Glenda has just won a British BAFTA award (the British Oscars) for best actress.  This goes alongside her two Oscars (one for Ken's Women in Love), a Tony Award and another BAFTA (from 1972).

Because of Corona all the nominees had to record an acceptance speech in advance, before knowing whether they had won.  Glenda is such a good actress her recorded speech made it sound like she had just heard she had won and was surprised.

White Bear hosts a workshop; 'Adventures in Pinterland' all about working with Pinter and his body of work.

The workshop is run by Harry Burton, who directed a film for Channel 4 called 'Working with Pinter' and also directed The Dumb Waiter on the West End, starring Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs.

It takes place on 29 Jul 2020.  White Bear Productions say "If you are interested, please contact us at whitebearzoom@gmail.com and let us know your name and a couple of lines about why this workshop would be useful to you at this time.
The workshop will be Pay What You Can."

Kulturekast presents podcasts about films, not very profound, but always nice to hear film talk.

Three of Ken's films Lisztomania, Whore and The Lair of the White Worm, The Devils (an interesting and quirky selection).  Most are over an hour each.

Other films include Spielberg's early failure 1941, some Kubrick- The Killing, Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon, various Stephen King and Star Wars films, some horror.

Click here
https://podcasts.apple.com/mk/podcast/whore/id931361376?i=1000479820275
then chose Apple Podcasts.

London's New Scene: Art and Culture in the 1960s by Lisa Tickner just arrived.

414 large pages, heavily illustrated, this is a comprehensive book on 60s art. The first chapter (35 pages) cover Ken's Pop Goes the Easel others cover sculpture, the art school revolution and photography making use of Antonio's film Blow Up.

I have skimmed the book (in the hour after it arrived!).

The introduction is thoughtful, and also brings in Ken's London Moods, with a good 1966 photo of Ken.  It quotes photographer Lord Snowdon on the film "really marvellous and tremendously exciting".

On Pop Goes the Easel it mentions Ken approached Hockney to appear as one of the artists in the film, but Hockney refused "Hockney did not see himself as part of a group or having a significant connection to Pop".

The book quotes Michael Brooke comparing Ken's "elaborate, rapidly-cut rhythmic kaleidoscope of images" to Jean-Luc Goddard "though Russell had arguably gone further by 1962".

In the later section on Blow-Up by Antonioni there is a quote by Melvyn Bragg "There is no doubt that Antonioni lifted his famous 'blow-up' sequence from the central section of Ken's film [Watch the Birdie]".

This is all from a quick skim of the book!

The BBC have a spoof documentary about Spandau Ballet members Gary and Martin Kemp called The Kemps All True.  It features the two Kemp brothers making fun of themselves, and their fictional childhood included appearing in a Children's Film Foundation film Hide and Seek.  This is a children's film but when the director withdrew Ken Russell was brought in, making it the only children's film with an x-certificate and the best selling children's film.

Quite a good film, especially with the Kemps driving it.  Directed by Rhys Thomas.

You can see the film here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p087qvkf/the-kemps-all-true