Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. 200,000 people are now recorded to have died from coronavirus around the globe. It comes as the number of deaths in uk hospitals passes 20,000. The governor of new york the us state worst hit by the coronovirus outbreak authorises independent pharmacies to carry out tests for the disease. Coronavirus tests for uk key workers through the government website were booked up within an hour of it reopening today. The World Health Organisation warns that people who have recovered from coronavirus may not be protected from reinfection. Countries around europe pursue options to end the lockdown belgium sets out a detailed plan to relax restrictions. And we cant go to the zoo at the moment but weve got the next best thing a virtual tour round Edinburgh Zoo courtesy of its keepers. Now on bbc news. A special edition of talking movies tom brook and his team report from home with stories on new yorks tribeca Film Festival which in the midst of the pandemic has gone virtual. Hello from new york. Im tom brook and welcome to our talking movies lockdown special. Im here in central park, not far from my home. Its a great place to come to in these very challenging times. Im actually shooting myself. Im using a selfie stick, a mobile phone, and it seems to be working 0k. Let me tell you, there is quite a bit of activity in the Film Industry right now. Directors are working with editors remotely to complete their films and screenwriters are fashioning screenplays. There is some forward movement. Now by the magic of virtual technology, let me join my colleague emma jones, who is near her home in west london. Emma, this is the second time that weve been working remotely from our homes for talking movies, and it can be quite challenging, but its also quite exciting. How has it been for you . Hi, tom. I really miss experiencing cinema with all my colleagues. Having said that, youre right. There is something really exciting at getting to produce television at a time like this during lockdown. And also, i think its really important that we do shine a spotlight on the entertainment industry, which is going through its own crisis. Emma, i do miss being around film people and normally at this time of the year, you and i would be looking forward to going to the cannes Film Festival in may. Now, i know were going to be featuring a report from you later in the programme where youre looking at the impact of the pandemic on Film Festivals in general whats the headline . I think that Film Festivals arent just about films. They are about red carpets. Theyre about stars. Theyre about community and cinema. Well, emma, thank you very much indeed. Now lets take a look at what our reporters and film critics around the world will be bringing us in this programme. Ill be reporting from berlin on how germany has witnessed a renaissance in the drive in because of the coronavirus outbreak. And im nicholas barber at home in london. And in these days of confinement, ill be talking to you about movies shot in confined spaces. Had these been normal times, then Downtown Manhattan would have been abuzz with the 19th annual tribeca Film Festival. Co founded by robert deniro, tribeca has become a real new york institution, showcasing documentaries and feature films from around the world. Well, this year, instead of cancelling their festival, tribecas organisers decided to put part of it online. Every spring, the tribeca Film Festival brings life to the city. Robert deniro and co founderjane rosenthal are very much present. But this year, tribeca went partly virtual. Not having a physical festival was a loss for all involved. But the organisers are spinning it as a great opportunity. The innovation is really at the root of what we do at tribeca so it felt appropriate that we could lean on that to try to connect audiences and creators in this really exceptional time when we werent able to do it in a theatre. Tony said mercury had doubts about the record. 0ne intriguing tribeca feature film, having its World Premiere virtually forjust press and industry professionals, was stardust, inspired by british songwriter and singer david bowie, set mostly in 1971 when he went to america for the first time. Ive been obsessed by david bowie since i was a kid, bought all his records, you know, read every Magazine Article i could get my hands on. And then much more recently read all the biographies, and i guess the thing that sort of always struck me was how Little People seem to know about his family background and about this sort of chapter in his life. Of course, director Gabriel Range and his cast were expecting to have a real premiere at tribeca in new york. Instead, they had to make do with a virtual premiere. Tribeca, in tandem with film Public Relations companies, are among the pioneers of this kind of promotion. What had been set up was an online version of a press conference. The first id really participated in when the directors and cast were all inside their homes. The four of us just did a little sort of video introduction and then apparently 350 industry folk tuned in from five different continents. Tribecas organisers believe that one of the advantages of a virtual festival is that the Audience Reach is that much greater than what you could get from a physical festival. Were able to expand the global audience with this, just the fact that all of this storytelling is getting launched at once under the tribeca Film Festival banner. Its quite remarkable. Tribeca always has movies that deal with identity. This year was no exception. Come, take a picture with your sister. Im good. Come on, benito. My name is abdul. Shadows is a short film set and shot in new york. Its a coming of age story about a High School Student whos part of a catholic family adjusting to the return of her brother from prison, whos come back as a converted muslim. Ive been very interested in interfaith families, which my family is as well, and just been very, very interested in seeing how in america families that have individuals who are really trying to balance who they are versus who they are within a family. Like many film makers, ria tobaccowala was grateful that tribeca, rather than cancel its festival outright, gave her the opportunity to have her film seen online, albeit, in the case of shadows, only for press and industry people. It means the world to me. It allows us to do. You know, a part of what makes Something Like tribeca Film Festival so special for up and coming film makers is to have this platform to share our ideas and share our points of view. Tribeca also had virtual offerings that would resonate with the lgbt community. From israel, came sublet. Set in tel aviv, it tells the story of a brief relationship between an older american New York Times travel writer and a younger israeli man. Obviously, as our relationship evolves, some things happen less frequently than they once did. The film, among other things, reflects the changing way in which gay people see themselves. We fought like crazy to say, were gay. We should be, you know, accepted as gays you know, and today its all like young people are saying, we dont want those labels. Those labels belong to you old guys, to the old world. For the public, tribecas most impressive offering is perhaps the cinema 360 showcase, an immersive Virtual Reality presentation. Among the 15 films people could watch in their homes with a special headset there are three million in circulation right now is an endeavor called the pantheon 0f queer mythology. Its an effort to tap into some of the complex relationships between people in the lgbt community. Its a piece thats been getting positive feedback. Its creator is mindful that his work is being shown by a Film Festival that helped new york rehabilitate itself before in the wake of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. In 2002, tribeca started out in the wake of this terrible tragedy as a way to fight back with art. And so they will continue to fight. Theyre proving it by taking this system online through oculist tv and im privileged that i can be a part of it. Of course, watching Virtual Reality films at home with a headset pales in comparison to doing so at a real Film Festival where youre surrounded by people. Of course, everybody would like to see the tribeca Film Festival take place in a real physical space. The organisers are quick to point out that the festival hasnt actually been cancelled, merely postponed, and they hope it will emerge in some shape or form at some point in the future. This is my local cinema that i pass by every day in london on my daily exercise. And right now, i dont see any way that its going to be open to full capacity anytime soon. And this is the problem that Film Festivals are facing. Some, like south by southwest and tribeca have decided to make content available to audiences online. Others, like cannes think that thats really not an option. And another huge event, venice is also going to try and go ahead with a physical festival. So is Going Digital really the solution for the Film Industry at this time of crisis . Through the lens of covid 19, some of the most beautiful spectacles the film world has to offer currentlyjust look like social distancing nightmares. Like tribeca and south by southwest in north america, some european festivals have already moved part of their programme online, such as the swiss documentary event, vision du reel. In a market where netflix is currently valued at 200 billion and nearly everyone is streaming at home, isnt it the only short term option to survive . Non, says cannes the mother and father of all Film Festivals. Itll put its market online, but the side competitions of the palme d0r line up are already cancelled, and the festival is still considering all its options, apart from Going Digital. When youre at cannes or venice, everything is about the red carpet, glamour and the worlds biggest films. If you try and put it online, its just not the same experience. And also, if youre a very big film, you dont want to risk the piracy problems that can happen. Also, i think, when we can go back to cinemas, cannes wants to be there right at the forefront to celebrate cinema. Festivals provide far more value to the industry than glamorous red carpets, though. The winner of last years palme d0r was parasite, given the spotlight by the ecstatic critical reaction at cannes. Thanks to that start, it now has oscars and a box office of 200 million. And so often what encourages the public to buy tickets to festivals like toronto and venice is the enticing prospect of interacting with celebrities introducing their films. Looking ahead to these autumn festivals, when even tom hanks has suffered from covid 19, this is not currently a world where anyone, hollywood stars included, would travel lightly. Its great to have a festival where you can maybe physically show the films and the journalists can do theirjobs, but the truth is that without the talent that is the actors, the directors and the producers being there, its a rather muted event, quite frankly. Emma meet gael. Gael meet emma. Hello. Hello, emma. Hey, hows it going . Im ok, its good to see you. Mexican superstar gael Garcia Bernal is a regular at the biggest festivals in the world. His new film with acclaimed chilean director Pablo Larrain emma is launching on arthouse streaming site mubi this month. His new film with acclaimed chilean director Pablo Larrain ema is launching on arthouse streaming site mubi this month. Hes seeing the positives in the current way of connecting with film. Im curious to see the peoples reactions and im curious to see it, as well, from this perspective from my home, you know, and see what the reaction is. You know, to see these people dancing in the streets, touching each other, you know, theres a lot of physicality. Strangely enough, theres few films about that nowadays, but now that we cannot touch each other, that we cannot see each other, theres Something Interesting thats going to happen while seeing it. While theres a captive audience at home embracing video link life, the sheer complication of trying to stream unsold films and negotiate worldwide rights means that even smaller festivals are deciding its just better to write off 2020. Christoph, youre artistic director of the munich Film Festival, and youve decided not to go ahead this year, why . You know, emma, the munich Film Festival has always been about meeting in the beautiful summer, and, you know, we have a beautiful river so people sit in the beer gardens, they sit by the river then they go back to the cinema, see a film, and later on they discuss it so its all about encounter, being together and willingly confront yourself and go for culture, and this is something that you simply cannot translate to the digital space. As this pandemic plays out, the Film Industry faces a growing crisis of great films that are ready to go with no global showcases to display them. And while some festivals are to be praised for trying to recreate online community, it seems to underline what a sight the real thing is and how much its missed. In the midst of this pandemic, many of us are living in our homes in confinement, often in quite small spaces. In the past, many film makers have set an entire picture in a physically limited area, often to great effect. Bbc culture film critic nicholas barber reports. Like most people, i am stuck at home at the moment so life doesnt seem to have the variety and the freedom and the exotic locations that we associate with films, but its worth remembering that some of the best films of all are set in a space almost as confined as my room here. Directors love the technical challenge of keeping the action going when nobody can go anywhere at all, and no director loved that sort of challenge more than alfred hitchcock. Youre in charge of navigation. In 19114, hitchcock set lifeboat entirely onboard a cramped lifeboat after a civilian ship had been torpedoed by a german u boat in world war two. Moral concepts of good and evil and right and wrong dont hold for the intellectually superior. He went on to make rope, dial m for murder and rear window, each of which was almost all set in one apartment. This was a way to shoot a hit film far more quickly and cheaply than a typical thriller. Woman screams we were nice to you, we bought tulips. You know, my wife dressed me up as a liberal. Another director who knows how to squeeze 90 minutes worth of tension and conflict into the smallest possible space is the currently controversial figure of roman polanski. Back in 2011, polanski made carnage withjodie foster, kate winslet, John C Reilly and Christoph Waltz as two couples in one brooklyn apartment arguing about their young sons, less and less politely as the film goes on. Carnage was based on Yasmina Rezas play god of carnage and a play is the ideal source for a story which takes up no more room than a theatre stage. Hitchcocks rope and dial m for murder both started life in the theatre, so did Richard Linklaters tape with ethan hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and uma thurman as three former High School Buddies meeting in a motel room to confront each other about a crime in their past. Normally, when a play is turned into a film, the director and writer open it up, spreading the action over different locations and a longer time period, but sometimes its not opening it up that gives the film its intensity. In tape, carnage and secret honour, the characters feel trapped in an awful situation and the sets limited dimensions add to that feeling. If they went for a stroll halfway through, it would defeat the point. And then there are films in which people are literally trapped, and the smaller the space, the more powerful they are. Jafar panahis daring documentary this is not a film was made while the director was under house arrest by the iranian government so he pondered art and freedom and filmmaking while he was stuck in his own flat. Park chan wooks fantastically gory korean shocker oldboy has its anti hero, played by choi min sik, being snatched off the street and locked in a cell for 15 years. But the lead character isnt shut in for the whole running time. In contrast, phone booth keeps Colin Farrell in a new york phone box for most of the film, while an unseen sniper blackmails him into confessing everything hes ever done wrong. As long as youve got a phone, then, you only need one actor on screen and hardly any space at all. Rodrigo cortezs buried, takes the idea to its ultimate extreme. Ryan reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is shot in a wooden crate six feet under the surface of the iraqi desert. There are no flashbacks, no cuts to the outside world, and again, no other characters except as voices on the phone. Dont shoot . I will, dont shoot . Iwill, i promise some critics, unsurprisingly, compared him to hitchcocks films. The difference is that todays directors have the lightweight digital cameras and mobile phones. Hitchcock didnt. So youll be seeing a lot more films set in confined spaces. Or you could even make one yourself right now. The setting might be small, but the imagination that goes into it can be limitless. Why are we still in this house . The pandemic has certainly restricted film going, but around the world theres been some ingenious efforts to bring people together for cinema. Seeing a film from the comfort of your car has undergone a bit of a renaissance in germany. Now our report from berlin. Bring your family to our drive in theater. Its a blast from the past, which last experienced a peak in popularity in the 50s and 605. 70s depicted an american period, films like grease and the outsiders. But after decades of decline in germany, the drive in cinema is experiencing an unexpected revival away from city centers. The retro tradition is enjoying a comeback, at least temporarily, during the pandemic. People are craving the cinematic experience without fear of covid 19 infection. According to one manager, in spite of a nationwide lockdown drive in cinemas, or autokinos, as the germans call them, are standing taller than ever. Nowadays, its got a little bit forgotten here in germany. Thats why we wanted to give a rebirth of what we call autokino then corona crisis came and to demand just rose. Everything is closed and you cant even go to a restaurant or anything. So the only option is to go to drive in cinema. Right now you are in your car. No risk at all. You dont get in contact with strangers. We are screening right now. We are screening right now older movies like dirty dancing, grease, the 80s and 90s stuff. People really like and enjoy this. I think it totally fits together. For the people to see how time was before coronacrisis. Sound is transmitted for a radio frequency into each car in order to avoid contact. In orderto in order to avoid contact, people are scanned through a glass window. Tickets. Scanned only two adults are allowed per call. A big responsibility is making sure shared facilities are disinfected. Before there is a waiter would come to your car. You give your order and they come back with coker frys. You give the order and comes back with a burger or a, coke orfries. Coke or fries. And thats not possible any more due to corona. And another thing is the toilets information. And we disinfect the toilets after each use. There are 17 drive ins in germany. The autokino is enjoying a renaissance, but remains a novelty to german audiences. Theyve been in germany since 1960. The first one opened up in frankfurt. Theyve been always there, but they were not that popular in germany. Its a very american tradition. And now its the boom here since the corona crisis. People are sick of tired of all these small screen. They want the big screen and they want to go out somewhere, even if they cant go out like normal. At the time when all the cinemas in germany are closed down, the drive in is providing a much needed sensation of moviegoing. Its a rare moment in the spotlight for the kino, but with a rapidly changing response to the pandemic, how and if they will continue to operate is an open question. Well, that brings this special edition of talking movies to a close. We hope youve enjoyed the programme. Please remember, you can always reach us online. So from me, to brook and the rest of the talking movies production team, its a very heartfelt goodbye in these challenging times. As previously mentioned in the programme, we reported on the film stardust, which featured david bowie. So were going to leave you with bowies music video for life on mars. Cest la is fighting in the sailors fighting on the dance hall. Take a look at the bar man beating up the wrong guy, oh man, wonder if hell ever know, hes in the bestselling shower. Is the bestselling shower. Is there on mars . Is there life on mars . Hello. There tend to be pros and cons, to most weather setups in the uk. The dry conditions of the last few days have been great for getting the washing out on the lying and doing work in the garden, but for gardeners the dry weather has meant the extra work of watering. This april, for some it could turn out to be one of the driest april is on record. For the last few days, the week ahead is going to take a turn. Especially from midweek onwards. This evening and overnight, a quite story, some showers by the far north of scotland, generally a picture of clear skies and across east anglia and the south, there could be a force to monitor spots. Something force to monitor spots. Something for gardeners to be aware of the a frost. We do have a weather front coming into play, which will start the day across southern scotland and northern ireland, and it really is a band of cloud, but we may see a bit of rain out of it as a dressing to Northern England and wales. I had of it, come across south wales, the midlands, lincolnshire, parts of yorkshire, there could be some heavy thunderstorms through the afternoon. To the south of that, warm air around, temperatures 20 or 21 volt up around, temperatures 20 or 21 volt up to the north of the front, it is a cooler, fresher feel. Up to the north of the front, it is a cooler, fresherfeel. That cooler airwill a cooler, fresherfeel. That cooler air will continue its journey southwards as we move on into one day. On monday, the front is mostly a band of thicker cloud, to the south something a bit more destructive coming up from france into the south west and across southern counties of england to get into the latter part of the day. Still one verse southernmost counties, elsewhere a cooler air working its way in. Here is the low pressure that will bring the more widespread rain forest. As we look into chelsea in the middle part of the week. It is surging up from the south. Into tuesday and the middle of the week. Notably colour is that rain arrives, some of that is that rain arrives, some of that is going to be heavy and the wind will start to pick up as well. Mostly the rain for england and wales on tuesday, from scotland and northern ireland, still largely dry with some sunny spells. Temperatures up with some sunny spells. Temperatures up to 15 or16 with some sunny spells. Temperatures up to 15 or 16 where we had the rain, but that is five celsius down from some of the house we have seen through the weekend. Wednesday and thursday, the low pressure throws its influence further north and it isa its influence further north and it is a case of rain or showers for just about all of us. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Coronavirus has now claimed the lives of 200,000 people around the world. The number of deaths in uk hospitals passes 20,000. For the nation in particular, this is a deeply tragic and moving moment. All our thoughts and sympathies are with those individuals who have lost family members through this horrendous and absolutely appalling virus. The governor of new york the us state worst hit by the coronovirus outbreak authorises independent pharmacies to carry out tests for the disease. Coronavirus tests for uk key workers through the government website