The latest headlines for you from bbc news the head of the World Health Organization has said covid 19 is easily the most severe Global Health immune emergency the organisation has ever declared. The chief is to reconvene the Emergency Committee this week to review its assessment of the pandemic. Spains Prime Minister has strongly criticised the uks decision to impose a quarantine on everyone arriving from his country. Pedro sanchez said british tourists are safer from the virus in most regions of spain than they are at home. There was particular anger to at the decision to include the balearic and canary islands. In brazil, one of the worst affected countries, Health Workers have urged the International Criminal court to investigate president bolsonaros government. They accuse it of crimes against humanity of its handling of the virus. Almost 2. 5 million cases have been recorded there. A new strategy to help people in england lose weight has been published by the government. Health experts have warned that obese people are more likely to have a severe reaction to covid i9. Jamie cook reports. People think because were fat, were stupid, we dont care about ourselves. And its not that. I dont want to be the person that dies early cause of obesity. Andi and sandy, best mates a friendship forged in their common battle with obesity. It doesnt say it very clearly about how much sugars on there. A determination to live, and to live well. Were looking at the outside, and what ive begun to realise is, the insides being damaged. My heart, my lungs, and covid has really brought it to home. Oh, yeah. That the people that have got a weight issue are not doing as well. They met at morelife, a greater manchester
weight loss programme. Patients are referred by their gps. Covid means classes are now virtual, but the government wants much more of this for thousands more across england, struggling with obesity and needing help. It is very scary. Id like to be a little bit more mobile, if possible, and just have a more enriched life. With one in five kids in england leaving Primary School obese, the government will now limit advertising of food high in fat, sugar or salt before 9 00pm part of this new obesity strategy which has been promised for years, but repeatedly kicked into the long grass. Now, finally, its here. Its good, but theres a lot of work that still needs to be done. This is a complex area. We still need a deeper understanding of peoples relationship with food and how that impacts on their behaviours. But also, we must not forget our poorer communities,
who may need Additional Support with this. The government wants more of this on the menu healthy outdoor exercise. There could even be cycling on gp prescription. It would be fantastic get more people out. Make the roads safer, educate drivers about passing cyclists, et cetera, so that people feel they can come out. And what about the other proposals, like banning buy 7 if you want it, youll buy it. And also the prices barely change, i think, to make that more appealing. I dont think theyre genuine all of the time, anyway. Calorie labels on Food Packaging and on some restaurant menus. Anything that makes people aware of what the amount of calories that theyre eating is good. Theres the recipes. For andi and sandy, its all about getting results, and between them, theyve dropped five stone. But it has taken more than the government backed 12 week programme. It is a lifelong lifestyle change. If people see you can succeed, even somebody like us can
succeed do it, have a go. What are you going to lose . Hopefully your weight, nothing else. Have a go. Its brought us closer together. Yeah. Were going to grow thinner and older, disgracefully together. Yeah. Jeremy cooke, bbc news. Time now for talking movies. Hello, from new york. Im tom brook, sitting on a bench in central park not far from my home. Welcome to our talking movies special. Had they not been postponed because of the pandemic, right now we would be in the middle of Olympic Games madness. Over the years, in the middle of Olympic Games madness. Overthe years, many celebrated filmmakers have
documented the games. This time around, it has fallen to a japanese filmmaker. Carmen roberts sent this report from tokyo. Today, tokyo station is very quiet. It should be heaving with commuters and tourists eagerly awaiting the upcoming Olympic Games. In the midst of the Global Pandemic events a re midst of the Global Pandemic events are on hold until the middle of next year. It is not for everybody. Im on my way to meet japans most awarded and celebrated female director, naomi kuwase, who has been chosen as the official documentary maker for the tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Naomi kawase. This interview took weeks of negotiations and planning, and im very excited but also a little nervous. Naomi kawase lives in nara, about 500 kilometres away from the capital. The walls of
kawases office show she is a highly acclaimed filmmaker. She was the youngest director to receive the camera door award from the Cannes Film Festival for the debut feature. Camera dor. She is known for her emotionally intelligent films would often bleak and sorrowful themes. So how could a directorfame sorrowful themes. So how could a director fame for low key intimacy turn her hand to chronicle a 25 billion sporting event . The olympics 56 yea rs sporting event . The olympics 56 years ago was not as televised as it is now. And for the key moments, the people will already be watching it on the tv. So for this documentary, i wanted to focus on the behind the scenes bits and how these athletes pursue their goals. Its notjust about how they go after the gold medal, but how the athletes respect each other, and there is a lot of beauty in that as well. A beauty she is still trying to capture. Despite the Global Pandemic, kawase has continued to film, albeit through different means and with new themes. After the official postponement on march 24th, i conducted an interview with ioc president
thomas bach remotely. I also conducted an interview remotely with the kenyan athlete who is leading the refugee team. We are documenting things as they happen and you have to be flexible towards it. And because of this new connectivity and technology, the theme is connectivity of the world. She is one of only five women to direct an official olympic film. In general, there are a lot more male directors than female directors and i think the Olympic Committee liked my idea to show the inner emotions of the athletes and getting close to these athletes, which is one of my strong suits, and i hope that my directing of such a high profile film will lead to more female directors in the future. But its not always the female
directors that have influenced kawase over the years. Growing up, i wasnt a hardcore cinema fan. I was focused more on basketball during my younger days. But when i went to film school, the movies i encountered didnt use many words, but used deep emotions to depict emotional scenes. My favourite film makers are the russian Andrei Tarkovsky and victor erice from spain. So, its these small art house directors i was most influenced by. No female directors . In english female . Laughter. Translation as for female directors, i really respect jane campion, and i like directors who try to dig deep into their identity wherever they come from. I also want to make films that are aspirational for the Younger Generation of film makers. Drawing on her own identity and childhood experiences of being adopted, kawases latest feature film
true mothers tackles the sensitive subject of adoption in japan. The release date has been delayed until later in the year, but kawase says its important to keep delivering art to the people. During the pandemic, i was approached by netflix to direct a five minute short film, and it was a collaboration with 25 directors from different countries. But because of the pandemic, some couldnt get their actors together or camera crew together, so some were shot on their smartphones. But even in those short films, the characteristics of the directors were shown. We wont be able to make films under perfect conditions like in pre corona, but we still will need to push on to shoot films. Apart from wars, this will be the first in history that the olympics was postponed, and this time its due to a worldwide pandemic. So shooting this as a documentary will be a momentous feat. It will go down in history, so i still think that this should be made. Before i met kawase sun, i did wonder if herfilm would ever see the light of day, especially if the Olympic Games were to be cancelled next year. But now more than ever, i think this is an original and an emotional story that needs to be told, regardless of the outcome. Tokyo 2020 wouldve been the first of Olympic Games since 2004 not to have featured the revered jamaican sprinter usain bolt. For those of you who want to revisit his glory years, there is an acclaimed 2016 documentary called i am bolt. In london, matt floyd tracked down the films two directors to find out what you really need to do to make a compelling sports documentary. Youre an olympic three time running champion, its a good feeling. Two more to go, baby yeah i am bolt is the story of how the greatest sprinter of all time prepared for rio
2016, his final Olympic Games. Bolt was aiming to become the first person to win the 100 and 200 metre gold at three consecutive olympics but as he approached his 30th birthday, time and injuries were against him. Being undefeated in a championship is everything for me. The film was the brainchild of london based Production Company fulwell 73 and two film maker brothers gabe and ben turner, currently keeping busy during the pandemic filming a talk show for the bbc. They spent almost two years following the sporting icon, taking them from beijing to jamaica to rio. Youre trying to find storylines in there and follow your nose as to where the story is progressing, when you dont really know certainly with bolt until hes have run that race, you didnt know. The difference between him and winning his ninth gold medal or him losing is quite a different film. I would say that if youre
making a documentary, all you are trying to get is the stuff that they are not telling people because all of those sports stars have been media trained and they know how to talk to a camera and they know what to say and they will slip into the same mould, no matter who you are, unless you try and break that and say to them i am not that person. I want to know something else, it doesnt matter what else it is, but i want something else. And then i think its just about being there and being in the moment with them. It worries me at this point in my career now at a big stage that i still have issues motivating myself. During the film, bolt talks about his self doubt and struggles with motivation. For the directors, it was important to show this superhuman athlete had very human issues to deal with. As a film maker, we have to say no, no. You might think you not look great there but actually, by keeping that in when we get to the end point of the film, people are going to be on your side more. Trying to explain that to talent is quite hard. Some people understand that, bolt understood that quite better. The turner brothers,
like all film makers, are now having to adapt their way of working because of the pandemic. So how will the process of making a sports documentary change in the post covid world . In a way, shooting games could be easier because theres no one else there so you can get the angle you really want, because you can move the camera presumably in the stadium in empty stands where you want. So i dont think it will stop it. I think it will be challenging but it will be keeping with that. It might mine the archives a bit more. So you will have more than single interviews and lots of archived footage where youre following a team or sports franchise for 18 months. Interesting times ahead for the genre, and who knows . In the future, other film makers may want to revisit the career of one of the most recognisable athletes in history. Until then, thankfully, we have i am bolt. Im just happy this part of
this chapter is closed. At the Olympic Games, one of the most anticipated events is gymnastics. At the 2012 and 2016 games, the us womens team won gold medals, further strengthening americas reputation as a top competitor. But now, theres a documentary exploring disturbing aspects of the sport, involving sexual abuse. Tristan daley reports. With spectacles of death defying stunts and apparently heroic tumbling routines through career ending injuries, american gymnasts are forever etched into the memories of spectators of around the world. As a former competitive gymnast, the world depicted in this film is very familiar to me. Travelling to competitions and Training Camps and spending hour after hour in the gym, perfecting techniques to reach the next level. But athlete a shows another side of this life, and alleges that a culture of abuse at usa
womens gymnastics put gold medals and winning above all else. Even the protection of young girls. The documentary takes a look at a sinister problem in usa womens gymnastics, the organisation that trains and chooses which gymnast represent the United States in the summer Olympic Games. It became widely reported in 2017 that larry nassar, the doctor in charge of caring for these gymnasts, committed decades of abuse against a significant number of them. We wanted to establish that it went far beyond nassar. The film follows three main threads, survivors and speaking out about their sexual abuse, a small newspaper called the indy star working hard to break the story, and investigators and lawyers building a case against larry nassar and leadership at usa womens gymnastics that allegedly tried to suppress knowledge of his crimes. What we tried to do is essentially kind of spend time with every person who was a key link in the chain that ultimately led to, you know, the unravelling of the system and the exposure of nassar and the system that allowed him to get
away with it. Maggie nichols was an olympic hopeful in 2016, her coach overheard her talking about this behaviour of nassars and urged her to allow the coach to report that to usag and finally maggie agreed and they did so privately to usa gymnastics. As soon as that reporting happened, she was treated differently at events, the parents were treated differently. And of course, simultaneous with that, maggie does not make the 2016 olympic team. Now, we cant prove anything about why that happened, and we dont try and do so in the film, but the treatment of that family in the wake of her reporting nassar does make you raise an eyebrow about how this institution was treating their athletes. You are the president of usa gymnastics. If you receive a complaint of sexual misconduct, do you turn it over to local authorities . No. Usa gymnastics has now acknowledged that a subculture did exist within its ranks that enabled the horrific abuse of athletes. But under new leadership, there was a shift in focus to prioritise athlete wellbeing, they have also implemented what they call a safe sport policy to clearly define and prevent abuse, as well as make reporting misconduct mandatory. Jennifer sey, a former elite american gymnast and producer on athlete a, believes policy is important but real change in the sports will come from a grassroots level. I think this film is prompting a conversation that ive been hoping would happen for many years. I think parents are thinking about what can i do differently to make sure my child has a good experience in the sport . How do i make sure that sport does all the things it should do, build Healthy Minds and bodies, and that we dont lose sight of that. Thats the whole reason our kids and your support. And i hope that kids and Young Athletes watch it and say,
you know what, i have a voice. I can speak up when something doesnt look right. Not just for myself, but on behalf of somebody else. We have the power now. In india, one sport with a very close relationship to the movies is cricket, in more ways than one. Major bollywood figures like megastar Shah Rukh Khan owns cricket teams and indian film makers have an affinity for making movies in which cricket is a theme. Bollywood and cricket bring indians together. Bollywood is very, very popular. We love our films and we love cricket more than anything else. Those are two things that sort of unite indians, no matter what religion they belong to, no matter what political affiliations they might have. Cricket is the most popular sport in india and bollywood
has played a role in glamorising it recent years. The Indian Premier League founded in 2008 has teams owned by bollywood figures who regularly attend matches. Going back years, stars have had a key involvement lending their support to promotional videos for teams like the mumbai indians. Music bollywood stars tend to be a big draw, and so if they are doing something to promote cricket, or cricket in any case, that advertising really picks up. It generates a lot more interest if you have a bollywood star promoting it. And cricket, of course, has long been a theme in indian movies. The country has only had three films nominated in what was the oscars Foreign Language film category, and one of those, lagaan, released in 2001 had a cricket themed story. If they lose, which they will,
they will have to pay the queen three times the tax. It centres during the British Colonial period in the region where the british control. They are imposting taxes on these farmers, they are not able to pay the additional tax. And so when they go appeal to the british administrator, he makes a deal with them that he says, ill play a crickets game with you. If you guys win, then i will forgive you. The team of 11 villagers coming from different caste backgrounds, different religion backgrounds and how they get together. And no surprise, they do win against the british in the end. Some of indias cricket themed films peddle inspirational stories, tales of underdog triumph in which playing cricket enables a life to be transformed. Theres a film called iqbal thats a very inspiring film about a young muslim boy in a village who wants to become a cricket player. But hes deaf and dumb, so its something that probably would never happen in real life, i dont know, it would be very very hard, and how he joins the Cricket Academy and there are all these politics and then he sort of trains privately and manages to eventuallyjoin and become part of the Indian National team. Now, its, again, as i said, the chances of Something Like this happening, the plausibility is slim. But its done in such an honest, convincing way that that film, people loved. The audience loved it iqbal and critics loved it also. Gully boy, indias submission to the oscars last year. Now singhs appearing in a forthcoming cricket movie called 83, the story of indias cricket world cup victory in 1983. It was due for release in april
but its been postponed until later this year. Another film that if its a hit, will prove that indias love affair with the movies and with cricket continues. Online streaming platforms have now started to invest heavily in sports programming. With very little live sport on offer during the pandemic, the prevalence of sport docuseries online have helped fans get their regular fix. Matt floyd has been looking at their recent rise. Im going to tell you to go out and win, at any cost. While the sports docuseries is not exactly a new phenomenon, the soaring popularity of online streaming platforms has led to an explosion of fresh content. Suddenly, most big sports teams and star athletes have been sought after by film makers eager to tell their story. Oh, my goodness i am cursed with this mentality of competitiveness. The last dance tells the story of michaeljordan and his Chicago Bulls team as they dominated the nba in the 90s. It was a huge hit for espn and netflix, who co produced the eight part series. While beautifully made, it wasnt without some controversy, with jordans own Production Company also heavily involved, questions arose over whether the viewers were just getting one side of the story. Kids in particular are aware that all the stuff they see is branded content, which essentially this is. But at the same time, there is a fascinating thing, its still a work of art and you still see the unpleasant side ofjordan, unavoidably, because he is one of the hardest competitors imaginable. Not a good day for michaeljordan. Pippen is now demanding a trade. The issue of impartiality or lack of it is now one that crops up regularly with more teams and athletes trying to drive the narrative themselves by producing their own series. The big question is, does that mean you enjoy watching it any less . Think of who you represent. Amazons the test is a similar
case, it chronicles the australian cricket teams road to redemption after three of its players were banned for cheating in 2018. Like the last dance, it was co produced by the main subject of the series, in this case, australian crickets governing body. Strictly speaking, its cant be described as independent as a consequence of the way that it was brought together. In saying that, it felt like owing to the fact that they had inner sanctum access for so many hours and so many games and so many tours, that it wouldve been difficult to whitewash what was going on with the picture of australian cricket through that two year period. Football teams have also been at the forefront of the rise of docuseries. Perennial italian champions juventus and premier league side Manchester City are just
two of the teams who have let the cameras into their changing rooms. You must learn to play football with courage. My first born son, i decided to call niall after niall quinn. Perhaps an even better watch is sunderland till i die. It follows the ups and mainly downs of a formerly great football team, and unlike some other series, it feels as though very little is left out in the edits. Like any story though, it needs to tell you some kind of truth about the people involved and about character that you can relate to your own life. So if you end up making a show thats just a pr exercise fora club, its going to like that truth. Its not great to tap into something deeper thats going to make people really engage with what youre making. This Football Club is going to kill me. While sunderland till i die manages to maintain its journalistic integrity, and entertain at the same time, there are numerous docuseries that dont. However, these very same series are amongst the most popular out there right now. The moral of the story is if you have a gripping narrative and great access,
sports fans will watch. Well, that brings our talking movies sports special to a close. We hope youve enjoyed the show. Please remember, you can always reach us online. You can find us on facebook and twitter. So, from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies production team, its goodbye as we leave you with a clip from the 2016 film, race, in which the american sprinter jesse owens has a moment of triumph at the 1936 berlin Olympic Games. They will love you or they will hate you, does not matter. Because either way, when you are out there, youre on your own. Gun fires panting
kid, you did it, you did it i was slow off the mark. No, no, no, 9. 3 seconds. Thats a record, kid hello. After such a wet and windy start to the week, youd be forgiven for thinking that autumn had arrived early. So heres a sight for sore eyes. At the end of the week, summer fighting back. Temperatures widely in the mid to upper 20s, some into the low 30s, if you like that sort of thing. But one day doesnt make a heatwave. The heat will be outjust as soon as it arrives. But it will arrive, as High Pressures builds in. Turning wind from a northerly to a south easterly at the end of the week, a flow of the air, some heat from the south, but very briefly indeed. And were not there yet. In fact, for tuesday it will be another rather cool day for the time of year. Itll be a blustery one, as well. Therell be some sunshine occasionally. Thats an improvement
on what many of us had on monday, but there will be some showers, too. And a few from the word go and some single figures. With low pressure close to north east scotland, its here into the far north east of the mainland, more into the northern isles, it will be wet at times with some strong north westerly winds. A few showers and scotland running through north west england may affect the cricket at times. Into parts of wales and the midlands, but many parts of england and wales and Northern Ireland bar the odd shower will stay largely dry. Some sunny spells with this gusty wind. It does mean, though, if you get a shower, it will move through quite quickly on the wind. Some up to 20. Most of us will fall several degrees short of that. The wind eases a touch on tuesday night. We will continue with at least showers into the north east of scotland. Some rain still into the northern isles. And as for temperatures, well, a little bit lower as we start the day on wednesday. A day that sees High Pressure building in. The low pressure moving off towards scandinavia. Still quite windy, though, in the northern isles. These weather fronts get closer to Western Areas with a bit
more cloud around. So a mixture of cloud and sunshine on wednesday. Some showers towards the northern isles, northern scotland, the odd one elsewhere is possible. Increasing cloud to the west will bring a bit of patchy rain to parts of wales, maybe Northern Ireland later in the day. And temperatures, though, are a little bit higher on wednesday. And of course, that is a sign of things to come. A bit of rain for parts of Northern Ireland and scotland. Abundant sunshine on friday, with the heat. But again, as i mentioned earlier, its very short lived as temperatures come down for all at the weekend. Number of them. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. My name is mike embley. Our top stories as the number of confirmed covid 19 cases passes 16 million, the World Health Organization calls it the most severe emergency they have ever faced. And the pandemic continues to accelerate. In the past six weeks, the total number of cases has roughly doubled. Spains Prime Minister strongly criticises the uks decision to impose a quarantine on everyone arriving from his country. Health workers in brazil, one of the worst affected countries, accuse the government of crimes against humanity, calling for an international investigation. Uproar in france as the
government announces a ban on our door heaters in cafes and