Aparna Sen, Midwives, Marged Sion

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Aparna Sen joins us in the studio. She's one of India's best loved and most successful film directors. Her career has spanned 40 years and she's explored issues around mental health, sexual abuse and infidelity. Aparna is in England for the London Indian Film Festival. The number of NHS midwives in England has fallen by over 600 in a year, according to figures by the Royal College of Midwives. We talk to Birte Harlev-lam from the Royal College of Midwives, as well as a midwife in the West Midlands. What's the reason behind this drop? We talk about what it's like to be a plus-sized actor. A new Matilda film is coming out starring Emma Thompson who will play Miss Trunchbull. It means she'll wear a fat suit for the role. Two plus-size actors, Katie Greenall and Samia La Virgne, give their reaction to the casting, and share their experiences of being a bigger actor. Welsh singer and dancer Marged Siôn is with us. She's in the band, Self Esteem and appears in a new Welsh-language short film called Hunan Hyder which means self-confidence). She talks to us about trauma, healing and appearing on stage with Adele! And we catch up with Gina Harris who at 82 has cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats. It took a month and she faced rainy days and tired legs!

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:05.4	Hello, I'm Jessica Crichton. Welcome to the Woman's Hour podcast.
0:09.2	Good morning. Very big welcome to the programme.
0:12.0	Now with the London Indian Film Festival continuing this week,
0:14.8	we'll be speaking to one of the most successful directors in Bengali cinema.
0:18.8	Aparna Sen has won too many awards to mention during her 40-year career,
0:23.3	breaking barriers and shining a spotlight on societal issues,
0:26.7	such as class, power, sexual abuse and infidelity.
0:30.3	And these themes are all part of a latest film, The Rapist,
0:33.0	which will be debuting in the UK this week,
0:35.9	excited to say that Aparna will be with us live in the studio shortly.
0:40.2	Also, many of you will be excited by the new remake of the much-loved classic novel, Matilda.
0:45.7	A film trailer was recently released, but not everyone is sharing that excitement,
0:49.5	and that's because the actress Emma Thompson looks to be wearing what's been described
0:53.2	as a fat suit in the film. She's playing the part of the head teacher,
0:57.3	Miss Trunchbourne, wears prosthetics to make her look plus-sized.
1:01.2	Now, some have described it as a step backwards for the industry,
1:03.7	with roles being taken away from plus-sized actors.
1:07.0	So how are larger women portrayed in film and who gets these roles?
1:10.7	I'll be discussing all of this with two actresses who are strong views
1:14.4	on why fat suits are so offensive. Also, this morning we'll be talking to singer
1:19.6	and performer Margherd Sean. She's part of the group's self-esteem,
	...

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