by Chris Hewitt |
08 01 2021
We re back! Despite popular demand, the Empire Podcast returns, refreshed after its Christmas break, and ready to tackle 2021. Or, at the very least, trip up 2021 when it isn t looking.
In the first episode of the year, Chris Hewitt, Helen O Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis discuss what they got up to over the long break, and their favourite film-related Christmas presents. They also play another round of The Three Fact Structure, answer listener questions, discuss the latest movie news, and review
Sylvie s Love,
Pieces Of A Woman, and
We Can Be Heroes. Oh, and they play a brand new quiz Wolff or Wolff that will soon be sweeping the nation. Sweeping!
“Kicking off with the online events that feature guests such as Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, and then bringing hugely diverse screenings out of cinemas and into communities means we can reach out to everyone as there’s sure to be something they will enjoy.”
When the first lockdown was announced back in March 2020, the team behind Cambridge Film Festival feared the 40th edition of CFF would not go ahead.
They immediately got to work to save the festival and to ensure that film lovers would continue to have access to movies that were not available via other platforms.
First came a partnership with three other UK film Festivals to produce AMPLIFY!, a virtual film festival that ran throughout November 2020 and attracted an audience of over 15,000, not just from Cambridgeshire but across the UK.
Who are we? What interests us, in this age of plague? To understand the world today, let s look at the non-fiction books coming in 2021. A pattern of transformation runs through next year s non-fiction releases: the pandemic has changed the human race. We have new priorities and a different perspective. Where do we go from here?
Feminist titles focus on the power of female independent living; and writers on race look at harnessing the energy of the Black Lives Matter movement to turn protest into progress. Working-class voices rise.
Parenting gets a reality check, with new releases providing the unvarnished truth, and mental health books have a no-nonsense edge in challenging times. Other themes in 2021 are the internet, medicine, women s histories, nature, Northern Ireland, and the fight for Irish independence.