Aamir Khan Talks Indian Cinema & his Career

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan ("the Indian Tom Cruise", I heard from one of my colleagues) was in our midst last week. He sat in conversation with Dr. Rajinder Dudrah, Hindi Cinema expert from the University of Manchester. Fans flocked to the Museum to meet their hero, and filled our Pictureville auditorium to hear his words.

I'm sorry to say I missed the event, but I asked my favourite guest blogger - Tom Vincent, Film programmer here at the Museum, to fill you in:

Wednesday evening was a huge amount of fun. A short delay built up the anticipation, and at just after 8pm, Mr. Aamir Khan appeared on Pictureville stairs to rousing applause, cheers, even screams from younger fans. Aamir is a true star; a thoughtful, honest and generous guy with much to say about Indian cinema.

During an hour's conversation, Dr. Rajinder Dudrah did a sterling job of gathering Aamir's thoughts on Indian film past and present, his own industry beginnings, and Hollywood's interest in the Mumbai industry. Wednesday was very much a fans' event, and Rajinder gave a sizable part of the interview over to moderating questions from an audience made up of all generations.

At certain points it seemed that almost everyone had their hand up, and Aamir got through quite a range of topics, from Method acting, to his thoughts on potential collaborations and future possibilities for Indian film.

At 9pm, with several questions still waiting to be asked, Aamir himself requested that we extend the conversation a little to consider a few more – a really generous touch. Then, after a final few minutes on Peepli [Live], Aamir's new film as producer, and with some regrets from the man himself, Aamir was away into the night, with a few keen fans at the front treated to a final goodbye handshake.

Aamir and Rajinder could likely have continued talking for longer, had time allowed, but for me the best thing about the event was that so many people got to speak with Mr. Khan. I think this made everyone's night. This morning I caught up with Rajinder to gather his own impressions:

"Mr. Aamir Khan was a real gentleman. He listened to all the questions carefully and responded to the audience's Q&A in detail and with sincerity. The Bradford fans were especially pleased when upon Aamir's own request we extended the Q&A by an extra 10+ minutes. An exciting and memorable evening was had by all and gauging by the enthusiastic reaction, Peepli [Live] was a success too".

A great big thank you to everyone who came, and who helped make it so enjoyable.

Peepli [Live] will be showing at the National Media Museum from Sunday 10 October 2010.

If you missed it, the podcast is now available to download from our podcasts page.

Were you there? What did you think of the evening, and the man himself?

Simon Roberts: We English Exhibition on Tour

Our temporary exhibition galleries are now closed while we prepare for two brand new exhibitions to open on 15 October.
Robbie Cooper's Immersion will be replaced by Land: Revisited, to mark the 25th anniversary of Fay Godwin's Land, a celebration of the British landscape.
Simon Roberts' We English will be replaced by From Back Home, a body of work by contemporary Swedish photographers Anders Petersen and JH Engström, which became an award-winning book and is being exhibited in this country for the first time in our Gallery One space.
If you enjoyed We English, you'll have another opportunity to view the work when it tours to Croyden Clock Tower - not the only National Media Museum exhibition to go on tour...
Ruth Haycock, our Senior Exhibitions and Partnerships Organiser, has developed a Touring Exhibitions strand whose aim is to increase public access to our Collections both here and abroad, develop cultural partnerships, boost the profile of the Museum and champion our world-class Collections.
We English and three other exhibitions taken from our photography Collections are available to tour: Lives of the Great Photographers, The British Landscape and The Art of Arrangement: Still Life and the Photographic Tradition.
Our exhibition and design teams will create a graphics and identity package for the exhibition, and while we provide core pieces, the host venue may extend and compliment the exhibition with work from their own collections to make it their own - we can work with the host venue to develop layered interpretations to meet their requirements and the needs of their audiences.
If you're interested in hosting a National Media Museum exhibition, or would like to find out more about our Touring Exhibitions programme, talk to Ruth Haycock:
Tel: 01274 203 343
Email: ruth.haycock@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk.

Film and Events Highlights for August-September

We've some unmissable screenings and events coming your way in our August - September film programme.

To coincide with the release of Tamara Drewe, we will be welcoming her creator, Posy Simmonds, on Tuesday 28 September. Posy will be sitting in conversation with comics expert, Paul Gravett. A must for any comic strip fans.

If you love animation, you'll be delighted with The Illusionist, based on a script by Jacques Tati, and directed by Sylvain Chromet of Belleville Rendezvous fame. I asked our Film Programmer, Tom Vincent, to tell me his highlights for the month - and here's his expert opinion:

"The Illusionist is one of the loveliest films you'll see all year. An animated tale of an outmoded French entertainer in the Scotland of 1959, the film reminds us of one of the most enduring pleasures of cinema, of entertaining without words (and those who remember the same director's 2002 film Belleville Rendezvous will know what to expect). There aren't many films around currently that have the confidence to use image and sound so effectively in their storytelling, and it's always a refreshing delight to be enthralled in this way. The film opened this June's Edinburgh International Film Festival, with the Festival organisers laying on street performance outside the theatre that recreated characters, magicians and trapeze artists, from the film, which conjured up the pleasures of a bygone age.

"At an interview event in which he explained the process of making the film, director Sylvain Chomet spoke about his love for, and artistic debt to, Jacques Tati. It's Tati's unfilmed script from which the film was developed, and his influence is all over both of Chomet's features to date. The illusionist of the title was modelled on Monsieur Hulot, Tati's most famous creation, the script was written, poignantly, for Tati's own daughter, and in one glorious episode Chomet's character comes face to face with the ever-polite, ever-bumbling, celluloid Hulot in an Edinburgh cinema. In offering pleasures alternative to 99% of all new cinema, The Illusionist seems like an affirmation of the past, nostalgia made relevant.

"The Illusionist is also made with precisely the same comedic DNA as Tati's films. Tati's humour was pretty unusual (ITV's Mr. Bean offered an anaemic version of it); absurd visual gags were set up and left hanging, the humour coming not from punch lines but from the delicious situations themselves. An incident from Tati's schooling planted a seed for all this: In Tati's English class an enthusiastic teacher would encourage students to act out commands while repeating target phrases, in this case "I open the door, I close the door". Spotting the chance to make the class laugh, Tati volunteered, wandered over to the door, opened it ("I open the door"), stepped through and, ("I close the door") shut it behind him. Outside the classroom Tati wondered for a moment which would be funnier; to go back in and meet his peers' applause, or to hide in the toilets until the end of the class. In the end he simply snuck out of school entirely and spent the rest of the day at home, leaving his improvised joke hanging absurdly forever."

Speaking of animation, Bradford Animation Festival 2010 is upon us - find out more by visiting www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/baf/.

To celebrate the centenary of his birth, we bring you a season of Akira Kurosawa films, which begins with the epic Seven Samurai on Friday 20 August. See for yourself why he is known around the world as a master of his art.

And if that wasn't enough, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan will be in our midst, we look at the career of Sean Connery as the Scottish superstar turns 80, and Stephen Fry will appear live via satellite broadcast in The Fry Chronices.

Phew - it's going to be a busy month!

Find out more by visiting www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/filmandimax or downloading our new Film Guide (PDF 2.4MB).

If you want to be the first to find out about films and events at the National Media Museum, sign up to our e-newsletter.

The National Media Museum Breaks a World Record

On Wednesday we broke the World Record for the number of people playing Nintendo DS games simultaneously in the same place for 10 minutes. The record was previously held by the MCM Expo in London with 586 DS players. We beat their record with an impressive 659 gamers. Here's the video to prove it.

We opened the doors for registration at 10.00 and saw hundreds of people flock to the Museum throughout the day to enjoy a barbeque, have their face painted, try their hand at big screen gaming in our cinema, join in with family events, and watch Toy Story 3D in our IMAX theatre. But most importantly, they were there to sign up for the World Record attempt that evening.

We were joined by Real Radio who pumped out the latest chart hits from the balcony above the Media Wall. Presenter Dixie was our compère for the day, and he did a grand job of rallying up the crowd and telling them where to go and when to be there.

Super Mario himself arrived at around 15.00 to the delight of all the kids who converged upon the Nintendo icon for hugs and photographs as soon as they caught sight of him.

We also welcomed some of the Bradford Bulls and local PCSOs to help us supervise the event, Bulls' Chief Executive Ryan Ducket and gaming guru Charles Cecil who were official invigilators, and Gaz Deaves, Gaming Editor of Guinness World Records, who was there to make sure everything was above board, and of course, to present us with our certificate when we claimed victory.

It was fantastic to see so many people come down to the Museum to be part of the attempt - so many that they spilled out to the front of the building - but that's not to say it was easy to pull together. Our event coordinators Kat Martin, Elaine Richmond and Sophie Choudry certainly had one or two sleepless nights in the run up to the event, but I daresay they would agree that it was all worth it in the end.

Sarah Mumford, Learning Manager, who originally conceived the idea describes the moment of truth:

"The atmosphere was electric and the excitement was palpable. We didn’t know 'til immediately after the attempt whether we had broken the record or not and when the man from Guinness announced we had broken it everyone cheered. And what a relief that was!"

I was stood in the crowd when Gaz announced that we had broken the record, and it certainly was exciting - I don't know what we would have done had we not taken the record, but no doubt everyone would have held their consoles in the air to celebrate a good try.

When it was all over, the proud participants collected a badge and certificate, but some remained for the Street Fighter 2 tournament in our Games Lounge. I had escaped back to the office to upload my photographs so I missed it, but I asked organiser Foz Bano for a quick report:

"The [tournament] went really well with 32 players competing and Tom (Woolley - New Media Curator) got Mario to join in! It was a tightly fought contest and over the course of an hour 31 games were played. All ages got involved and Gaz Deaves from Guinness got through to the semi final but was beaten by Dhaood who went on to win."

Congratulations, Dhaood - and well done to everyone who came down on the day to support or take part in the World Record attem... no, VICTORY!

If you want to see Tom's video of Mario playing in the Street Fighter 2 tournament, I've selected it as a favourite on our YouTube channel.

Photographs from the day can be found on our Flickr channel, and you can upload your photographs to our DS World Record Breakers group.

Don't forget to check out our programme of Summer Fun, and if you would like to receive news about events, films and the latest IMAX blockbusters, sign up to our e-newsletter online.

Leslie Grantham Visits the EastEnders25 Display in TV Heaven

Leslie Grantham, most famous for playing Dirty Den in EastEnders, is currently starring as Pte. Walker in Dad's Army at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford. He took a break between rehearsals and performing to visit the National Media Museum today.

We invited Leslie to view our EastEnders25 display in TV Heaven, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of one of Britain's best-loved television programmes, and is part of our year-long Soap Season, dedicated to examining the impact, popularity and longevity of British soap opera.

Looking casual, Leslie arrived in the TV Heaven gallery accompanied by Claire Thomas, Assistant Curator of Television. The Museum's Photographer, Media Developers and I ran around with cameras while Leslie chatted to Claire about the EastEnders props on display.

The opportunity to photograph Leslie on the 'bench of tears', holding the dog doorstop which killed Dirty Den, or sitting next to Den's gravestone, was too good to miss. We were joined by a photographer from the Telegraph & Argus and a reporter from Pulse Radio.

View some of the photographs taken on the National Media Museum's Flickr channel.

Soap Season began in February with the launch of the EastEnders25 display, and is set to continue throughout the summer months with an exciting programme of events and activities.

For more information, please visit Soap Season on our website.

As part of our summer programme for families, this coming weekend (10 - 11 July) and next month (9 - 15 August) we will be hosting some special events to tie in with our soap celebration.

Highlights include Soap Comes to Life in which you can help us produce a scene from EastEnders, Animated Soaps Workshop in which you can use stop-motion techniques to create an animated soap scene, Create a Soap Soundtrack, and the chance to test your knowledge in our Super Soap Quiz.

For more information about family friendly activities at the National Media Museum, please visit our Family Events page.