BBC STORYVILLE UNVEILS WINTER SLATE OF PROGRAMMING
The BBC’s award-winning strand showcasing the very best in international documentaries today announced a new slate of films to be shown in early 2023 on BBC Four and iPlayer.
Three Minutes: A Lengthening
(24 Jan, 10pm, BBC Four and iPlayer)
Three minutes of footage is all that remains of the Jewish community of Nasielsk, Poland, filmed in 1938 by photographer David Kurtz. With narration from Helena Bonham Carter, Three Minutes: A Lengthening unravels the stories hidden in the celluloid with insight from the filmmaker’s grandson and a boy who appears in the faded footage – one of few survivors of the village decimated in the Holocaust.
Casa Susanna
(31 Jan, 10pm, BBC Four and iPlayer)
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, deep in the American countryside at the foot of the Catskill mountains was Casa Susanna, a small wooden house with a barn behind it, holiday home to the first clandestine network of cross-dressers. Diane and Kate are now 80 years old. At the time, they were men, enjoying weekend visits to the house with their wives and friends. In Casa Susanna, they tell this forgotten chapter of the early days of trans-identity.
Blue Box
As a child, Israeli filmmaker, Michal Weits remembers her great-grandfather as an almost mythical figure. Described by his children as the “ultimate Zionist,” Yosef Weits was a prominent member of the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine, tasked with purchasing land for a Jewish homeland.
The Spy on Your Mobile
An investigation into the powerful and terrifying spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group and used on journalists, activists, the wife and fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others.
Traitors and Heroes: Inside Russia
It’s been dangerous for ordinary Russians to speak up against Vladimir Putin’s regime for years, but new censorship laws introduced after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have made the danger even greater. Despite the huge risks, two Russian filmmakers have been filming the impact of the war inside their country. Whilst many thousands have fled, those that stayed have had to choose - to oppose, support or stay silent about Russia’s War in Ukraine.
Sex on Screen
Sex on Screen explores the process of creating sex scenes in Hollywood, the toll these scenes take on those involved in filming them, and the impact on women and girls in the real world.
The film features candid interviews with actors and creators, including Jane Fonda, Rosanna Arquette, Joey Soloway, Angela Robinson, Karyn Kusama, Rose McGowan, Alexandra Billings, Emily Meade, and David Simon and highlights the voices of women who have spoken out against abusive behaviour on their sets and were punished for it.