Above image: Still, Taxi Driver, 1976 (dir. Martin Scorsese)

Martin Scorsese has shot a new home-made short film about his life in lockdown that will air tonight as part of BBC 2’s Lockdown Culture With Mary Beard. The 77 year-old director, who is, if anything, speeding up with age, came to a squealing halt following the onset of coronavirus with multiple projects now on ice.

Like millions across the world, Scorsese has found himself overcome with anxiety and trepidation in recent months, forced to endure separation from loved ones and the company of his own thoughts. No surprise that Scorsese has turned to cinema as his remedy, and the programme will include excerpts on films he has turned to for strength in these times, including Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man.

“What I look forward to in the future is carrying with me what I have been forced to learn in these circumstances. It is the essential. The people you love. Being able to take care of them and be with them as much as you can.”

Scorsese’s latest project, Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro was recently reported to have been bought by Apple (with distribution rights by Paramount), who will release the film as an Apple original.

Watch Scorsese’s film tonight at 7pm on BB2 or on iPlayer.