Introduction to Pather Panchali

On 17 August 2013, I presented the long-awaited Masterclass on Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank’s National Film Theatre.

As I explain in the introduction, I’ve never presented a Masterclass on Pather Panchali before. Maybe because the film is just too ‘big’ and too rich to digest in so short a time as four hours.

You can view the 10 minute introduction to the film here. We hope to have the opportunity to broadcast the full Masterclass to the wider public at some point in the near future.

The film and Masterclass were presented as part of the BFI’s continuing education programme curated by David Somerset, the Education Programmer and Curator at BFI Southbank (who also shot the introduction).

Introduction to Bergman’s ‘Persona’ at the NFT

Bibi Andersson and Live Ullman in ‘Persona’

This week I was asked by Dominic Power, Head of Screen Arts at National Film and Television School (NFTS) to introduce a screening of Bergman’s Persona at the National Film Theatre Southbank, London.

It’s taking a liberty telling an audience how to view a film minutes before seeing it.

I prefer to give them a perspective, often by referring to the director’s other work. I talk primarily about form and style, sometimes about subjects that recur. I try to keep it simple. The film’s the thing.

Here is a recording of the event, montaged with a few slides:

The film was shown as part of the NFTS ‘Passport to Cinema’ season – a continuous and comprehensive overview of every facet of cinema, from its beginnings to the present day.