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Private Notes
An unflinching and uncompromising portrait of one of the most controversial photographers.
For decades Margaret Atwood has been universally acclaimed as Canada's greatest living writer. Fearlessly outspoken in life and in her work Atwood has always been an unrelenting provocateur. Now at the age of 77 her star shines brighter and bolder than ever with an explosive television adaptation of her best-known work The Handmaid's Tale which was first published in 1985. It's a dystopian work of speculative fiction set in the future, which has drawn comparison with aspects of Donald Trump's leadership, in particular the charges of misogyny which have inflamed anti Trump campaigners across America.
Alan Yentob meets up with Margaret Atwood in Toronto and discovers how a childhood spent between the Canadian wilderness and the city helped shape her vision of herself and the world, set alight her imagination and set her forth on a path to literary success.
In this imagine… profile, Alan Yentob meets the musical prodigy Alma Deutscher.
Aged 11, Anna is staging her first ever full-length opera, Cinderella.
Composer, pianist, violinist, Alma learned to read music before she could read words. She began playing the piano aged two and at four years old she was composing her own music. From a tree house in Dorking to an opera house in Vienna, imagine… spends time with Alma at work and at play.
In the months leading up to the premiere of her opera in Vienna, we discover the inspiration and motivation behind a truly remarkable talent.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh was once a theatre stagehand on Drury Lane and is now a musical theatre impresario, with a career spanning 50 years and a catalogue of musical theatre hits to his name - including Cats, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon, and he is now about to launch the US hit musical Hamilton in London.
Alan Yentob meets Cameron Mackintosh to discover how a timber merchant's son with a passion for song and dance, an abundance of ambition and a keen eye for detail became the most successful man in the musical theatre business and in the process changed the face and sound of musical theatre across the globe.
An intimate portrait of British sculptor Rachel Whiteread as she unpacks her life's work for a major retrospective at Tate Britain in London. Though she rose to prominence with the YBA generation of Young British Artists, Rachel Whiteread was always something of an outsider. Her work explores themes of memory and absence, casting sculptural forms from familiar domestic objects small and large, from sinks and hot water bottles to living rooms - and a terraced house. This film revisits Whiteread's acclaimed and controversial work House, a full-scale replica of the interior of a terraced house in London's East End that fuelled a national debate about contemporary art. Alan Yentob visits Rachel in her studio. She recalls the turbulent day in 1993 when she became the first woman to win the Turner Prize and simultaneously learned that house was to be demolished - and she would be obliged to accept a protest prize as the Worst Artist in the World. That day proved to be a turning point in a remarkable career. Since, Whiteread has represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and won the commission for yet another highly controversial, now universally-acclaimed work - The Holocaust Memorial in Vienna.
At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical Young Frankenstein opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Hollywood, at work and at play. With the aid of BBC archive stretching back decades, together they embark on an unpredictable, irresistible journey through the city of stars, meeting the legendary Carl Reiner along the way. The driver is Mel Brooks - you have been warned
Romantic, fearless, fantastical; this edition of Imagine delves into the thrilling world of Philip Pullman and explores the author's own dark materials. Philip Pullman has been named both one of Britain's greatest writers and the most dangerous writer in Britain. He is best-known for the much loved His Dark Materials trilogy, which follows a young heroine, Lyra, through a series of heart-stopping adventures into other worlds. Appealing to both adults and children alike, his books have sold over 20 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. La Belle Sauvage, his recent prequel, became an instant best-seller. 'The things we need most in the world are stories,' he says. Alan Yentob spends time with Pullman in Oxford, discovering how the inspirational middle-school teacher became an acclaimed author of fantasy fiction and an outspoken critic of organised religion.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over musical theatre for nearly five decades and delighted millions worldwide with hit shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love and, most recently, School of Rock the Musical.
To mark his 70th year, Lloyd Webber has written an autobiography - Unmasked, a candid and confessional account of his early life and career up to the opening of Phantom. In this imagine special, Alan Yentob talks to Andrew about the book, his bohemian childhood and the memories he's chosen to reveal.
Documentary exploring Ingrid Bergman's life and career. Widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses of the 20th century, Ingrid Bergman's talent was matched only by her incandescent screen presence. From her infamous performance as Ilsa in Casablanca, to her work with directors Alfred Hitchcock and Roberto Rossellini, her performances won her Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes, as well as a place in Hollywood history. Ingrid Bergman in her Own Words is a captivating documentary which paints a portrait of her life away from the film and the theatre. Combining access to Bergman's archives of home movie footage, private diaries and letters, read by Oscar-winning Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, with contributions from her children, including Isabella Rossellini, director Stig Bjorkman reveals Bergman's journey from Swedish school girl to Hollywood icon, in a life lived to the full.
Raul Castro has recently stepped down as president of Cuba, almost 60 years after his brother Fidel and a small band of bearded cigar-smoking guerrillas entered the capital Havana and changed the lives of their people forever.
Using extraordinary and previously unseen archive footage, and shot over the past three years, Julien Temple's two-part film captures the mood of Havana and its people - the Habaneros - at a pivotal moment in time. They share their experience of life in this extraordinary city - the highs and lows, the exhilaration and the suffering. It's a rollercoaster ride from Spanish colony to republic to revolution to the precarious present. Fidel is dead, Obama's hand of friendship is withdrawn and as the US blockade continues to strangle the economy, Havana is literally falling apart.
Almost sixty years on, Castro's Cuban revolution continues to split world opinion as decisively as it did when that small band of bearded guerrillas first entered Havana.
In the second part of Julien Temple's film we hear from the citizens of this extraordinary city how these young revolutionaries put their dreams into practice. With access to remarkable archive footage, we see how they set about building a brave new socialist world on America's doorstep. Now with Obama gone, Trump in the White House, Fidel dead and his brother Raul stepping down from the presidency, Havana too is about to step into the unknown.
