Archive on 4 - Sport on Film

Colin Shindler is a film writer and passionate sports fan and he's still convinced that it's possible to marry the two obsessions on the big screen. However the archive is littered with gallant and some not so gallant failures amidst the few dazzling chariots of fire. Just this year we've had Invictus, recreating the success of the South African Rugby team and the relationship between their captain Francois Pienaar and President Mandela as well as The Damned United and the story of Brian Clough's fall from grace at the hands of the then mighty Leeds United. Colin has plans for a cricketing film but as he prepares his new screenplay Colin looks at some of the reasons sport gets tripped up by the requirements of film and he talks to people who've had some success as performers, producers and directors in taking what can be taken from sport and making it dramatic, compelling and yet never losing sight of the need to produce an engaging story and engaging characters. Lord Putnham, Hugh Hudson, Michael Sheen, Rachel Portman and the former England cricketer Mike Selvey offer up advice and help Colin make sense of the archival lessons about sport in film. Producer: Tom Alban.