Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20110117 | 20110127 (R4) | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on the stories, the characters and occasionally trying the snacks. Today a cinema in Beirut that nearly didn't open at all. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. We'll be given a front row ticket to an outdoor screening of a Kung-fu movie on the wall of a Buddhist temple, hear the story of a cinema turned Beirut bombshelter and meet a young man as he recalls his first trip to a Kabul cinema since the departure of the Taliban. Producers: Sara Jane Hall and Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world with Matthew Sweet - opening with Lebanon. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |
| 02 | 20110117 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. Today's cinema is The Regal in Mumbai - where patient queue members share their cinematic passions. Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from a cinema queue in Mumbai, with Matthew Sweet. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 03 | 20110128 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. Today we hear about the childhood cinema experience of Apichatpong Weerasethakul - who won the Palme D'or at Cannes in 2010 with his film Uncle Boonmee, as he remembers the outdoor cinemas of Thailand. Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Thailand. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 04 | 20110118 | Tales from cinemas across the world. Today Matthew Sweet transports listeners to Srinagar where he tells the story of the last cinema in Kashmir. In Central Srinagar, just opposite an auto repair shop is a faded 1960s building with a swooping green roof that curves like a scimitar. Armed guards stand sentry and there are sand bags and loops of razor wire. But this is not a government building. This is the Neelam Cinema, home of the last picture show in Kashmir. Matthew meets a whole generation that is now growing up in Kashmir never having seen a film in a cinema. Producers: Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits the last cinema in Kashmir. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 05 | 20110118 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. Today the Mario Video Centre in Accra, capital city of Ghana, where the cinema provides shelter, entertainment and a cool breeze for those with nowhere better to go. Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits the Mario Video Centre in Ghana. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 06 | 20110124 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. Today he is in the Vester Vov Vov cinema, in Copenhagen, set in the former red-light district. Now an 'arts cinema' showing mainly avant-garde Danish films, the cinema once had a more colourful past - and it female projectionist was very much part of that story. Producers: Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Copenhagen. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 07 | 20110119 | 20110125 (R4) | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. Humayoun is a young Afghani actor who dreams of one day being a film star. He talks of the reopening of Kabul's cinemas since the departure of the Taliban, and the very first time he saw the 'big screen'. Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Afghanistan. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |
| 08 | 20110119 | 20110125 (R4) | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. Today, China. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. It's said that three new cinemas open everyday in China, but the Broadway Cin退math耀que Moma in Beijing, stands out for its ingenious design and wide range of films on offer, world cinema as well as blockbusters. We hear from Wu Jing who has seen the cinema industry transform within her lifetime. Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in China. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |
| 09 | 20110128 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of film goers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. But the story of cinema now is also the story of the political and cultural tensions that divide the world. Today we meet Yto Barrado who saved the Rif Cinema in Tangiers. Once strictly the preserve of men, and one of Pedro Almodovar's favourite Moroccan hang outs, it has now had something of a facelift - and women are welcome. So is talking in the cinema, even shouting! Producers: Sara Jane Hall. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Tangiers, Morocco. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 10 | 20110120 | 20110126 (R4) | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. Today Matthew is in the Bey-oh-loo Cinema - hidden inside a genteel-looking shopping arcade in Istanbul where the public lap up home-grown films. A decade ago Turkey was struggling to produce ten movies a year. Last year, Turkish cinemas screened 70 new home-grown films, mostly funded by the government. But what happens when film meets religion? Producers: Sara Jane Hall and Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Istanbul. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |
| 11 | 20110120 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. In this programme, Matthew is in the Rustaveli cinema in Georgia. Like the country itself, this cinema has moved on from the days of the USSR. But in the past the programme wasn't all Soviet epics celebrating heroic Russian workers, they showed Bollywood films. But what's showing at the Rustaveli tonight? Producers: Sara Jane Hall and Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Georgia. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 12 | 20110126 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. In this episode he is in the Carib cinema, in Kingston Jamaica. Located in Cross Roads in Kingston, with supermarkets, car dealerships, furniture stores and fast food joints, but above all these rises what was once the largest building on the island - a white cliff of 1930s concrete with a carved figure on the front: Venus rising from stylised banks of waves. The 1,750-seater cinema was once decorated to give the impression of being submerged under the sea - but that illusion has gone. Once the great reggae stars played in this building - and that is just one part of the relationship between cinema and Jamaican culture, as Matthew discovers Producers: Sara Jane Hall & Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Kingston, Jamaica. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world | |
| 13 | 20110121 | 20110124 (R4) | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas around the world with a series of short features eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks. In this edition, we are going to the Yara cinema in central Havana. A great white-and-red art deco state-funded barn built before the 1959 revolution, most of the films it now shows are pirated DVDs, projected on the enormous screen. But there are some home grown films and signs of a re-emerging local film industry. Producers: Neil George. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Havana. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |
| 14 | 20110127 | Matthew Sweet transports listeners into cinemas located around the world with a series of short features, eavesdropping on their stories, their characters and occasionally trying the snacks - today Sydney, Australia. From the multiplexes of the western world to some of the most remote locations on Earth, the act of going to the cinema speaks volumes. This series captures the passions, problems and popcorn habits of filmgoers as they indulge in an activity that unites the planet. In this edition, the story of a thousand seater cinema, The Ritz, built in the 1930s and standing just a mile from Sydney's Bondi Beach. Bought by a property developer it nearly suffered the fate of so many old picture houses, but this one survived, just! Producer: Sara Jane Hall. Tales from cinemas across the world. Matthew Sweet visits a cinema in Australia. A series of short features transporting listeners into cinemas located around the world |