12 MARCH 2007 

THE SOUTH BANK SHOW:

SHANE MEADOWS

SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2007 

THE SOUTH BANK SHOW takes an exclusive look at one of Britain's leading independent film directors SHANE MEADOWS. His films have included Once Upon A Time in the Midlands, TwentyFourSeven, A Room For Romeo Brass and the phenomenal hit, Dead Man's Shoes, which won numerous prizes including Best Film at THE SOUTH BANK SHOW AWARDS in 2005.  

Few directors have tapped into their damaged roots as consistently or as brilliantly as SHANE MEADOWS.  His ability to make an original screenplay from the tiniest of budgets has made him one of Britain's finest guerrilla film-makers.  Through him, THE SOUTH BANK SHOW has a rare insight into what life is like for British independent film-makers, and the current state of the British film industry. 

In Spring 2007, SHANE is releasing his next feature This Is England which is a rites of passage story based on an 11 year old boy growing up in Uttoxeter, in the early 80s, who joins a gang of skinheads and becomes involved in the rise of the National Front.   

MELVYN BRAGG travels to the Midlands to the set of This Is England and talks to SHANE about his childhood as a skinhead, the making of This Is England, his filming processes and the persistent themes that penetrate his films.  The documentary will also include exclusive footage from SHANE's early shorts and reveal the unique relationship between SHANE and 15 year old Thomas Turgoose, the lead in This Is England.  

Contributors include: Thomas Turgoose, Shaun in This Is England; Stephen Graham, Combo in This Is England; Stephen Woolley; Bob Hoskins; Ken Loach; Tessa Ross - Film Four; Mark Herbert, Producer of This Is England; Paul Fraser, co-writer. 

Still leading the way, THE SOUTH BANK SHOW is the first ITV1 programme to be available on the internet in both podcast (audio) and vodcast (video) format at www.itv.com/southbank . 

Presented and edited by Melvyn Bragg

Produced and directed by Roz Edwards.