Of course this is a personal and subjective appreciation of the art of film from Mark Cousins. It would be pretty dull 15 hours otherwise. This is the very best thing I have seen on TV this year. It makes you aware of the parallel forces in cinema across the world and opens up new worlds of cinema that you never even knew existed. I am now a committed Ozu fan, which I think was Mark's point. Wonderfully droll in places and never ever patronizing to the film makers or its audience. Well done Mr Cousin's I was spellbound. The early years of cinema have been documented many times (see the excellent Paul Merton documentaries on Silent Clowns and Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema). What made this stand out for me was the means by which Cousin's had a golden thread running throughout the whole century of cinema and his analysis of modern post-2000 cinema was fresh and insightful. This is not a list of favorite films with some analysis - this is a thesis on the roles, drivers and cultural context of cinema in different countries and how that has changed over time. Well done and thanks Mr Cousins.