The Bigger Picture

Hosted by the BFI’s digital editor, Henry Barnes and film programmer and writer Anna Bogutskaya, The Bigger Picture covers the best in screen culture, from film to TV to gaming.

Latest episode

Kirk Douglas tribute special

Kirk Douglas died this week. In this special episode of the British Film Institute’s flagship podcast the BFI’s Digital editor, Henry Barnes, pays tribute by introducing clips from an archive interview with the star, which was recorded at the National Film Theatre in 1972.

Previous episodes

Little Women, instant friendship

Greta Gerwig’s take on Little Women, Louis May Alcott’s classic novel, starts fast and speeds up from there. We talk about how Gerwig’s antic adaptation barely pauses for breath, but still makes room in its period setting for a very modern take on women, work, money and freedom.
Atlantics and supernatural love

Heartless, irrational, unstoppable — zombies and the sea are natural soul(less) mates and Mati Diop’s Atlantics pairs them beautifully.
The Report and the paperwork thriller

Hen, Anna and Pete scour The Report, the true story of the US Senate intelligence officer who investigated the CIA’s torture of detainees after 9/11.
Monos: A mystical teen party war movie

Alejandro Landes’s Monos has teen soldiers running wild in the mountains of an unspecified south American country. Hen, Anna and Pete take a trek up into the weird world of guerrilla warfare, presided over by a cow called Shakira.
Singing the praises of Singin' in the Rain

Dum-de-dum dum. Dum-de-dum de-dum dum-de-dum-de. Singin’ in the Rain has been re-released by the BFI as part of a three-month musicals season. To celebrate Hen, Anna and Pete take a tour through the finger-clicking, puddle-stomper.
Joker, masculinity and angry, lonely fools

Anna, Hen and Pete review Joker, Todd Phillips’s gunky take on DC Comic’s supervillain, which gives us the origins story of a lonely guy with mental health issues who finds himself through violence.
Shola Amoo on The Last Tree

No Anna this ep, but Hen and Pete are joined by a special guest, filmmaker Shola Amoo. Shola’s in to talk about his new film, The Last Tree.
Bait, class and gentrification

Reel talk as Hen, Anna and Pete get a line on Bait, Mark Jenkin’s Cornwall-set drama about a fisherman floundering in the face of gentrification.
Pain and Glory: making agony entertaining

Hen, Anna and Pete dig into Pedro Almodóvar’s pain, beautifully rendered in his new film Pain and Glory, which is about an ageing film director (played by Antonio Banderas) struggling with the physical and psychological ailments that are preventing him from making films.
Blinded by the Light and freedom through fandom

On this episode of The Bigger Picture we’ve got the goss on a film inspired by The Boss: Blinded by the Light, in which a British-Pakistani teen finds an escape from the racism and conformity of 1980s Luton through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
The Matrix, the Nineties and the search for The One

This episode we’re plugging into The Matrix, the Wachowskis’ cyber-hacking kung-fu smacking techno western. Anna, Hen and Pete see through the 1s and 0s to discover how the film — 20 years old this year — has aged.
Diego Maradona and the curse of genius

How can those with extraordinary talent survive fame’s spotlight? Hen and Anna are struggling, so they went looking for answers in the films of Asif Kapadia, specifically: Senna, Amy and his new documentary, Diego Maradona.
The Bigger Picture: Cannes 2019

Anna calls in from Cannes with news of the best new films at the festival, including BFI-backed films Little Joe and Ken Loach’s critically-acclaimed latest, Sorry We Missed You.
The Bigger Picture: Booksmart and secondary school best friends

Booksmart, Olivia Wilde’s racous directorial debut, shows teenage girls being loud, funny, crass and disgusting. Anna and Hen talk about why it’s so rare to see that on-screen.
The Bigger Picture: The Goonies

The gang — Hen, Anna and Pete — chase another — The Goonies — through Richard Donner’s classic pirate treasure adventure.
The Bigger Picture: A Clockwork Orange

Slooshy our A Clockwork Orange special, in which Anna, Hen and Pete analyse the impact of Kubrick’s stylish, shocking dystopian adventure.
The Bigger Picture: Dumbo and Disney’s remakes

Roll up, roll up for a big-top Bigger Picture all about Tim Burton’s Dumbo. Join hosts Anna and Henry as they examine the origins of this remake, starting with Disney’s 1941 original.
The Bigger Picture: The White Crow and Soviet dissident ballet dancers in film

Strap on your pointe shoes and join Anna, Henry and Pete as — inspired by The White Crow — they hit the floor with an episode about the Soviet ballet dancers who defected to the west.
Alien at 40

Ridley Scott’s space slasher, Alien, was released 40 years ago this September. To celebrate Anna and Hen dive into the film, wriggle around its inner-workings and burst out the other side. We’re looking at what influenced Alien, what effect it had on screen culture and why it stills scares the bejesus out of viewers to this day.
The Bigger Picture: Notting Hill and the British romcom

We kick off our second series of the podcast by talking about Notting Hill, which has been re-released for Valentine’s Day, and the golden age(s) of the British romcom.
Die Hard is a Christmas film

Yippee-ki-yay Christmas lovers! It’s our festive special, so we’re talking about Die Hard (which is a Christmas film). Join Anna, Hen and Pete as we examine what makes John McTiernan’s tower block action romp a classic.
The Old Man & The Gun and cuddly manhunt films

Anna and Hen talk about The Old Man & The Gun, a heist film from director David Lowery that stars Robert Redford as a twinkly-eyed, charming bank robber. Join us as we find out why the lovable rogue’s popularity endures.
9 to 5 and film’s female bosses

Anna and Hen clock in to talk about 9 to 5 — in which a trio of women take down their tyrannical boss — and look at how screen culture has shown women at work and the female boss.
Assassination Nation and girl gangs

Join the crew — Anna, Hen and producer Pete — as they walk down a corridor in slow-motion towards this episode’s topic: girl gangs.
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen and what makes a music biopic sing

Ayyyyyyyy-oh! And welcome to our music biopic special, performed — with Queen-ish grandiosity — in five movements. Join us as we work out what makes a musician’s story sing on screen.
The BFI Podcast: Happy Halloween?

We look back at the Halloween franchise and take a stab at reviewing David Gordon Green’s revamp.
The BFI Podcast: A Star is Born again

A Star is Born again as Bradley Cooper takes on the classic Hollywood story. We review his version, which stars Lady Gaga, and explore how the story — remade three times now — has changed over time.
American Animals and the 2010-12 docu-drama boom

This much is true: we made a podcast about the film American Animals and the spate of docu-dramas (The Imposter, The Act of Killing, Catfish etc) between 2010-12 that muddled fact and fiction into an entertaining, ethically-iffy new artform.
The BFI Podcast: Desiree Akhavan, Joan Crawford, Nuts in May

Writer-director-actor Desiree Akhavan joins Anna and Hen to talk about her new film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Elsewhere… Anna on the BFI’s Joan Crawford season and Hen on Mike Leigh’s Nuts in May.
The BFI Podcast: BlacKkKlansman, Desktop docs and Last Chance U

Critics Kelli Weston and Kambole Campbell join Anna and Hen to talk Spike Lee, race, “passing” and, inevitably, Trump. Plus, we discover desktop docs and offer a full-hearted endorsement of the American football Netflix doc, Last Chance U.
The BFI Podcast: Heathers, Sharp Objects, The Rock

Check your damage at the door as Anna and Hen raise a cup of Hull Clean to the greatest, bleakest teen movie — Heathers. Plus, we handle Sharp Objects, rave about The Rock and say CONTINUE to a punchy piece about the making of the Street Fighter movie.
The BFI Podcast: Maurice, Atlanta, First Reformed

Anna and Henry talk 1987’s Maurice (AKA The OG Call Me By Your Name), review First Reformed, rave over Atlanta S2 and boggle at Michael Flatley: super-spy!
The BFI Podcast: Anna! Westworld and Arcadia

To celebrate the arrival of Anna as the pod’s new co-host we spend a good 15 minutes arguing about Westworld, plus an interview with Arcadia director Paul Wright.
The BFI Podcast: McQueen, Vanessa Redgrave and Pin Cushion

Archive chat this episode from Woodfall star Vanessa Redgrave, plus interviews with the filmmakers behind McQueen and Pin Cushion and news on Bristol Watershed’s Cinema Rediscovered festival.
The BFI Podcast: Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ian McKellen, My Friend Dahmer and Glasgow's Weird Weekend

From the stars to the gutter this episode as we plummet from the Star Wars galaxy — via Solo: A Star Wars Story — to the monstrous creations at the heart of Alex Winter’s Freaked
The BFI Podcast: Andrew Haigh, Beast director Michael Pearce and interactive filmmaking

A wild week on the pod as we cover a menagerie of filmic animal stories, including Andrew Haigh’s horse-racing drama, Lean On Pete, Michael Pearce’s Beast and an interactive film exhibit about pig-human hybrids.
The BFI Podcast's Flare special: Hugh Grant, Rupert Everett, Robin Campillo and LGBTQ+ parenting

We round-up the best interviews and talks from Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival.
The BFI podcast: Derek Jarman, Journeyman DOP Laurie Rose, African Odysseys: New Wave and Into Film

Bafta-winner Laurie Rose takes us through the art and craft of cinematography, plus archive audio of Derek Jarman being cheeky about the royals.
The BFI podcast: Guillermo del Toro, Hotel Salvation and BFI Flare

We used Guillermo del Toro’s best director and best picture wins at this week’s Academy Awards as an excuse to reel out some hilarious archive audio of the event (and some fishy puns).
The BFI Podcast: Greta Gerwig, Max von Sydow and Three Billboards editor Jon Gregory

The BFI podcast returns with a new format: four sections, four stories from across the BFI. This episode we talk to Greta Gerwig, editor Jon Gregory and dig into the archive to hear from Bergman regular Max von Sydow.
The BFI Podcast minisode: James and Dave Franco on The Room and The Disaster Artist

Film-making brothers James and Dave Franco popped into the BFI last week to screen The Disaster Artist, a good film about the making of one of the worst: Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Here they talk to Henry Barnes about the film.
The BFI Podcast: The return of Steven Soderbergh

Henry Barnes presents the case for calling Steven Soderbergh, just returned from his “retirement” from film directing, the best film-maker in the business.
The BFI Podcast: Dirk Bogarde, Victim and the fight for gay rights

Simon McCallum introduces Victim, a 1961 film starring Dirk Bogarde that campaigned for the decriminilasation of homosexuality.
The BFI Podcast: Murder, mystery and meal-times with Claude Chabrol

Special guest Sam Wigley introduces Claude Chabrol, “the French Hitchcock”, whose 50-plus films explored the psychology of murder with mischievous flair.
The BFI Podcast: Herzog, Wenders and the New German Cinema

The story of the New German Cinema film-makers, who magicked one of the world’s most exciting cinema movements out of the creative ruin of the second world war
The BFI Podcast: Michelle Williams and Kelly Reichardt

Sight & Sound production editor Isabel Stevens guest hosts on an episode about the history of all-female director-actor partnerships
The BFI Podcast: Martin Scorsese in his own words, part 2

Part two of our Marty party, featuring previously unreleased interviews with Thelma Schoonmaker and Scorsese’s Raging Bull producer, Irwin Winkler.
The BFI Podcast: Martin Scorsese in his own words, part 1

The new podcast from the British Film Institute launches with the first of a two-part episode on Martin Scorsese. Features a previously unreleased interview with the film-maker from 1987 and special guest Geoff Andrew.
The Black Star podcast

Six stories, six icons. A podcast mini-series celebrating the black stars who shaped their era.