Ireland’s output of both influential writers and famous rock musicians is quite disproportionate to the size of the country. This focus on Irish rock music searches for the roots of that creative talent and discovers the importance of the rich tradition of story-telling and mythology that it still very much alive there today. Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, Bono of U2, Shane McGowan, Clannad and others contribute their music and their thoughts to the programme.
John Updike
This profile of the celebrated American author focuses on his quartet of novels about a character called Rabbit, an ex-basketball star who lives in a small Pennsylvanian town, modelled on Reading, where Updike lived as a child. Through an in-depth interview, sequences filmed with Updike at his old stamping grounds, and dramatisations from the Rabbit books, this programme defines the major themes and social issues in his work, relating them to his own past and his strongly-held beliefs.
A Footnote in History
Filmed in East Berlin after the dismantling of the Wall, when bitter controverse raged in the press concerning the role writers had played in the German Democratic Republic, this programme considers the experiences of four writers from different generations – Christa Wolf, Christoph Hein, Helga Königsdorf and Bert Papenfuss.
Soitting Image
The Spitting Image puppets feature in this exploration of the way in which caricature affects public figures and people’s perception of them. Talking from their own experience, luminaries drawn from the political arena, the media and the world of sport comment on the positive and negative aspects of the puppets. The originators of Spitting Image, Roger Law and Peter Fluck, producer John Lloyd, and writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, talk about their brain-child.
Wolfgang Mattheuer
This film looks at the work of one of the artists who enjoyed considerable success in the German Democratic Republic, despite the fact that he mined a seam of elusive and ambiguous imagery, constructing allegories which contained covert criticism of the GDR. An in-depth interview with Mattheuer and a comprehensive survey of his work provide a fascinating insight into his creative genius and his response to the political régime he lived under from 1949 to 1990.
Bernhard Heisig
As a member of the oldest generation of artists in the former German Democratic Republic, Heisig played an important role in shaping a school of Realist painting relevant to the social and political conditions. A staunch believer in the importance of history, his depiction of historical themes has been refined over many years. This 35mm film gives an overview of his work and sets it in the context of the political upheavals he has lived through.
Werner Tübke
This film profiles one of the outstanding artists who remained in the German Democratic Republic, 1949-90, and considers his art within the context of the political constraints that shaped his work during this period. Tübke is seen at work in his studio, talking about his art and its inspiration. The programme is richly illustrated with examples of his paintings.
Harald Metzkes
Based on a major Berlin retrospective and conversations with Metzkes, this film shows how this first-rate draughtsman uses subject matter drawn from literature and mythology in his work. Metzkes played an important part in the artistic life of the German Democratic Republic and his creative reaction to the political situation he lived through is also brought into focus.
A Tribute to Alvon Ailey
This two-part dance tribute to the great black choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931-89) was recorded in studio and features performances of four keys works from the repertoire of the company he founded. The ballets are introduced by Judith Jamison, the dancer and choreographer whose career was nurtured to stardom by Ailey and who succeeded him as director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Programme One: Gary Deloatch leads the company as the jazz musician Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker in Ailey’s For Bird With Love. Inspired by Parker’s music, this dramatic ballet evokes his life in scenes which bear out the maxim that genius has its price: Parker lost his life-long battle with drugs and alcohol in 1955. One of Ailey’s last works was Witness. Set to traditional Negro spirituals, it continued the line of moving pieces he created for solo female dancers. It is danced here by Marilyn Banks. Programme Two: Alvin Ailey created Memoria to celebrate the memory of his friend, the choreographer/dancer Joyce Trisler, after her death in 1979. It is a lyrical work set to music by Keith Jarrett, and features several principal dancers plus corps de ballet. The second part of this double bill is Episodes, a ballet choreographed by Ailey’s protégé Ulysses Dove. It is set to original music by Robert Ruggieri.
John Cage – I Have Nothing To Say And I Am saying It
John Cage (1912-92) emerged from the post-war American avant-garde to become one of the most controversial and influential of contemporary composers. This programme was made with him two years before he died. He introduces his philosophy that all sounds, even silence, can be used as the source for music and discusses his arrival at the use of chance operations in composing. His collaboration with artist Robert Rauschenberg and choreographer Merce Cunningham is explored, and other contributors include Yoko Ono and Laurie Anderson, who have both drawn inspiration from him.