Alan Yentob presents a film exploring the life and work of the Ivor Novello Award-winning black British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. An enigmatic and reclusive talent, Siffre wrote the song It Must Be Love, later covered by Madness, alongside songs of defiance like the classic anti-apartheid anthem (Something Inside) So Strong. In a highly unusual and uncompromising creative life, Siffre has produced nine albums to date – a somewhat overlooked back catalogue whose range and quality is nothing short of extraordinary. His hugely impressive body of work has in recent years also proved rich territory for an array of hip-hop heavyweights with Dr Dre and Eminem, Jay Z and Kanye West all discovering and sampling his music, bringing it to an entirely new generation of listeners around the world. \n\nNow in his seventies, in the first major documentary film Siffre has ever agreed to, he welcomes Alan Yentob into his home in Spain and opens up about his personal life as a gay man, his music and his broader artistic philosophy in a thought-provoking and moving encounter. After almost two decades away from music and performance, and after much personal tragedy, he is now writing once again. For the very first time on television he performs intimate versions of two new songs in his home studio, alongside new performances of It Must Be Love, My Song and (Something Inside) So Strong, with wonderful archive from across the decades including Crying, Laughing, Lying, Loving and I Got The...
Source: BBC 4
2021: Kazuo Ishiguro: Remembering And Forgetting
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13-03-2025
BBC 4
2024/25: The Academy Of Armando
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BBC 4
Vincent Van Gogh: Painted With Words
Drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as Van Gogh. \n\nEvery word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters ...
15-10-2024
BBC 4
2019: 3. Bill Viola: The Road To St Paul's
Bill Viola is renowned the world over as a pioneer of video art. As the Royal Academy in London mounts a major exhibition of his vast and immersive installations, alongside work ...
04-08-2024
BBC 4
2019: 4. Edna O'brien: Fearful And Fearless
Edna O’Brien is one of the greatest literary talents and rule breakers of her generation. In 1960, her revolutionary debut novel ‘The Country Girls’ broke down ...
29-07-2024
BBC 4
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Stevan Riley's award-winning documentary Listen to Me Marlon uses hundreds of hours of Marlon Brando's own archival audio tapes and home movie footage, combined with excerpts fr ...
06-07-2024
BBC 4
Winter 2017/18: 5. Ingrid Bergman In Her Own Words
Widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses of the 20th century, Ingrid Bergman's talent was matched only by her incandescent screen presence. From her infamous performance ...
16-06-2024
BBC 4
Winter 2012: 1. Ian Rankin And The Case Of The Disappearing Detective
Britain's most successful crime writer, Ian Rankin, invites imagine... to get up close and personal and follow him as he writes his next novel. \n\nMaverick cop DI John Rebus pr ...
15-06-2024
BBC 4
2022: 2. Labi Siffre: This Is My Song
Alan Yentob presents a film exploring the life and work of the Ivor Novello Award-winning black British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. An enigmatic and reclusive talent, Siffre ...
14-02-2022
BBC 4
2018: Becoming Cary Grant
Cary Grant was one of Hollywood's greatest leading men - suave, sophisticated and as comfortable in romantic comedies as he was in iconic Hitchcock thrillers. imagine...Becoming ...
12-05-2022
BBC 4
Summer 2014 - Rio 50 Degrees: Carry On Carioca
As Brazil prepares to host the Fifa World Cup this summer and the Olympic Games in 2016, imagine... explores the cultural and social history of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
18-05-2014
BBC 4
Winter 2012: 1. Ian Rankin And The Case Of The Disappearing Detective
Britain's most successful crime writer, Ian Rankin, invites imagine... to get up close and personal and follow him as he writes his next novel. \n\nMaverick cop DI John Rebus pr ...
15-06-2024
BBC 4
2024/25: The Academy Of Armando
Alan Yentob profiles the stellar career of one of the great satirists of our age, Armando Iannucci, whose impressive body of work includes The Day Today, The Thick of It, Veep, ...
12-03-2025
BBC 4