The Film Programme

With Francine Stock. Fashion designer turned film producer Agnes B. discusses her directorial debut My Name Is Hmmm... and reveals her life-long affair with cinema. The head of Dream Works Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, considers the future of animated films and looks back at a career he describes as a rollercoaster. Animal Farm was the first animated film made by the British film industry in 1954. But what nobody realised at the time, least of all the producers Halas and Batchelor, was that the film was financed by the CIA as part of the Cold War effort. Frances Stonor Saunders and Professor Tony Shaw reveal the intrigue and deception behind the production. Medical adviser Carlton Jarvis describes how he helps actors play doctors and nurses.

With Francine Stock. Olivier Award winning playwright Gregory Burke discusses his feature film debut '71, about a young soldier who finds himself lost in Belfast during the height of the Troubles. Peter Strickland, the acclaimed director of revenge drama Katalin Varga, reveals what happened when Bjork asked him to film a concert on her Biophilia tour, and what it all has to do with crystals, microbes and BBC Inside Science presenter Adam Rutherford. Pianist Neil Brand demonstrates the seduction techniques of Hollywood composers and reveals why it never pays to be too obvious.

Director David Fincher reveals how he adapted the best-selling thriller Gone Girl for the big screen and why he's not worried that seven million readers already know the plot's infamous twist. Lux Aeterna composer Clint Mansell discusses the pleasure and pain of writing for Hollywood and what he really thinks about having his music replaced by somebody else's score. Poet George Szirtes reviews the poetic realism of Le Jour Se Leve, written by Jacques Prevert and considered one of the masterpieces that inspired 40s film noir, with its heady mix of romanticism, cynicism and fatalism. With 248 films in 12 days, the choice of movies in The London Film Festival may seem slightly daunting, so its director Clare Stewart offers her pick for the Radio 4 audience.

British actress Olivia Williams discusses her experiences of Hollywood and why the Tinsel Town satire Maps To The Stars is all too real. An investigation into why Italian cinema was so coy about the mafia until fairly recently. Polish director reveals why he returned to his homeland for his post-war drama Ida and how a black-and-white movie in a foreign language about a novice nun turned out to be his biggest hit. Location manager Sue Quinn explains how she managed to get a military helicopter to land in Trafalgar Square at the personal request of Tom Cruise.

Nick Cave discusses a documentary about his life and work called 20,000 Days On Earth, which mixes fact with fiction, as film-makers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard placed the singer in a series of staged encounters and let the cameras roll. Cave explains why he wasn't entirely happy with some of the things they asked him to do. Novelist Jonathan Coe discusses the Claudette Colbert comedy Midnight, written by one of his film heroes, Billy Wilder The Riot Club director Lone Scherfig reveals what she thinks of the British class system as depicted in her adaptation of Laura Wade's play Posh, which displays the drunken antics of a secret society at Oxford University, not unlike The Bullingdon Club which boasted David Cameron as one of its members.

With Francine Stock. The producer of Pride, David Livingstone, discusses the film's evolution from script to screen and reveals what he thinks about his comedy being touted as the next Full Monty. A Most Wanted Man director Anton Corbijn talks about working with Philip Seymour Hoffman in his last starring role before his untimely death earlier this year. Is being a writer on a film a thankless task? Jeremy Brock, whose credits include the adaptation of The Last King Of Scotland, reveals the plight of the lowly scribe. Clare Binns and Tim Robey discuss the highlights of this year's Toronto Film Festival and assess Oscar hopefuls like the Stephen Hawking bio-pic The Theory Of Everything

With Francine Stock. Nicole Kidman discusses the research she carried out for her latest thriller, Before I Go To Sleep, in which she plays a woman who wakes up every morning with no memories. Novelist Iain Sinclair waxes darkly about Fritz Lang's masterpiece M, which introduced Peter Lorre to an unsuspecting public. Going to a conventional cinema seems so last century, as films are now being shown in boats, forts, boxing rings and, for one weekend only, Bletchley Park. The Film Programme takes a whistle-stop tour of the more unusual venues where we can watch a movie this month. Film critic Tim Robey and cinema programmer Clare Binns tell Francine which of the three hundred films playing at the Toronto Film Festival they are looking forward to.

Francine Stock unlocks The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari as the horror classic is re-released in cinema. Holding the keys are novelist Kim Newman, psychiatrist Peter Byrne and production designer Maria Djurkovic. Another chance to hear Richard Attenborough's interview with Francine, in which he discusses his philosophy of film and explains why cinema needs to be compassionate and political as well as entertaining. Singer Gruff Rhys discusses his documentary American Interior about his quest for a tribe of Welsh speaking Native Americans and his distant relative, the 18th century explorer John Evans, who tried to find them and ended up mapping the heartlands of the United States in the process. Director Ivan Sen on his thriller Mystery Road about an Aboriginal detective who stands alone against corruption in the Australian Outback.

Luc Besson discusses the neuro-science behind his latest thriller, Lucy, in which Scarlett Johansson's brain capacity increases to dangerous levels. The Dardenne Brothers discuss their latest award winning drama Two Days, One Night, with Marion Cotillard. Paleontologist Jack Horner explains how he tried to make Jurassic Park as scientifically accurate as possible. Catherine Bray reviews a box-set of the films of Kelly Reichardt, whose movies defy conventions such as conclusive endings and coherent dialogue.

Actress Robin Wright reveals which director told her that there would be no need for actors in 20 years time, thanks to digital technology which can scan their every expression. Director David Michod answers his critics who said there was no plot in his revenge drama The Rover. With several Oscars for Gravity, 2014 seemed like a good year for the visual effects industry in this country, but in fact, many British companies are facing a crisis, as The Film Programme explains. We hear from a listener who inadvertently stopped the staff of a cinema enjoying the day off to celebrate a royal wedding.

John Slattery, aka Roger Sterling in Mad Men, discusses his directorial debut, God's Pocket, one of the last films to star Philip Seymour Hoffman. Lilting director Hong Khaou reveals the personal story behind his new drama about a gay man who tries to form a bond with the mother of his late partner. Neil Brand tells us how music captures the experience of flight in the animated blockbuster How To Train Your Dragon 2. One of the most frustrating experiences about watching a film is trying to find a cinema that shows it. Francine Stock asks Clare Binns of Picturehouse Cinemas why the choice is so limited for many cinema-goers. And listeners' experiences of being alone in a cinema, including the woman who didn't go to the toilet in case the management shut the film down.

With Matthew Sweet. Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss reveals his favourite screen detectives in the last instalment of his series. Richard Ayoade discusses his dystopian adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Double. Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris discuss the perils of working with mechanical effects in Michel Gondry's fantasy Mood Indigo. As Guardians Of The Galaxy hits cinemas this weekend, The Film Programme presents a guide to the space opera. Antonia Quirke revisits a beloved childhood favourite, the film adaptation of Swallows and Amazons. And Matthew talks to one of the "Keating 12", the dozen or so people who paid money to witness Ronan Keating's movie debut in Goddess.

With Matthew Sweet. Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss reveals the identity of one of his favourite screen detectives in another instalment of his series. Hercules labours again in the form of ex-wrestler Dwayne Johnson, the latest in the long line of body builders who have played the son of Zeus. Christopher Frayling and Natalie Haynes trace the mythology from Italian cinema of the 50s and 60s, where he starred in twenty sword and sandal epics, including Hercules And The Moon Men and Hercules And The Amazon Women. Director Richard Lester reveals which of The Beatles was his favourite actor as A Hard Day's Night is released on DVD to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Antonia Quirke considers why driving and cinema were made for each other.

With Matthew Sweet. Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss lines up another of his favourite screen detectives. St Etienne's Bob Stanley picks his favourite London soundtrack. Penny Eyles and Angela Allen reveal some of the script supervisors' trade secrets, from working on classics like The African Queen, Kes and Women In Love. Antonia Quirke tells us why she thinks that Some Like It Hot is the perfect movie. As Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes hits cinemas across the country, Matthew Sweet presents a brief history of the prequel, and reveals what it all has to do with Charlton Heston.

Richard Linklater discusses the reasons he made a film over 12 years. Boyhood charts the progress of a young boy from six to eighteen and Linklater reveals why his young actors never saw the movie until it was completed and why he hasn't come to terms with the project finally being over.