Bilal came up in Germantown, a northwest neighbourhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A deep interest in jazz was fostered by his father, who took him to the city’s clubs, singing eventually became more than an interest. He attended New York’s new…

In this pilot to a new series about the European musical heritage, soul musician Joy Denalane embarks on a journey to Austria to encounter the world of folk music. For centuries, this musical genre has provided a vital space for love and romanticism…

David Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart’ is released in 1990. Portrait of a film: two innocents share a passionate, sexual love adventure as they traverse a crazy world. It is Romeo and Juliet retold as a rock n’ roll road movie, a love forged in hell. It wins…

Stanley Kubrick directed A Clockwork Orange in 1971. Portrait of a film: in England, in the near future, the Droogs gang spreads terror through gratuitous acts of violence. Arrested for murder, Alex, their leader, agrees to serve as a guinea pig for…

Gérard Oury directs ‘The Mad Adventures of ‘Rabbi’ Jacob’ in 1973. Portrait of a film: Louis de Funès, in his usual role - an authoritarian who terrorizes those around him - a role enhanced by racism and anti-semitism, is forced to conspire with an…

Luis Buñuel directed The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in 1972. Portrait of a film: Belonging to the same circle of worldly notables, six characters try repeatedly to share a meal but each attempt fails, due either to the intrusion of strangers…

Following on from his "biography" of Claude Berri's French megahit movie, "Tchao Pantin", in this new film, Serge July investigates the life and times of Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 tragedy, "Last Tango in Paris". "Last Tango" is a noir…

Claude Sautet shot Vincent, François, Paul and the others in 1974. Portrait of a film: professional bankruptcy, marital break-up, betrayal of youth ideals, writer’s block: each in their own way, three inseparable fifty somethings (a small company…

Story of a film: « La Reine Margot » was released in 1994. It is Patrice Chéreau's fifth film. Inspired by a novel by Alexandre Dumas (the father), it was written in collaboration with Danièle Thompson. The film is about the rise to power of Henry IV…

Billy Wilder films ‘Some Like It Hot’ in 1958. Portrait of a film: a movie that is at once a satire of the United States and its imitators, a burlesque parody, a thriller, a musical comedy filmed in black and white, an audacious look at the confusion…