It is unprecedented for an artist to be exhibited simultaneously in three of London's leading galleries, each one exploring a different theme: landscape, portraiture and still life. But that is the accolade bestowed on the internationally renowned British artist Tacita Dean.\n\nThe granddaughter of Basil Dean, who founded Ealing Studios, she is celebrated for her works on analogue film which include beguiling portraits of figures she admires, enigmatic stories and painterly meditations on light.\n\nAlan Yentob joins Tacita Dean in her studio in Berlin to discover how the city has infused her work, and visits her in LA where she is completing an hour-long film inspired by her older sister Antigone and the Greek myth which bears her name. Her work is poetic, elegiac, and thought-provoking. It is also the story of her crusade to preserve the medium which inspires her - film.
Source: BBC 4
2020: This House Is Full Of Music
In its first remote-access film, imagine... offers a unique and intimate portrait of an exceptionally gifted musical family in lockdown – the Kanneh-Masons. In 2016, celli ...
22-06-2025
BBC 4
David Bowie: Cracked Actor
To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the ...
08-06-2025
BBC 4
Winter 2017/18: 2. Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical Young Frankenstein opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Holl ...
08-06-2025
BBC 4
2021: Tom Stoppard: A Charmed Life
Tom Stoppard is perhaps the world’s leading, funniest and cleverest playwright. Ever since he hit the ground running in the 1960s with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dea ...
08-06-2025
BBC 4
2021: Bernardine Evaristo: Never Give Up
Alan Yentob explores the remarkable life and work of the trailblazing Anglo-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo, whose Booker Prize-winning novel Girl, Woman, Other has become a ...
03-06-2025
BBC 4
Summer 2003: 2. Barbara Hepworth: Shapes Out Of Feelings
A profile of Barbara Hepworth, the world's first internationally celebrated woman sculptor. Born in Yorkshire in 1903, she had to fight to establish herself in a world dominated ...
20-05-2025
BBC 4
Winter 2017/18: 6. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Memories
Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over musical theatre for nearly five decades and delighted millions worldwide with hit shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phanto ...
18-05-2025
BBC 4
Summer 2009: 2. David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, this documentary captures the return from California of England's favourite living artist.\n\nAs Hockney approaches the age of ...
06-05-2025
BBC 4
Winter 2017/18: 4. Philip Pullman: Angels And Daemons
Romantic, fearless, fantastical; this edition delves into the thrilling world of Philip Pullman and explores the author's own dark materials. \n\nPullman has been named both one ...
03-11-2019
BBC 4
2023: 1. Stephen Frears: Director For Hire
imagine… profiles acclaimed British director Stephen Frears. Despite decades of success across both cinema and television, Frears likes to fly under the radar, subscribin ...
23-03-2023
BBC 4
Summer 2017: 1. Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures
An unflinching and uncompromising portrait of one of the most controversial photographers.
29-07-2017
BBC 4
2021: We'll Be Back?
Alan Yentob explores the huge ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK's pioneering and world-renowned performing arts industry. \n\nDrawing on footage captured through ...
24-02-2021
BBC 4
2020: Marina Abramovic: The Ugly Duckling
Marina Abramovic is the reigning queen of performance art. She invites Alan Yentob into her home, opens up her enormous personal archive and travels back to her birthplace, Belg ...
25-09-2023
BBC 4