Front Row

The Cuban American conductor Odaline de la Martinez talks about this year's London Festival of American Music in which she showcases the music of women and African American composers who are unjustly overlooked. She also tells Samira about the premiere of the third part of her own opera trilogy Imoinda: A story of Love and HateAnna Paquin stars as a disaster PR tasked with clearing up the scandals of high profile celebrities in new drama Flack. Anna Leszkiewicz reviews the show which is UKTV’s first original drama commission.The journalistic bravery of Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy in Syria has recently been depicted on the big screen in the feature film A Private War and the documentary Under the Wire. But now that the witnesses to war can easily publish pictures from their phones in social media and on the news, has the role of the war photographer changed? Samira is joined by Paul and fellow photographer Anastasia Taylor-Lind to discuss the role of modern war photography.Iain Lee looks at the life of Monkees bass player Peter TorkPresenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Harry ParkerMain image: Odaline de la Martinez

Felicity Jones discusses her new film On the Basis of Sex, in which she plays Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the American Supreme Court Judge who rose to prominence as a lawyer in landmark cases against gender discrimination. Vue, one of the UK’s biggest cinema chains, has threatened to boycott the Baftas after the film Roma, which they describe as a ‘made for TV’ film, won four awards including Best Film. John is joined by Vue’s chief executive Tim Richards, who has written an open letter to Bafta,.As Steve Coogan’s awkwardly hilarious creation Alan Partridge returns for a new series called This Time With Alan Partridge, critic Julia Raeside delivers her verdict.Performance artist Marina Abramović presents her new mixed reality artwork, a wearable augmented experience involving VR headsets which produce an image of Marina in the room. John talks to Marina and her collaborator Todd Eckert about the future artistic possibilities of the VR technology. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser

The directorial debut of Oscar -winning actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor,is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Airing on Netflix, adapted from a bestselling novel of the same name Ejiofor also stars as the father. This true story follows the young boy William as he races to save his village from a devastating famine, with a wind turbine he was inspired to build after reading a library book.Come From Away is the hit Broadway musical which tells the remarkable story of the thousands of airline passengers diverted to a tiny Canadian town following 9/11 and stranded there for several days. Sam Marlowe reviews the UK premiere.Fashion historian Amber Butchart pays tribute to iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Known as “the king” by fashion insiders, Lagerfeld was the Creative Director of the fashion house Chanel for more than thirty years where his artistic flair combined with his business acumen led to sales reaching £7.7 billion in 2017. Two short story competitions - the National Short Story Award and 500 Words - are currently open for submissions. We get an insight from the judges on how to write a great short story. Cynan Jones judge and former winner of the BBC National Short Story Award and Francesca Simon; author of the Horrid Henry books tell Kirsty what Radio 2's short story-writing competition for children and the NSSA are looking for.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver JonesMain image: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Maxwell Simba Photo credit: Ilze Kitshoff, Netflix

9 to 5 is Dolly Parton’s stage musical based on the 1980 film, in which she starred, about three female office workers getting revenge on their misogynist boss. The songs were written by Dolly Parton and she narrates the story via television screens across the stage. Sarah Crompton reviews. Performance artist, comedian, musician and activist Bryony Kimmings talks about her new autobiographical show I’m a Phoenix, Bitch and explains why she chooses to create pieces about taboo and difficult subject matter including STIs, sex clinics, and cancer.Is there more sex than ever on TV, in books and on stage now? Has #MeToo, access to pornography online and a desire to appeal to younger audiences changed how, and how much, sex is represented in culture? Katy Guest considers books, Louis Wise looks at screen and Bryony Kimmings reports on the performing arts.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Edwina Pitman

Roma, the black and white Mexican film about a young domestic worker in Mexico City in the 1970s, won Best Film at the Baftas on Sunday and is up for the same at the Oscars. The film’s producer, Gabriela Rodriguez, talks about the background to director Alfonso Cuarón’s personal project which draws on his own childhood, and discusses their working relationship. The death has been announced of the acclaimed author Andrea Levy. Her fiction, including the Orange Prize-winning Small Island and the Man Booker-longlisted and recently televised The Long Song, chronicled the experience of generations from the Caribbean who lived through slavery and emigration. Her friend and fellow writer Louise Doughty pays tribute. The architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw’s buildings include the Eden Project, the International Terminal at Waterloo Station and the National Space Centre in Leicester. He is one of a group of architects including Terry Farrell, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster who became the leading architects of the late 20th century not just in Britain but around the world. He discusses his long career in the week that he's been awarded the 2019 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah JohnsonMain image: Roma Photo credit: Netflix

Irish comedian Ardal O’Hanlon is best-known for roles in Father Ted, My Hero and currently Death in Paradise, but he started out as a stand-up comic in 80s Dublin. As he embarks on a nationwide solo tour, Samira talks to Ardal about the role of politics in his life and work and breaking free from being typecast.Novelist Tessa Hadley is praised for her psychological insight, her nuance, and her precision. In her new book Late in the Day she turns her sharp eye to the impact of the unexpected death of one man on his family and close friends. The Umbrella Academy, the new Netflix series about a family of superheroes, stars Ellen Page and Mary J Blige and is written by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. Michael Leader from Film4 Online reviews.And to mark Valentine's Day we discuss favourite romantic works of art. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser

French-Moroccan novelist Leila Slimani caused a sensation in France with her novel Lullaby about a nanny who murders the two children in her care, which won the Prix Goncourt and became a bestseller in the UK. As her first novel, Adèle, is published in the UK for the first time, she discusses the book's contentious storyline about a married woman with an addiction to having sex with strangers.Diane Arbus is viewed by many as one of the most influential female photographers of her generation. Curator Jeff Rosenheim discusses Diane Arbus: In the Beginning at the Hayward Gallery in London, which charts the formative first half of her career where she discovered the majority of her subjects in New York City, depicting children, strippers and carnival performers. Attack the Block director Joe Cornish discusses The Kid Who Would Be King, his Arthurian fantasy set in a modern-day secondary school.Tim Robey reports from the Berlin International Film Festival as it draws towards its close. Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Jerome WeatheraldMain image: Leila Slimani Photo credit: Catherine Hélie ©Editions Gallimard

It was in Manchester in 2013 that Anna Jordan won the Bruntwood Prize, the UK’s biggest national competition for new plays. She’s now back in the city with her new adaptation of a stage classic – Mother Courage. Bertolt Brecht set his play in 17th century Europe during the Thirty Years’ War but Jordan has moved the story into the future. It’s 2080, and Europe no longer exists, the countries have been replaced by a grid system with individuals struggling to survive between the warring factions.Six-time Grammy-winning composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard has written the music for all of Spike Lee’s films since Jungle Fever in 1991, and this year he was nominated for a Bafta and an Oscar for his original score for Lee’s latest, BlacKkKlansman. The composer discusses his approach to his film music, and the challenge of writing the soundtrack for When the Levees Broke, Spike Lee’s 2006 documentary about the devastation of Blanchard’s home town of New Orleans.The success of Get Out at last year’s film awards gave many horror fans a sense that the genre was finally getting the attention it deserved when it came to the big prizes. But that hope has been dashed as once again, horror has failed to be included in any of the high profile categories in awards such as the Oscars and the BAFTAs. Actor and writer Jacob Trussell, horror film and music producer Mariam Draeger, and critic Gavia Baker Whitelaw discuss why horror should be getting more prizes at the big film awards.

Comedian Sara Pascoe talks about her latest stand-up show Lads, Lads, Lads and its evolution from being about her relationship break-up to being happy a single woman. Also what's it like sharing such personal experiences in front of thousands of people? And how has the situation changed for women in comedy since she started out?There are Baftas and Oscars for Best Hair & Make Up and an Olivier Award for Best Costume Design. But hitherto there's been no award for the people whose job is maybe most crucial to any theatre, film or television production: casting directors. So the Casting Directors’ Guild decided to create their own and on Tuesday the inaugural UK Casting Awards will throw some glitter on these Cinderellas. Three of the country's top casting directors, Julia Horan (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Lucinda Syson (Wonder Woman) and Victor Jenkins (Troy: Fall of a City) explain what they actually do, how they find new talent, and whether or not casting directors are a progressive force, opening the gates, or guarding them.Country music star Kacey Musgraves came out on top in four categories at Sunday's Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. But with even the Grammy’s misspelling her name during the ceremony, we thought we ought to find out: who is Kacey Musgraves?Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Oliver JonesMain image: Sara Pascoe Photo credit: Matt Crockett

This weekend sees the announcement of the winners of this year's Baftas - the British Academy Film Awards - and Stig talks to two of the stars in London for the event. Director Spike Lee attracted a great deal of attention with his first feature She's Gotta Have It in 1986, yet despite his later films including Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X and Summer of Sam, he was never nominated in the director category for either the Oscars or the Baftas. But this year he is in the running at both events for his latest film BlacKkKlansman, the true story of a black police officer infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. Spike Lee discusses the film which is Bafta-nominated for Best Director, Best Film, and Best Adapted Screenplay.Oscar-winner Thelma Schoonmaker has been editing the films of Martin Scorsese for over five decades including Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street. This Sunday she will receive the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' highest accolade, the BAFTA Fellowship. She looks back at her career and their extraordinary partnership.And we remember the stage and screen actor Albert Finney, whose death was announced today. Finney's notable roles included the films Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Tom Jones, and he won a Bafta for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the TV film The Gathering Storm. The film's director Richard Loncraine looks back at Albert Finney's career.Presenter Stig Abell Producer Jerome Weatherald