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Our Next Hyphenate Tina Hassannia

Author, film critic and Hi4H February 2017 guest host Tina Hassannia

We're breaking convention to do things a little backwards this month. Let us explain.

Before we had confirmed a guest or filmmaker for this month, it was announced that director Asghar Farhadi would be unable to enter the United States to attend the Oscars ceremony - he is once again nominated, by the way - thanks to sudden, draconian, poorly-implemented immigration policy. Farhadi's plight is not the most heartbreaking story to emerge in the past month, but it is emblematic of how ridiculous this action has been. It became clear that this is something we would have to address on the show, probably during the middle segment.

Then we realised there would probably never be a more appropriate time for us to discuss the films of Asghar Farhadi, so we decided to do something we'd never done before: we choose the filmmaker first.

This month, Hell Is For Hyphenates will be all about the incredible films of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.

With our filmmaker-of-the-month selected, we then set about searching for the perfect person to help us discuss him, and there was really only one choice: Toronto-based film critic Tina Hassannia.

Tina wrote the book on Farhadi, quite literally: Asghar Farhadi: Life and Cinema was released by The Critical Press in 2014, and is available from the Critical Press website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indigo. In the book, Tina traces Farhadi's origins as an emerging filmmaker in Iran, from his directorial debut Dancing in the Dust through to 2013's acclaimed The Past. The book also features an in-depth interview with Farhadi, and is undoubtedly the definitive work on this influential filmmaker.

We were delighted that Tina immediately agreed to join us on the show, and cannot wait to discuss Dancing in the Dust (2003), Beautiful City (2004), Fireworks Wednesday (2006), About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), The Past (2013), The Salesman (2016), as well as Farhadi's career and history with her.

This episode will also feature something else we've never done before, but to find out what that is, you'll have to listen to the show when it's released on 28 February!

Our next filmmaker of the month, Asghar Farhadi

O’Brien On Loach

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We really didn't plan it this way, but it did work out pretty well. After all, could there by a more appropriate month for us to discuss the films of one of the most political directors in the canon? Sometimes you're blessed with synchronicity.

Apart from the charged politics, this is unlike any episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates you've heard before. Especially if you've never heard any. But double-especially if you've heard some.

As we said in the episode announcement, this isn't the first time we've had a guest on who has been personally acquainted with the filmmaker they've chosen, but it is the first time the guest has been heavily involved with a good half of the films we're discussing. Rebecca has produced the majority of Ken Loach's films since 1990, including two Palme d'Or winners: 2006's The Wind That Shakes the Barley and 2016's I, Daniel Blake. As a result, she brings unique, fascinating and frequently funny insights into what happened behind the scenes.

Lee Skyped in from Melbourne, but Sophie journeyed to Sixteen Films - Rebecca and Ken's production company - in Soho, London to record the episode. That's about as belly-of-the-beast as you can possibly get, surrounded by props from Loach's films as you chat about them.

Before Rebecca joins us to talk Loach, Sophie and Lee chat about three of the key films of January 2017 (splitting the difference between the inconsistent release dates of the UK and Australia), looking at Pablo Lorrain's Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy biopic Jackie, Martin Scorsese's passion project Silence, and Kirsten Johnson's groundbreaking memoir Cameraperson.

It's politics galore this month, but we also squeeze some films in there too, in our first episode of 2017!

The Ken Loach Cheat Sheet

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Want to become an instant expert in our filmmaker of the month without committing yourself to an entire filmography? Then you need the Hell Is For Hyphenates Cheat Sheet: we program you a double that will not only make for a great evening's viewing, but bring you suitably up-to-speed before our next episode landsâ€¦

CATHY COME HOME (1966) and KES (1969)

So the world: hell/handbasket. You know who's had two fingers up to the powers that be of every stripe, since 1965? Ken â€œKennethâ€ Loach, that's who. And given that politicians seem intent on turning the clock back to before civil rights, let's go back to the beginning and remember what we're fighting for: Cathy Come Home, originally screened on BBC TV as part of The Wednesday Play, is officially the most effective social protest film of all time, as it led to the founding of the housing charity Shelter. It was also part of the â€œangry young manâ€ social realism that exploded out of postwar Britain, demanding the justice and equality that had been fought for in the war come home to root. Cathy (Carol White) - who carries on, head high, even as she loses everything - laid the template for Loach's everyday heroes, captured in moving scenes that may look like fly-on-the-wall documentary but testify, even then, to Loach's ability to inspire actors to connect emotionally with an audience. And if you haven't been reduced to tear-jelly (and/or gone out on a protest) by Cathy Come Home, then settle in for Kes: even David Bradley, who plays the protagonist Billy and still lives in Barnsley where the film was made, says he can't watch the end scene because â€œit's too muchâ€. And this from the actor who still loves the film - his first - even though Loach, seeking authenticity, didn't call cut in the scene in which the schoolboys get caned. Kes is the kestrel Billy trains - really, into which he pours all his love and creativity. So maybe skip the climax if you're feeling fragile. Or rage on, with the rest of Loach's magnificent, ever-furious and tender body of work.

Substitutions: If you can't get or have already seen Cathy or Kes, you must watch Loach's two Palme d'Or winners: the award for 2016's I, Daniel Blake made him only the ninth filmmaker to do that prestigious double. Fifty years on (fifty! years! on!) from Cathy Come Home, Loach tackles the impacts of austerity and mealy-mouthed bureaucracy on families and communities once again, this time with a rousing central performance from comedian Dave Johns as titular hero who won't take it no more. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) is one of Loach's rare forays into historical drama: along with Jimmy's Hall (2014), it's a human portrait of Irish radical politics, with a starring role for Cillian â€œbriefly not being a psychoâ€ Murphy as yet another classic Loachian character, the loyal, principled (and doomed) Irish Republican Damien O'Donovan.

The Hidden Gem: Loach has only ever made one film in America - and, as you'd expect, it's far from a Hollywood affair. Bread and Roses, named after the classic union song, is about two Mexican sisters (Pilar Padilla and Elpidia Carrillo) who work as cleaners in LA, and are inspired to find an unorthodox and passionate campaign against their employers. Full of fire - and also tips for fighting our way out of the current crisis.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Rebecca O’Brien talking Ken Loach, will be released on 31 January 2017.

Our Next Hyphenate: Rebecca O’Brien

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Producer and Hi4H January 2017 guest host Rebecca O’Brien

Our first guest for 2017, Rebecca O'Brien, got her start in cinema working at the Edinburgh Film Festival. She went on to work as location manager and production manager in films such as 1985's My Beautiful Laundrette and 1982's Crystal Gazing (the latter of which was co-directed by Hyphenates alum Laura Mulvey).

Her first film as producer was 1987's Friendship's Death, written and directed by Peter Wollen and starring Tilda Swinton, Bill Paterson and Patrick Bauchau. She has also produced the 1998 drama series Echoes the 1997 comedy film Bean, and the 2001 romance Princesca.

But she is perhaps best known for her partnership with legendary British director Ken Loach. It began in 1990 with the film Hidden Agenda, and went on to include My Name Is Joe (1998), Ae Fond Kissâ€¦ (2004), The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006), I Daniel Blake (2016) and numerous others.

So which filmmaker has Rebecca chosen to discuss on the show?

Believe it or notâ€¦ legendary British director Ken Loach!

We love it when our guest has a unique insight into the filmmaker they're talking about (such as Kate Hardie on the films of Antonia Bird, or Michael Altman discussing the films of his father), and given Rebecca has been working with Ken Loach for nearly three decades, it's going to be fascinating to hear her unique perspective on these iconic, defining works.

In addition to the afore-mentioned films, Loach is also known for Poor Cow (1967), Kes (1969), and Cathy Come Home (1966), which is itself is objectively one of the most influential films of all time. If you don't know the story behind that one, fear not: we'll certainly get into the details in the recording.

We're pretty excited to kick off the new year with such a prominent guest and iconic filmmaker, so make sure you join us on January 31 to hear Rebecca O'Brien talking Ken Loach!

Our next filmmaker of the month, Ken Loach

Hi4H’s 2016 Year In Review

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Let's skip all the non-film stuff in this recap, shall we? From Brexit to Trump and various personal crises, cinema was the last saving grace that kept us from going under. And the podcast really helped with that.

With guests ranging from the legendary Laura Mulvey to actors Rhys Muldoon and Kate Hardie, writers and critics like Garth Franklin, Rebecca Harkins-Cross, Martyn Pedler and Alicia Malone, filmmakers such as Alice Lowe, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Kriv Stenders, Rohan Spong and Terence Davies, we definitely kept things interesting.

We talked the films of John Carpenter, Max OphÃ¼ls, the Coen Bros, Antonia Bird, Shirley Clarke, Jim Henson, Guillermo Del Toro, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Weir, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Nicolas Roeg and David Lean, as well as new releases and all sorts of topical film subjects. All told, we're pretty happy with the twelve hours of audio we released this year.

As we take stock of the year in cinema, scroll down to see the best of, worst of and general wrap-up lists of as many of our Hi4H alum as we could find. Then below, Sophie and Lee look back at 2016 and ahead to 2017.

End of Year Lists: Blogs

Four Three Film compiled a list of the best films of 2016 as chosen by its staff, which includes Hi4H alum Ian Barr & Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

In The Guardian, Luck Buckmaster runs through his picks for the best Australian films of the year

Thomas Caldwell tells us about his favourite films of 2016 on Cinema Autopsy

Thomas also contributes to the Melbourne International Film Festival's wrap up of the year by listing his Top Five WTF Cinematic Moments (includes, essentially, eyeball eating and fart humour)

In Junkee, Mel Campbell takes us through her sixteen best films of 2016 and her ten most underrated movie gems of 2016 (and also tweeted a list of her picks for the worst films of 2016)

Over at Concrete Playground, Tom Clift & Sarah Ward tag-team with their choices for the top ten movies of 2016

Glenn Dunks writes for Junkee about his picks for the best and worst moments of queer cinema in 2016

Garth Franklin reveals his favourite films of 2016 on his website Dark Horizons

On his website The Reel Bits, Richard Gray presents his picks for the best films of 2016

Giles Hardie lets us in on his picks for the best movies of 2016 on his website Flicked

For Graffiti With Punctuation, Blake Howard gives us his quick rundown of the five worst, and compiles a video essay on his best films of 2016

Maria Lewis reveals her favourite horror films of the year for FilmInk

Drew McWeeny writes extensively on his favourite films of 2016 on his new online magazine/blog Pulp & Popcorn

For Student Edge, Simon Miraudo presents his top 11 of 2016

At SBS Film, Anthony Morris and Rochelle Siemienowicz contribute to their list of the best movies of 2016 as well as the worst movies of 2016

Paul may not be on the show any more, but he continues to see films and rank them, as evidenced by his epically-titled Best and Worst of Times: 2016 in the rearview (or, LONG LIVE CINEMA)

Lee's rundown of his ten favourite films of the year, plus a list of every film he watched in 2016, can be found on his website

End of Year Lists: Podcasts/Broadcast

Triple R's radio show/podcast Plato's Cave presented the favourite films of 2016 from Thomas Caldwell, Cerise Howard, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and (spoiler alert) upcoming 2017 Hyphenates guest Emma Westwood

ABC Breakfast's Zak Hepburn appeared on national television to present his choices for the best films of 2016

SOPHIE AND LEE LOOK BACK ON HYPHENATES IN 2016

Top five Hi4H film discoveries (that you hadn't seen before)?

Sophie: Top of the list is Antonia Bird’s Hamburg Cell, a film that I’d heard about but never been able to see (boo hiss HBO and danke schÃ¶n German DVD!). It feels more urgent and courageous an achievement than ever. Shirley Clarke’s The Cool World, her only fiction feature, was a nervy, clever joy, and again current and still streets ahead in its depiction of African American boys becoming men. Peter Weir's The Last Wave was totally new to me, and what a film: dark and risky, with that Weiry dreaminess and an unusual steeliness. And finally, two absolute classic costume/melodramas of female (almost) liberation that (hang my head) I’d never caught: Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Effi Briest, the least-yet-most Fassbindery of his films in epic, gorgeous black and white, all sighs and glances; and Max OphÃ¼ls’ La signora di tutti, an addictively glamorous and mondaine prefiguration of his masterpiece Lola MontÃ¨s.

Lee: As ever, I'll be sticking with the one-per-filmmaker rule just to mix it up/make life more difficult for myself. (Note: Even though I watched all of the Fassbinders in 2015, I'll count them for this year for reasons that I trust are self-evident.) Interestingly, we covered so many of my favourite filmmakers this year, directors whose work I was deeply familiar with - Hitchcock, Kubrick, Weir, Lean and the Coen Bros - that there were fewer discoveries than in previous years.

Nevertheless, the five first-time viewings that knocked me over the most were: Ravenous (1999, Antonia Bird), Portrait of Jason (1967, Shirley Clarke), Chinese Roulette (1976, Rainer Werner Fassbinder), Paths of Glory (1957, Stanley Kubrick), Don't Look Now (1973, Nicolas Roeg). These five are going to stick with me for a long, long time.

(I probably would have included a Max Ophuls in there, but I kept rubbish notes that month and I've completely forgotten which of his films I loved the most. I'm not the well-oiled machine I seem, listeners.)

Which new filmmakers to emerge in 2016 are you most excited about?

Sophie: Most smugly, I’m excited to see people catching up to Barry Jenkins. I saw Medicine for Melancholy, his first feature, at the London Film Festival in 2008, in an almost-empty cinema, and still have the jitters from its brilliant meditations on love, art, cities, race and space. Moonlight is a step up and expansion of his singular vision. #OscarsSoMoonlight

Less smugly, I came totally fresh to Kirsten Johnson; and Cameraperson, her fourth documentary as director (and approximately zillionth as cinematographer), blew off the top of my head. I’ve seen it three times, and still haven’t got the measure of it. I’m excited she’s working with Laura Poitras again (on a film about Julian Assange), but I want more films de Kirsten Johnson, soon.

Alice Diop’s doc On Call may not have got as big an audience as fellow refugee doc Eva Orner’s Chasing Asylum at London this year, but wow, has it stayed with me. Totally rigorous classical observational documentary, fierce with compassion and honesty. Deserves to be seen everywhere, and another talented member of the Diop filmmaking dynasty arrives.

Finally, two British first time feature filmmakers: full disclosure: I may know them or something. Regardless, I foresee big futures for Hope Dickson Leach (The Levelling) and Alice Lowe (Prevenge). They are unafraid to get messy, personal, difficult, dark, funny and bold. Having two such huge talents come along in one year (shout-out to Jane Gull for My Feral Heart and Esther May Campbell for Light Years as well): bloody hell. We’re going to need the stories they have in store for us.

Lee: I saw basically nothing this year (compared to most years), and have been experiencing massive list envy as I glance at Sophie's answers. Even though I haven't yet seen Prevenge, Alice Lowe is an alum of the show, and I'll see anything she's even tangentially related to, so can I include her? Speaking of which, I don't believe the Lowe-starring Black Mountain Poets was the first film of director Jamie Adams, but it's the first one I saw and I'm on board for whatever he does next.

I loved Baden Baden, so definitely Rachel Lang. I Am Not a Serial Killer is the film that appears to have put director Billy O'Brien on the map, and it's a map I'll be following closely in the future. And I can totally see Kirsten Johnson pulling a Laughtonesque one-and-done after Cameraperson, but if she does direct another, she's already sold at least two tickets.

Keeping in mind our unofficial and sometimes-broken rule about our filmmakers-of-the-month having a minimum of five films to their names, which five filmmakers would you like to see us cover on the show?

Sophie: Chantal Akerman and Abbas Kiarostami both left us recently - and the incisive writing and conversations that marked their passing has made me want to look again and deeper at their expansive and elegant filmographies.

Ava DuVernay will hit the magic 5 with A Wrinkle in Time; if time could wrinkle the film out in 2017, she’d definitely be top of my Hyphenates list.

Oh, and Kelly Reichardt has just hit 6 with Certain Women, which will be in my 2017 top five, I can tell you that already. Time to talk trains, knitwear, Michelle Williams and working-class America, no?

Finally: Dorothy Arzner, Hollywood great. She got Maureen O’ Hara and Lucille Ball to cat-fight (and make up) in leotards, enough said. Oh, and she addressed rape, abortion and feminism in earlier films. TCM recently ran a popular marathon of her films… let’s go Dottie in 2017.

Lee: Since we began the show, my three white whales were Hitchcock, Kubrick and Scorsese, and in back-to-back episodes we knocked over two of them! So although we try our best never to influence our guests, I'll be sending thoughtwaves to them all with the following names: Martin Scorsese, Nora Ephron, Kenji Mizoguchi, Michelangelo Antonioni, Catherine Breillat.

What are your most anticipated films of 2017?

Sophie: Weird question, because festivals. Moonlight, Certain Women, Cameraperson, and The Levelling will all come out in the UK in 2017, and that is awesome: anticipation for re-watching them with new audiences is already high at Mayer Towers. Looking ahead to next year’s fests, I’m already excited for Sydney Freeland’s indie thriller Deidra and Laney Rob a Train, which has been announced for Sundance, as has Dee Rees’ historical drama Mudbound. Amma Asante’s WWII drama Where Hands Touch has a 2017 release date (fingers crossed). The news that there’s a critical mass of new films written and directed by women of colour and of genius? I’ve been anticipating that for a decade and now it’s here!

If there could also be Trolls 2 pls. Because I’m complicated and random.

Lee: I agree, it's a tough question because the best films often end up being the ones we don't know about. I am particularly excited about a certain film with â€œLoganâ€ in the title. Yes, Soderbergh is returning to cinema with Lucky Logan, from first-time writer (according to imdb, anyway) Rebecca Blunt. I look forward to seeing what it was about this script that lured my favourite living director back to the big screen OR I look forward to being shown some quotes that prove the retirement quote was actually fiction. Either way, I'm getting more Soderbergh in 2017 and this pleases me.

For the third year running, I'd like to include Martin Scorsese's Silence. What I thought was going to be a 2015 film turned out to be a 2016 film that my home country is getting in 2017. Check in with us next year to see if it makes the cut again.

Even if the premise, the pedigree and the cast hadn't won me over completely, I'd still be hanging for Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled because it's Sofia Coppola. Also, any new work from filmmakers we've covered on the show save one. I'll let you guess.

Jordan Peele's Get Out. Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. Ben Wheatley's Free Fire. Ducan Jones's Mute. Shaun King's Paddington 2. Gary Ross’s Ocean’s Eight. Anything Sophie tells me about, because she never steers me wrong even when I totally fail to see the films she nudges me about.

I have film critics friends who argue both for and against the concept of the guilty pleasure, and I usually find myself agreeing with whoever made their case to me last. But if you've listened to the show you'll know I'm a hopeless sucker for the Marvel films, and the fact that they've upped their yearly output from two to three (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-man: Homecoming) is something I will vocally decry to maintain cred amongst my serious film friends as I secretly clap my hands in shameless glee.

And, of course, the Melbourne-made detective noir Trench, made by some upstart named Paul Anthony Nelson, but who's ever heard of him?

Thank you all for listening to our show throughout the year, and for giving us so much constructive and positive feedback. If you want to help spread the love even further, know that telling your friends about the show, sharing us on social media, and leaving positive reviews on iTunes is hugely appreciated.

Happy new year, all!

Spong On Lean

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Hyphenates has always been a show that celebrates all filmmakers, and we're equally excited by the big names as we are by the obscure ones. Wielding absolutely no influence over the choices of our guests, 2016 nevertheless seemed to be a year in which we ticked off a fair number of big-name directors that have been looming over our shoulder for six-and-a-half years. The past few months alone we've talked Peter Weir, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Nicolas Roeg, and it feels appropriate that we should see the year out with the master that is David Lean.

It was a real delight to have Rohan Spong as our guest, and anyone who's been lucky enough to see his astonishing documentaries - from 2011's All the Way Through Evening to this year's Winter At Westbeth - will no doubt be as keen as we are to hear about how David Lean became such an early influence. And it's an origin story very much worth hearing.

Before we talk Lean, however, Sophie and Lee look back at some of this month's key films, comparing this year's Star Wars entry Rogue One to last year's The Force Awakens, discussing their fiercely divergent reactions to Jim Jarmusch's contemplative drama Paterson, dipping toes into the controversy surrounding science fiction romance Passengers, and looking at Amma Assante's compelling biopic A United Kingdom.

Then, Rohan joins them as they compare notes on their favourite films of the year, and try to find some highlights amid the mess than was 2016.

The David Lean Cheat Sheet

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BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945) and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

When you hear David Lean's name, you typically think of grand sweeping epics, told with the wildest of locations and the widest of screens. But that phase career didn't begin until 1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai. For the first fifteen years of his directorial career he was making comparatively smaller, more personal films. Although many of his early works can still be considered great, one film looms large: the romantic drama Brief Encounter. Passions bubble over as a married woman falls in love with a stranger in 1940s London. Lean's filmmaking is heartbreaking and strikingly modern, and it remains one of the most emotionally engaging films ever made. Once that's done, your next film for the evening is an entirely different beast, and perhaps the best example there is of epic filmmaking: Lawrence of Arabia remains one of the greatest cinematic experiences of all time, and along with 2001, a film that absolutely must be seen on the big screen if at all possible. Watch these two films back-to-back and it might just be enough to turn 2016 around.

Substitutions: If you can't get or have already seen Brief Encounter, seek out The Passionate Friends (1949). While not nearly as well known or accomplished as Brief Encounter, it is a fascinating work and does cover many of the same themes, examining at infidelity through a far more complex and interesting prism than was, at the time, typically permitted. If you can't get or have already seen Lawrence of Arabia, track down Doctor Zhivago (1965). Zhivago is as much a synonym for epic filmmaking as Lawrence is, with a 3+ hour running time, a 2.20:1 aspect ratio, and a sweeping multi-year story told against the backdrop of a revolution.

The Hidden Gem: Want to try something a little different? A David Lean film that is rarely mentioned? Take a look at Blithe Spirit (1945). This strange ghost story begins with a man (played by a frighteningly young Rex Harrison) ironically employing the services of a medium as research for his next book. When the medium manages to get in contact with an actual spirit that's haunting the house, he finds himself caught his deceased first wife and his living second wife. It's funny, macabre, and worth a look.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Rohan Spong talking David Lean, will be released on 31 December 2016.

Our Next Hyphenate: Rohan Spong

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Director, photographer and December 2016 Hyphenate Rohan Spong

Over the last few years, Rohan Spong has become one of Australia's most exciting documentary filmmakers. From his 2009 feature T is for Teacher, about the experiences of four transgender school teachers in America, to his 2010 film The Songs They Sang, which examined the music and art created in the Vilna Ghetto in Lithuania during World War II, and his stunning 2011 film All the Way Through Evening, about the music that was composed in New York's East Village during the rise of HIV/AIDS, he has established himself as one of this country's best documentarians, exploring the corners history through a very present and tangible lens.

This year saw the premiere of his latest film Winter At Westbeth. This beautiful work follows the elderly residents of New York's Westbeth Artists Housing, as they continue to create the film, dance and poetry they'd made all of their lives.

Of course, all of those achievement pale in comparison to Rohan's next role, that of Hell Is For Hyphenates guest host!

But which filmmaker has he chosen to discuss?

None other than the legendary David Lean!

The mere mention of Lean's name conjures images of epic landscapes in 70mm, decades-spanning tales, literary adaptations, and hours-long epics that could comfortably go for twice their length. Lean immersed us in worlds bigger than our own, and defined event cinema decades before the term would ever be coined or even required.

From the Dickens adaptations Oliver Twist and Great Expectations to Russian epic Dr Zhivago, from the heartbreaking romance Brief Encounter to perhaps the greatest cinematic epic of all time Lawrence of Arabia, Lean left a forceful, indelible mark on cinema, and no history of film is complete without an exploration of his ouvre.

But what is it about Lean's work that Rohan loves so much? Check back in with us on December 31 when we find out!

Our next filmmaker of the month, David Lean

Moorhouse On Roeg

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moorhouse-on-roeg

There are few things more exciting to us than getting to hear a filmmaker we admire talk about the filmmaker who influenced them. It's a special sort of insight that we rarely get, as writers and directors are more often quizzed about the films they themselves have made.

So what better way to explore the films of Nicolas Roeg (Performance, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell To Earth) than through the eyes of someone whose career he influenced? We were more than a little excited when Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, How To Make an American Quilt, A Thousand Acres, The Dressmaker) agreed to join us this month, and the conversation we had with her about Roeg is one we know you're going to enjoy.

But before we get into the chronologically-challenged bent reality of Nicolas Roeg, Sophie and Lee take a moment to look at some of this month's films, including Marvel's new mystical entry into the MCU Doctor Strange, David Yates and JK Rowling's Harry Potter spinoff prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and the surprisingly political plastic toy adaptation Trolls.

Then for our middle segment, we look at the results of the US election and ask the least-existentially terrifying question many cinephiles have been asking themselves this past weeks: what does film do now? How do documentary and fiction filmmakers navigate this unprecedented landscape? Can cinema play a role in coping with this new world, and if so, what role is that? We cover a lot of ground here, and if you agree or disagree feel free to tell us your thoughts in the episode's comments section.

The Nicolas Roeg Cheat Sheet

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nic-roeg-films

WALKABOUT (1971) and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976)

You could probably write an essay on how Nicolas Roeg's films depict Australia and Australians, from the two census takers in 1986's Castaway to Bryan Brown as an existentialist masseuse in 1995's Full Body Massage. But looming over these works it the masterpiece of cinema that is Walkabout. Two posh English schoolchildren (Jenny Agutter and Luc Roeg) are abandoned in the Australian outback by their father, and are struggle to survive when they are found by a young Aboriginal man on walkabout (the legendary David Gulpilil in his first role). Australia is brutal and beautiful, and Roeg's film is nothing short of a captivating masterpiece that, like Ted Kotcheff's Wake In Fright the same year, suggests that Australia is never more fascinating than when viewed through the lens of a foreigner. Once you've seen that, check out The Man Who Fell To Earth. This strange, experimental film about an alien (David Bowie) who comes to Earth in search of water for his dying planet is experimental and strange in all the ways your expecting, and at least twelve that you're not. The film is a staple of pop culture, but remains curiously divisive: it is perhaps too esoteric in parts, and even now many cinephiles fail to connect to it. But to understand Roeg and his style, it's essential viewing, and the perfect film to watch either alone or with the weirder of your friends.

Substitutions: If you can't get or have already seen Walkabout, try 1973's Don’t Look Now. Although the Venice-set thriller with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie may not seem of a kind with Walkabout, its disjointed, unsettling style establishes it as being the work of a filmmaker consumed with fear of an almost-mystical displacement that comes with unfamiliar places. If you can't get or have already seen The Man Who Fell To Earth, check out that other experimental Roeg film featuring a legendary pop star from the 1970s: Performance. Mick Jagger stars in this reality-bending film about East London gangsters, rock stars and identity.

The Hidden Gem: Want to try something from off the beaten path? A Nicolas Roeg film that is rarely discussed? You'll want to check out 1985's Insignificance. The adaptation of the stage play by Terry Johnson speculates on what might have happened if Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joseph McCarthy had encountered each other one evening in a hotel. They're never named as such - they're The Professor, The Actress, The Ballplayer and The Senator - but there's no mistaking them. It seems to have slipped into obscurity, but it's a film that stretches far beyond its obvious â€œicons meetâ€ setup into something far more profound and interesting.

The next episode of Hell Is For Hyphenates, featuring Jocelyn Moorhouse talking Nicolas Roeg, will be released on 30 November 2016.