Film, Cinema & TV

The Hollywood screenwriting guru picks the best five books on writing a blockbusting screenplay. Aristotle knew what he was doing. It's all about the story. Less is more. One word is better than lots of words. Simple really.

The young film director of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (about the troubled but brilliant British rock star Ian Dury) talks about the books that inspire his films.

From Eisenstein to Tarkovsky, film scholar Ian Christie looks at the titans of Russian cinema and draws attention to the pre-Revolutionary Siberian gold merchant's daughter who opened a cinema purely for the upper classes.

The best books on Hollywood. 'Smart people went to the ballet and opera, and what the poor and lower middle classes did with their time didn’t matter. But these men in Hollywood had a vision and were creating this product that was loved by everybody of all different backgrounds.'

The editor of the Encyclopaedia of British Film talks about Britain's cinematic offerings. ‘I love Brief Encounter – I cry from the moment Celia Johnson speaks until the credits come up at the end.'