The Story of Film: An Odyssey

The Story of Film: An Odyssey is a history of innovation in cinema, directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Cousins. The Film 4 / More4 collaboration is the first of its kind since Death of a President and was commissioned by Channel 4 Arts Editor, Tabitha Jackson, for More4.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey is produced by John Archer at Hopscotch Films and written and directed by Mark Cousins and is the 15 part-story of international cinema told through the history of cinematic innovation. Five years in the making, The Story of Film: An Odyssey covers six continents and 12 decades. It is the adaptation of Mark Cousins' book of the same name, which showed how film-makers are influenced both by the historical events of their times, and by each other.

Described as a ‘love letter' to the movies, the film visits the key sites in the history of cinema; from Hollywood to Mumbai; from Hitchcock's London to the village where Pather Panchali was shot, and features interviews with legendary filmmakers and actors including Stanley Donen, Kyoko Kagawa, Gus van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Claire Denis, Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Towne, Jane Campion and Claudia Cardinale.