Those who heard my @empiremagazine podcast with @ChrisHewitt & Quentin Tarantino, will know this story but I would like to share on here too. Last year, I was watching a lot of films in lockdown that I hadn't seen, including Scorsese's list of must see international films...

This was a list given to a film fan years ago with suggestions of great films from around the world. I myself had only seen half the list and decided to finish it. The experience of watching 20 international classics in a short period was profoundly inspiring, a perfect escape...

Moved by the experience, I send a note to Scorsese's assistant to thank him for his tireless efforts to inspire others to watch these classics, and the context he often gives for those films. It was like having him as a free professor, I wished that he could intro EVERY film...

Then in a P.S. at the end of the email, I asked, out of curiosity, if he had a list of British films that he admired or had inspired him growing up, since his choices are always fascinating. A few months later he sent me a voice memo with a list of 50 British films to watch...

Here is the list he sent me, shared with his permission. It must be stressed that this is a personal list of favourites and also, by his admission, incomplete. For example Powell & Pressburger do not feature, as he's praised them on many occasions, so their work is taken as read.

Those of you who had already transcribed the list from the podcast should know that MS wanted to add one more - Terence Fisher's 'Spaceways'. So update your lists if you wish. I now have one extra to watch too. Enjoy the list, a great rabbit hole to disappear down in these times.