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A film on Roman Polanski begins a new series of Storyville
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Storyville – Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired
Monday 13 October BBC FOUR
www.bbc.co.uk/storyville
 Programme copy
Storyville, the BBC's multi-award-winning flagship international documentary strand, returns to BBC Four this week with a new, dedicated weekly slot of 10pm every Monday. The new series of six films kicks off with Roman Polanski – Wanted And Desired, an insightful examination of Polanski's infamous conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
In true, unique, Storyville style, the new series promises to deliver the usual eclectic mix of compelling stories from around the world, from the murky world of the Bollywood movie business (Shot In Bombay), to a bizarre tale of sibling rivalry in which one brother changes sex, while the other discovers he's related to Hollywood royalty (Prodigal Sons).
Storyville has built an enviable reputation since its inception more than 10 years ago. Screening over 340 films, from a total of more than 69 different countries, the strand has garnered a staggering array of awards – five Oscars, 15 Griersons, three Peabodys and two International Emmys. Just recently, it was awarded the prestigious Prix Italia.
Programme Information caught up with series editor Nick Fraser to find out just what goes into making a documentary strand of such world renown.
What is the basic premise
of Storyville?
One of the main aims of Storyville is to "bring the UK to the world, and the world to the UK" – that's at the heart of what we do with our films. Our aim is really quite simple: we try to bring the most interesting and important stories from around the world to the screen. That gives us amazing scope to commission across a huge range of genres and subjects. For me, the story of Alex Gibney's Taxi To The Dark Side – about the US torture methods in the "war on terror" – is a critically important story, but then so was the light-hearted exploration of the Chinese political mentality in Weijun Chen's school election film, Please Vote For Me. That's the joy of running a strand like Storyville – one week you're viewing a film on the town where they filmed Borat, the next you're knee-deep in an exploration of the politics of 1968.
What is the history
of Storyville, how did it start and how did it get its title?
Storyville was originally a strand called Fine Cut. When Mark Thompson became Controller of BBC Two, he decided it needed refreshing and Storyville was born. The name has its origins in a type of jazz/blues music from the Deep South, but we chose it because it had the right hint of enigma about it, whilst obviously head-lining our main focus – fantastic stories.
Of all the films in
the last 10 years, which one is the most memorable for you, and
why?
Our very first film, Hoop Dreams, became the stuff of documentary legend and would have to be on any list of most memorable films. There have been so many fantastic films since, it really is very hard to pick ones that are most memorable – Leslie Woodhead made a staggering film about Srebonica called A Cry From The Grave, which is unforgettably harrowing. Obviously, the Oscar-winning films have a special place – One Day In September, The Fog Of War and Taxi To The Darkside. Then there are the less prominent, but equally affecting, films – Robert Stone's Patti Hearst film, for instance, or, recently, The English Surgeon.
Our Why Democracy? season was probably the most ambitious series we've attempted. We also have two incredibly memorable films coming up: Man On Wire, which is setting the box office alight on both sides of the Atlantic, and this week's film, Roman Polanksi – Wanted And Desired, which is an exemplary piece of film-making.
How do you find such
an amazing array of fantastic films?
The Storyville team scour the globe looking for the best films and the best talent – from Rio to Riga and beyond, but you never know where the next great film will come from. There's a big global community of people who make the kind of films we commission, and it's an eco-system all of its own. New talent is always popping up in unexpected places – our job is to try to notice it. Some films will just arrive on our desks and blow us away – the charming Mr Vig And The Nun was one of those.
The new run starts this
week on BBC Four with the Polanski film, Wanted And Desired. What
do you think stands out most about this film?
Samantha Geimer [the 13-year-old in Polanski's unlawful sex case], who's one of the main subjects of the film, came out of a screening and said: "I didn't think you could make it all that interesting!". I think that gets to the heart of what makes Polanski such a good film. Marina (Zenovich, the director) manages to tell the story in such intricate detail that you're totally hooked, just as you would be with a thriller. She tells every last twist and turn, and is helped by a fantastic cast of interviewees. Add a healthy dose of stylish shooting and great archive and you have a really good film!
What can viewers expect
from the Storyville strand in the coming year?
We have all sorts of things coming up, some of which are finished and others which we are just starting to film. In the winter, we're showing one of our rare forays into science – a mind-blowing film called Blast, which shows the human side of the physicists who are trying to understand the birth of the cosmos. The next run promises to be as wide-ranging and fascinating as this one – with serious films, quirky films and, hopefully, a few that will make viewers laugh out loud.
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