<Swati Sharan>

It’s that time of year again and we are back to give you the latest of some of what was on the red carpet at TIFF2022 this year.

One film playing at the festival is The Lost King, which is directed by Stephen Frears (Victoria and Abdul, Philomena). The film follows the real-life struggle of amateur historian Philippa Langley in tracking down the remains of King Richard III that were eventually found in a parking lot. As a king who was highly looked down upon by historians, Langley faced an uphill struggle by challenging them.

Here then are some of our questions with The Lost King director Stephen Frears and screenplay co-writer and producer Steve Coogan. Watch the video below.

Do you believe that history departments around the world live in ivory towers? 

Stephen Frears: There was an English historian David Starkman who would say all these stupid things. But there was this one day he was asked why academics were so vicious towards each other.  And he said, it’s because they have very little at stake.

Watch the video:

Stephen Frears on the Red Carpet at TIFF

When we hear about Richard III, we generally presume him to be a lion-hearted king. So for someone who was considered lion-hearted, how come his remains were found missing?

Steve Coogan: Well, I have to point out that Richard II was considered lion-hearted. It was not Richard III. He was not known as lion-hearted or Richard the lion-heart. So, this is the story of a king who was demonised. Richard III was written by Shakespeare as a universal archetypal villain. He was a pantomime baddie. We question the perceived wisdom or popular myth if you like. And we tie this into the story of Philippa Langley and her quest to find the body.

Steve Coogan on the Red Carpet at TIFF