The Screening Room

SHOW #8

British Cinema

British cinema has long been known around the world for its historical dramas, its unique sense of humor and James Bond. Directors such as David Lean will be remembered for epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, which gathered seven Oscars, Sir Richard Attenborough with eight Oscars for his masterpiece "Gandhi." But that was a quarter of a century ago.

In the decades which followed, there was been no bigger British brand than Bond - until a new hero emerged in the unlikely shape of a schoolboy wizard named Harry Potter and a new bond was formed - one between film fans and devotees of the books of JK Rowling. The first five Harry Potter films have grossed 4.5 billion dollars at the box office and all five are in the top 20 biggest money-makers of all time.

Since the 90s, British humor has enjoyed an international audience, with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones carried abroad by quintessential Englishman Hugh Grant.

Yet not all in the garden is rosy. Filmmakers complain loudly that the tax breaks offered in Britain make it hard to compete with other countries, the strength of the British pound against the dollar make the cost of using British expertise and facilities very expensive and the lack of British films in competition at Cannes this year - despite the presence of British director Stephen Frears as head of the jury - indicated a lack of creative output too.

Roll on a mere four months and on the surface the picture looks very different. The summer's biggest blockbusters - Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean - have both propelled their predominantly British casts into the spotlight once more, new films by directors David Cronenberg and Woody Allen are set and shot in London, Queen Elizabeth is enjoying a new Golden Age, and above all, the adulation for "Atonement" pouring from the pens of the film critics in Venice and Toronto for a quintessentially British film has raised the perennial hope of home-grown success at the Oscars.

This month, Myleene Klass takes her position on the red carpet to meet Robert Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep at the world premiere of "Lions for Lambs" at London Film Festival.

From Harry Potter to Miss Potter, Bond to Borat and Atonement to Zulu, The Screening Room brings you an A-Z of an industry which commands global respect - but sometimes falls short of the success deserved by some of the most skilled craftsmen and women in the cinematic art.

- Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and director Joe Wright talk about the movie of the moment: "Atonement."

- Michael Caine, Jude Law and Kenneth Branagh explain how Harold Pinter's screenplay transformed the remake of "Sleuth."

- Ken Loach, Stephen Frears and Ken Russell lead a host of talented British directors giving their views on British cinema - good and bad.

- Daniel Radcliffe and the Harry Potter crew stir the cauldron on the magic of young British acting talent.