western?”: Lisandro Alonso on Eureka
By Arjun Sajip
How Britain got its groove back: the return of Cymande
By Leigh Singer
“The scale of any project is secondary – it’s always about the quality of the writing”: Cillian Murphy on Small Things like These
By Sinéad Gleeson
Felipe Gálvez on his Tierra del Fuego western The Settlers: “It’s like shooting in hell”
By Lou Thomas
Shinya Tsukamoto on his new post-war film Shadow of Fire: “In order to portray the true horror of war, it was important to show the aftermath”
By Jasper Sharp
“For this idea to feel radical, it could not be an experimental film”: Lois Patiño on Samsara
By Arjun Sajip
On Irish-language hip-hop drama Kneecap: “When people start having a pop at something they’ve not even seen, that’s just ignorance”
By Lou Thomas
Sex work and the city: Mikko Mäkelä on his intimate meta-narrative Sebastian
By Sam Wigley
My film with Werner Herzog: “He’s a very nice guy who’s interested in soccer and barbecue”
By Brogan Morris
“I don't find filmmaking fun at all”: a 1973 interview with Richard Lester
By Joseph McBride
“The power of freedom is scary to people at times”: Yorgos Lanthimos on Poor Things
By Nicole Flattery
Ghost Stories for Christmas: Mark Gatiss on the enduring appeal of the BBC’s ghostly festive tradition
By Adam Scovell
“Unless you’re Adam Curtis, the pictures have to fit the words”: talking to NHS England’s in-house filmmaker, Thomas Randall
By Patrick Russell
Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt: how we made Oppenheimer
By Lou Thomas
“It’s such an important part of history that people are so unaware of”: Lily Gladstone on Killers of the Flower Moon
By Catherine Wheatley
Trenque Lauquen: the mutating production of the year’s most intoxicating mystery
By Sam Wigley
Paul King on Timothée Chalamet as Wonka: “This movie allowed him to scratch an itch that he’s probably had for a long time”
By Lou Thomas
“With art, you’re just out there ready to be criticised and that’s terrifying”: Savanah Leaf on Earth Mama
By Katie McCabe