26/10/2009

Available for over a year

Your daily journey into global arts, culture and entertainment, with Harriett Gilbert. Agora Alejandro Amenabar's latest film Agora has taken 15 million euros at the box office in Spain making it the country's biggest opening film this year. Starring Rachel Weisz and Max Minghella, it tells the story of Hypatia, a brilliant astronomer and mathematician working in a man's world in 4th century A.D. Egypt. We talk to Chris Evans of Screen International to see if the film is worthy of the box office figures. Alice Munro Alice Munro is one of Canada's most revered and internationally recognised authors but it is rare that she gives interviews. Last week at Toronto's International Festival of Authors she revealed that she has recently been treated for cancer. And, at the same event, she gave a special interview to the Canadian Literature expert Noah Richler, which he recorded for The Strand. Endgame One of the least well-known aspects of the ending of Apartheid in South Africa was the role played by a British businessman working for a gold mining company. Michael Young brokered extraordinary, and secret, talks between the ANC's Thabo Mbeki and the South African establishment, bringing the two parties together to negotiate. And this is the subject of a new film "endgame" which now gets its US release. Muhtar Bakare We interview one of Nigeria's leading publishers following the news that this year one of the country's principal literary prizes will not be awarded as the judges decided none of the shortlisted works were good enough.