Matchmaking Mayor

Czech director Erika Hnikova joins Amanda Palmer and the FPS audience to discuss her documentary Matchmaking Mayor about life as a singleton in rural Slovakia, and the over-zealous local politician who likes playing cupid.

Jozef Gajdos has proved popular in the village of Zemplinske Hamre since his election, providing better roads, more job opportunities and even a swimming pool. But the former general’s biggest concern is the lack of young families to continue the community into the next generation.

Believing there are far too many bachelors and spinsters in the village, Jozef tries his hand at matchmaking and throws a village dance to try to pair off some of the lonely hearts. Among the candidates are devout Christian Monika who lives with her mother, mechanic Janko who seems more interested in his cars than marriage, and DIY enthusiast Dodo, who just cannot wait to settle down.

In our animated Q&A, Erika discusses the role of marriage in the new Eastern Europe, and our audience members share their experiences of finding love in the most unusual of places.

Our Big Fear

Our Big Fear is the first film to be produced in the world’s newest country: South Sudan.

Martin Clement is the man behind the project, a film that looks at disarmament and gun amnesties amongst the country’s local tribes.

It is a very real issue in a country still highly militarised after decades of civil war.

Filmed in Terekeka, a couple of hours outside of the new country’s capital, Juba, Our Big Fear will soon broadcast on the country’s one TV channel.

Roger Corman

With over 400 film credits to his name, including B-movie classics Attack of the Crab Monsters and Humanoids from the Deep, many have dismissed producer/director/writer Roger Corman as a schlockmeister.

But a new documentary Roger Corman: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel hopes to put that idea to bed, showing that Hollywood would not be what it is today without Corman’s influence.

As a producer, his films have helped to launch the careers of Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, and as a director he was exploring race-relations issues well before mainstream Hollywood dared tackle the subject.

Roger talks to FPS about what prompted his rejection of the major film studios, what it takes to be ahead of the cinematic curve, and why he never wants to stop making movies.

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Friday, September 16, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1930; Saturday: 1430; Sunday: 0430; Monday: 0830.