The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is media, culture and creative industries lecturer Sarah Jilani.

We start in 1954 with the Japanese film Seven Samurai which is widely considered to be one of world cinema's most influential films.

Then, we hear about the 2006 Hindi film Rang de Basanti which broke box-office records and inspired thousands of young Indians to march for justice.

We delve into the BBC Archives to hear from director Leni Riefenstahl about one of the most controversial propaganda movies ever made, Triumph of the Will, which was filmed at the Nazis’ Nuremberg rally in 1934.

Next, we hear about the challenges of making the Hollywood 1942 classic, Casablanca, from the late son and nephew of the screenwriters.

Finally, the story of the Spanish language fantasy, Pan's Labyrinth, which took the world by storm in 2006.

Contributors:

Hisao Kurosawa - movie producer, head of the Kurosawa Production Company and son of Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa.

Sarah Jilani - a Lecturer in the Department of Media, Culture and Creative Industries, City St George's, University of London.

Kamlesh Pandey - screenwriter.

Leni Riefenstahl - film maker (from BBC Archive).

Leslie Epstein - the late son and nephew of screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein respectively.

Ivana Baquero - actress.

(Photo: Ingrid Bergman with Humphrey Bogart in a still from Casablanca. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.
We hear how a speech by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, in 1972, caused a break down in relations with the USA.
Our guest is an expert in the historic relations between Sweden and the US, Dr Saniya Lee Ghanoui from the University of El Paso in Texas.
Plus, the story of India’s secret first nuclear test in 1974, and Portugal’s worst train crash which killed 150 people.
We also learn about the invention of the mobility scooter in the 1960s and the only time the King of Rock n’ Roll, Elvis, set foot in the UK.
Contributors:
Jan Elliason – former Swedish diplomat.
Dr Saniya Lee Ghanoui – Assistant Professor of history at the University of El Paso.
Dr SK Sikka – former Indian nuclear scientist.
Américo Borges – Portuguese volunteer fire commander.
Al Thieme – the inventor of the mobility scooter.
Anne Murphy – Elvis superfan.
(Photo: Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1972 during the diplomatic freeze with the USA. Credit: Sjöberg Bildbyrå/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

We begin with the trial of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. It was claimed that he traded in arms and ammunition in return for so-called blood diamonds.
Our guest, gemmologist James Evans discusses the creation of synthetic diamonds.
Next we head to Syria where a group of young men in the besieged town of Darayya came together to build a secret library during the civil war.
Plus the start of the Second World War in the Pacific when Japanese troops landed in what was then northern Malaya.
We hear about a meeting between two of the most prominent figures in history from around the turn of the last century. Florence Nightingale and the Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah.
Our sporting story takes us back to the summer of 1952 when the first Olympics of the Cold War era took place. Czechoslovakian army officer Emil Zatopek achieved a unique feat.
And finally, the moment when Spain's fledgling democratic government appeared to be under threat.
Contributors:
Brenda Hollis - Chief prosecutor at the Charles Taylor trial.
Malik Alrifaii - Volunteer who helped run the Syrian library.
Dorothy Variyan -Lived under Japanese rule during the occupation of the Malay peninsula.
Aga Khan III, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah - BBC archive interview from 1950.
Richard Asquith - Emil Zatopek's biographer.
Joaquin Almunia - Former Vice President of the European Commission
Presenter: Max Pearson
(Photo: Charles Taylor (rear C) appears in court in 2006. Credit: Rob Keeris/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Guri Hjeltnes, an author and World War Two historian.
We start with Nazi Germany’s occupation of Norway during World War Two by hearing about a secret resistance operation known as “The Shetland Bus”.
Then, we learn about a playboy spy who, during the 1940s, became one of wartime’s most successful double agents and the reported inspiration behind James Bond.
We hear how a black and white photograph taken in 1982, of a mother and her young daughter raising their arms in protest, became a symbol of Argentina’s resistance.
Plus, the public health crisis in America in 1980 that led to the setting up of the Tampon Task Force.
In sport, we speak to the BMX rider known as "The Canadian Beast" who took part in the first Extreme Games in 1995.
Finally, we hear from an Austrian mountaineer who spent seven years in Tibet and, in 1948, became friends with the country’s spriritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Contributors:
Leif Larsen – Norwegian sailor and a skipper on “The Shetland Bus”.
Dusko Popov – British double agent during World War Two.
Adriana Lestido - Argentinian newspaper photographer.
Nancy King Reame – Professor Emerita Columbia University and researcher with the Tampon Task Force.
Jay Miron - Canadian BMX rider.
Heinrich Harrer – Austrian mountaineer who became a tutor to the Dalai Lama.
(Photo: Leif Larsen (middle) and other member of The Shetland Bus. Credit: Scalloway Museum)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Scottish writer, editor and music programmer Arusa Qureshi.
We start in 1989 when the British rock band Pink Floyd played a highly controversial concert in Venice.
Then, we cover Dr Rita Levi-Montalcini whose bedroom experiments won her the Nobel Prize.
We hear from a man who worked on the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which opened in 1965.
A survivor describes Florence's devastating flood in 1966.
Finally, the story of how the actress Gina Lollobrigida interviewed Cuba's leader Fidel Castro.
Contributors:
Fran Tomasi and Andrea Pattaro - witnesses to Pink Floyd's Venice concert.
Arusa Qureshi - Scottish writer, editor and music programmer.
Franco Cuaz - Mont Blanc Tunnel's first operations manager.
Antonina Bargellini - survivor of the Florence flood.
(Photo: Pink Floyd performing in Venice. Credit: Andrea Pattaro)