Front Row

The Chancellor today pledged £7.6million to save the stately home Wentworth Woodhouse, for the nation. Campaigner Simon Jenkins explains the significance of Britain's largest private home.In a rare interview, the artist Anselm Kiefer discusses his new exhibition Walhalla, which features a dimly-lit, lead-lined dormitory full of lead sheets and pillows, and a series of large-scale new paintings covered in molten metal. Chi-raq is Spike Lee's latest film set in a black suburb of Chicago, where two rival gangs are at war. A musical drama, the film is a contemporary take on the Aristophanes' Lysistrata. Ekow Eshun reviews.Nice Fish is a comic play written by Mark Rylance based on the poems of Louis Jenkins. He describes why he set it on a frozen Minnesota lake and director Claire van Kampen talks about the challenges that presents for the stage.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Edwina Pitman.

Adam Driver played Lena Dunham's love interest in Girls, and Han Solo and Princess Leia's evil son in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The actor discusses his latest role as a poetry-writing bus driver in Jim Jarmusch's new film Paterson. Front Row reveals this year's Costa Book Awards shortlists. Critics Alex Clark and Toby Lichtig comment on the writers chosen in the five categories: novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's fiction.Nearly a decade after the finale of the popular family TV series Gilmore Girls, Netflix has revived the drama in four extended 90-minute episodes. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life reunites the cast with the show's creator and original writer Amy Sherman-Palladino, who had been absent for its final season. Rachel Cooke of The Guardian gives her verdict.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald.

We celebrate the life and work of the award winning writer William Trevor, renowned for his short stories and novels. His editor, Tony Lacey, and poet Paul Muldoon pay tribute.Novelist and essayist, Zadie Smith (White Teeth, On Beauty, NW) talks to Kirsty about black and white musicals, childhood friendships, and dancing, as she discusses her new novel, Swing Time.Tim Robey reviews Robert Zemeckis' romantic thriller Allied, which stars Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard as two World War II spies who fall in love while on undercover assignment in Casablanca. Lucy Kirkwood, who's 2013 play Chimerica launched her as a playwright to watch, returns to the stage with The Children. It focuses on three retired nuclear physicists living under the shadow of a disaster in their former workplace. Kirsty Lang speaks to Lucy about the play and about our responsibility to the generations to come. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

Actor Ed Harris, star of The Right Stuff, The Truman Show and Westworld, on making his West End debut in Buried Child, Sam Shepard's play which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979, at a time of economic decline in the US when rural people felt forgotten. As choirs of children and young people around the world sing today to mark Benjamin Britten's birthday, Jonathan Dove on the 12 new songs he's written for the annual event, Friday Afternoons.Jan Patience, arts writer for The Herald, and Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery discuss Sir Edwin Landseer's 1851 painting The Monarch of the Glen. Its owners, the drink giant Diageo, had planned to put the painting up for auction but has agreed to gift half the value of the painting, provided the National Galleries of Scotland can raise £4m in four months. Gavin Turk discusses his first major solo exhibition since 2002, showcasing works from throughout his career, from the life-sized wax figure of Gavin as Sid Vicious to the dirty sleeping

The inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture recognises a UK-based artist who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture. Vying for the prize are four artists: Helen Marten, Phyllida Barlow, Stephen Claydon and David Medalla. Their work featuring household junk, hammocks, foam bubbles, magnetised pennies and paintings suggests sculpture is a broad church these days. Front Row announces the winner.16 years after the £21m New Art Gallery Walsall opened its doors, which has also served as a catalyst for the regeneration of the Midlands town, the council is about to withdraw 100% of its funding, which will most likely lead to the gallery's closure. Its director Stephen Snoddy speaks out about the challenges the gallery faces and what the implications of the closure would be for the area.The director of Northern Ireland Opera, Oliver Mears, discusses his forthcoming production of Don Giovanni, set on a cruise ship in the 1960s, and, as he prepares to take up the role of Director

Internationally-acclaimed writer Paulo Coelho discusses his new novel The Spy, based on the life of the dancer Mata Hari. Coelho is best-known for The Alchemist, an allegorical novel about a young shepherd boy, first published in 1988, which has now sold more than 65m copies worldwide. Your Name is the latest Japanese anime film to attract large global audiences, and is written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, regarded by many as the successor to Studio Ghibli's legendary Hayao Miyazaki. The film, about a teenage boy and girl who wake up and find themselves living in the other's body, is reviewed by Larushka Ivan-Zadeh.Last night the lawyer Philippe Sands won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. His book, East West Street, explores the origins of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide as concepts but it is also a detective story and a thriller. To discuss the art of writing non-fiction, Philippe Sands is joined by Cathy Rentzenbrink who wrote The Last Act of Love, a memoir about her late brother who was se

Front Row - Paulo Coelho, Your Name, Turner Contemporary, the art of writing non-fiction

David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike discuss A United Kingdom, a new film which tells the true story of Seretse Khama, the future King of Bechuanaland, and Ruth Williams, a clerk from South London. When they married in 1948 they not only faced fierce opposition from both of their families but from the British and South African governments. It had been claimed that the lost sketchbook from Van Gogh's time in Arles, France, has been discovered. However, in a statement released this afternoon, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has said they are of the opinion that these sketches 'could not be attributed to Vincent van Gogh'. We talk to the museum and the expert behind the 'discovery'.Cape Town City Ballet, the oldest ballet company in South Africa, has been resident at Cape Town University for eight decades. It's now caught in the long-running student protests for decolonisation of the curriculum. With the university deciding not to renew the company's lease, Gerard Samuel, Director of the School of Dance at Cape Town

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of Harry Potter author JK Rowling. The film tells the tale of magizoologist Newt Scamandar and his menagerie of fantastical creatures which are accidentally set free in 1920s New York, a place riven with political turmoil and persecution of the magical community. Producer David Heyman, who produced all eight of the Harry Potter films, and director David Yates, who helmed the final four of the franchise, discuss the latest instalment from the Potter universe. Divines, the debut movie from female French director Houda Benyamina won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes this year. Ginette Vincendeau reviews the drama that, 20 years after La Haine, takes place in a rough Parisian housing estate and focuses on the women's experience of drugs, power, crime and religion.It's almost 40 years since the Sex Pistol's released their landmark album Anarchy in the UK. The band's guitarist Steve Jones discusses his new autobiography Lonely Boy, which charts how punk

With news of the death of Leonard Cohen at the age of 82, we broadcast a rare interview the singer-songwriter did with Front Row in 2007, on a visit to Manchester for the opening of an exhibition of his art.To mark Armistice Day, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, artistic directors of the all-male dance troupe BalletBoyz, discuss Young Men, the film of their stage production which explores the soldiers' experience of the First World War, and why they felt it was important to shoot the film in the cold, rain and mud on location in northern France.And poetry from the battlefield. When we use the term 'war poet' we immediately think of WWI but what about verse inspired by more recent conflict? How do contemporary war poets compare to the likes of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke and Isaac Rosenberg? American Iraq War veteran and poet Kevin Powers, and Radio 4's poet-in-residence Daljit Nagra, discuss modern war poetry.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Ella-mai Robey.

Published in 2012, Zadie Smith's postcode-named novel NW was seen as a lyrical love letter to north-west London. This contemporary tale of the entwined lives of four Londoners has now been adapted for television. Critic Gaylene Gould reviews.Roger Bowdler of Historic England reveals its mission to get 2,500 war memorials listed by November 2018. He announces 50, and another nine by the controversial sculptor Eric Gill, and discusses what a war memorial can reveal about its location and the people it's dedicated to. Norman Ackroyd is widely considered one of Britain's great landscape artists. As a young man in the 1960s he rejected the lure of pop art and devoted his energy to capturing the coastline of Britain in black and white etchings. As his work goes on show in Norman Ackroyd: Just Be A Poet, he invites us to his studio to see how he works.For its 90th birthday, Rambert is performing Haydn's The Creation with 100 dancers, musicians and singers. Artistic director Mark Baldwin discusses this new work as we

Lord Lloyd Webber discusses joining forces with Downton creator Julian Fellowes and a cast of 39 children for his new stage adaptation of the Jack Black film School of Rock. He tells Samira how he hopes the production will serve as a reminder of how important the arts are in education.Actor Ewan McGregor talks about adapting Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, American Pastoral, in his directorial debut and why he's returning to the role of Renton, 20 years on from Trainspotting.Elton John owns one of the best photography collections in the world and now he's loaned some of them to the Tate Modern in London. The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography includes Man Ray's Glass Tears, Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother and Edward Weston's portrait of Igor Stravinsky. Newell Harbin, Sir Elton John's curator, shows us around.The Goldsmiths Prize was established three years ago to recognise fiction that breaks the mould or opens up new possibilities for the novel. Previous winners have included Eimear McBride's A

The North East of England's Case for Culture is a bold plan to raise £300 million for art projects. Instead of being an adjunct to development culture is seen as the key to the region's redevelopment. But only a few years ago Newcastle cut its arts budget entirely. Organisations are exploring new ways of working. Jim Beirne of Live Theatre takes John Wilson to the pub the theatre runs, the profits of which pay for a new play every year. It also owns restaurants and prime office space, to fund its theatre and outreach projects. The Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell has just launched a new organisation, Magnetic North East, to foster the identity, music and traditions of the North East. It has released an album of songs and tunes, new and old, about the River Tyne, by artists ranging from Jimmy Nail to the Unthanks. Last Friday it held a grand concert in the region's village hall - Auditorium One of The Sage, featuring famous North East artists such as Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park, young folk musicians a

In 1991, R.E.M. released Out of Time, the album that turned them into international superstars. 25 years on, the album is being re-released. Lead singer Michael Stipe and bassist Mike Mills look back on those classic songs, including Losing My Religion and Shiny Happy People, and reflect on their decision five years ago to disband the group.Illuminated River is a new scheme that intends to light central London's 17 bridges along the River Thames. As the six shortlisted entries are unveiled we speak to Hannah Rothschild who leads the project.The Achates Philanthropy Prize is a new annual award which aims to show that anyone can become a cultural philanthropist. Nigel Farnall from Essex talks about winning the inaugural prize for his support for Theatre Royal Stratford East. Director Abel Gance's 51/2-hour silent film Napoleon flopped when it was first released in 1927. Silent film expert Pamela Hutchinson reviews a new digitally restored version of Gance's epic which is now regarded as an undisputed cinematic

In his new film The Light Between Oceans, Michael Fassbender takes on the role of a man who becomes a lighthouse keeper in order to escape the atrocities he witnessed in World War One. He talks about playing a decent man struggling to overcome his past and what it was like to work on a remote location in New Zealand.As part of the BBC's celebration of reading, Love to Read, Front Row has challenged five authors to confess to a classic book they've never read - and then read it. Today Neel Mukherjee, best known for his Booker Prize-shortlisted The Lives of Others, reads Mark Twain's tale of a rebel boy and a runaway slave, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Comedian Nish Kumar, singer Sarah McQuaid and The Pitmen Poets discuss the tricky logistics of putting together a busy touring schedule, visiting every corner of the UK in just a few weeks. How do they choose where to appear, how many miles does it involve, and what happens when it doesn't go according to plan?The Goldfinch, the 17th-century painting of a

Film and theatre director Stephen Daldry discusses his latest project with Clemency Burton Hill. The Crown charts Queen Elizabeth II's reign starting with her marriage to Philip Mountbatten in the post-war period in 1947. The Netflix drama series is Daldry's first foray into TV, written by Peter Morgan, which is reportedly the UK's most expensive ever.Nocturnal Animals is the latest film from fashion designer turned director Tom Ford. The psychological thriller stars Amy Adams as a lonely art gallery owner & Jake Gyllenhaal as her ex-husband. Jason Solomons reviews. As part of the BBC's celebration of books, Love to Read, the creator of Horrid Henry, Francesca Simon talks about the classic book she's read for Front Row: Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 story about guilt and sin, The Scarlet Letter. Linda Grant talks about her new novel The Dark Circle, which set in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the early 1950s. Producer: Julian May.

The murder of Damilola Taylor in 2000, came to symbolise youth crime in Britain and brought knife attacks into the public consciousness. Writer Levi David Addai explains why he chose to tells the story of the schoolboy's death from the family's point of view in new drama Our Loved Boy. Frederick, Lord Leighton's Flaming June, one of the most famous works of nineteenth-century British art, returns to the house in which it was painted. We speak to the curator at Leighton House Museum Daniel Robbins and art dealer Rupert Mass whose father briefly owned the work.For Love to Read, the BBC season celebrating the joy of books, author Kit de Waal confesses to a classic book she hasn't read - George Orwell's caustic satire of literary life, Keep the Aspidistra Flying - and reads it especially for Front Row. Between Diwali and Bonfire Night the writer on contemporary art Louisa Buck traces the history of fireworks, reveals why they are so attractive to artists and argues they are the most democratic of all art forms.Pr

American actress Amy Adams has been nominated for five Oscars and is tipped to receive a sixth for her performance in sci-film Arrival, in which she plays a linguist trying to contact extra-terrestrials. She discusses her latest role and her career which has seen her play a con artist in American Hustle, a Disney princess in Enchanted and an art gallery owner with a sinister ex in Tom Ford's film Nocturnal Animals. As part of the BBC's Love to Read season, which celebrates the joy of books, author Tracy Chevalier, best known for Girl with a Pearl Earring, confesses to a classic book she's never read and reads it especially for Front Row. Her choice is Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel The Secret Garden. The Achates Philanthropy Prize is a new annual award which aims to show that anyone can become a cultural philanthropist. The prize's founder Caroline McCormick talks about how philanthropic gifts to arts organisations - from the smallest to the largest - could be encouraged in the UK. Composer and conducto

Sting discusses 57th & 9th, his first rock album in 13 years, the title being a reference to New York City, his adopted home for the last 35 years. "Art was, seriously, the only thing I'd ever wanted to own." So said David Bowie, who gathered a huge and distinguished collection, particularly of post-war British painting. As an exhibition of the work opens at Sotheby's, ahead of its sale next month, Beth Greenacre, who was Bowie's curator, walks John Wilson around the collection and discusses what it reveals about him. As part of the BBC's Love to Read campaign which celebrates the pleasures of reading, author Mark Haddon - best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - confesses to a classic book he's never read, and reads it especially for Front Row. His choice of classic book: John Bunyan's 1678 Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress. Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech is at the heart of a new play that examines the shifting nature of identity. Playwright Chris Hannan a

Benedict Cumberbatch takes the lead role in Doctor Strange, the latest blockbuster from Marvel studios. He discusses playing one of their less well-known superheroes; the former surgeon who protects the earth with his two mystical objects - the Cloak of Levitation and Eye of Agamotto - and explains how his preparation for this physically demanding film coincided with his performing Hamlet on stage at the Barbican in London.Elena Ferrante, the author of the Neapolitan Quartet, has always insisted that nothing should come between a reader and her books, and regards public interest in her as an unnecessary distraction. Her new book - Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey - is a collection of her correspondence and prompted a media storm when it was used as the justification for investigating and revealing her identity. Critic Alex Clark reviews Ferrante's latest literary offering.Violinist Tasmin Little has, for the first time, recorded Vivaldi's Four Seasons, along with a complementary contemporary piece, Four World