David Lepper has lived in Brighton for almost 40 years. He became the first ever Labour leader of Brighton Council in 1986. He was the city’s Mayor in 1993-94, then Mayor’s Consort in 2003-2004 when his wife Jeane served as Mayor. David became Brighton Pavilion’s first Labour MP at the 1997 General Election, retaining his seat in 2001 and 2005. He recently announced that he will not be standing at the next General Election.

What was the last film you saw?
‘In the cinema, Public Enemies. On DVD, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. But I think the most powerful film I’ve seen this year was the made-for-TV film Occupation.’

Is there a movie character who has inspired you?
‘The unattainable ideal of the sense of justice, grace and courtesy in Gregory Peck's performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird - and the indomitable spirit of Bugs Bunny.’

What's your favourite film?
‘No one favourite, but high on my list of the films I haven’t yet tired of seeing again are: It’s A Wonderful Life, A Matter Of Life And Death (and almost anything else made by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), The Third Man, Citizen Kane, Singin’ In The Rain, Stolen Kisses, Rebel Without A Cause, The Leopard (and almost anything else directed by Luchino Visconti), Steamboat Bill Jr (and anything else with Buster Keaton), Horse Feathers, The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, Blazing Saddles, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (and other films made by the Coen Brothers), and most of the films of John Ford, Howard Hawks, Steven Spielberg, Mike Leigh, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Vincente Minnelli, Woody Allen and Ridley Scott.’

In The Loop: satirical fantasy or too close for comfort?
‘Haven't seen it.’

Who’s your big-screen sex symbol?
‘It’s a bit of an old-fashioned Hollywood-created idea - and, of course, Marilyn Monroe remains the epitome and the most influential. Because of her ability to send herself up, her career also marked the beginning of the end of that stereotype.’

What plans does the Labour Party have for the funding of British cinema?
‘Since it was set up in 2000, the UK Film Council - as well as funding the British Film Institute - has invested in training people for the British film industry, promoting British films and Britain as a location for film-making. It helped to ensure, for instance, that Fantastic Mr Fox was made here. It has backed a number of prize-winning and popular films, including Bend It Like Beckham, The Constant Gardener, Gosford Park, Man On Wire, Vera Drake, The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Happy-Go-Lucky.
‘It also promotes professional film-making, the love of film through film societies, children’s and schools’ film clubs (which, as a former teacher of film and media, is something I think is really important) and by supporting the annual First Light Movie awards for young filmmakers. Youngsters from Brighton’s Cedar Centre and Balfour Juniors are recent First Light national award finalists and the Brighton and Hove Young Carer’s filmmaking group were this year’s winners with A Day In The Life Of Eddie. It has also invested in the digital screen network - including here in Brighton - giving the UK more digital cinema screens than any other European country.
‘This summer the Government proposed a merger of the UK Film Council and the BFI, which since 1933 has promoted and conserved film archives in the UK and which runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX and the London Film Festival. This proposal was welcomed in principle by Greg Dyke, the BFI Chair, and by Tim Bevan, Chair of the UK Film Council. Both organisations are working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to work out the details. Making the proposal, the Minister Sion Simon said: ‘‘The overall remit of the BFI and the UKFC will not be reduced. The proposal is a for a steamlined organisation, which can spend more of its money on film and services and less on infrastructure, and in turn offer better support for Britain's film culture and the promotion of its film industry.’’’

Do you think film has an important role to play in the local community?
‘Yes, in many ways. It’s part of our cultural and economic history and our present. Brighton and Hove had a crucial place in the beginnings of the film industry in the early part of the 20th Century. If we’d had more consistent sunshine, people might now talk of Brighton and Hove rather than Hollywood. Brighton was the location for the first film show outside London and, of course, we have in the Duke of York’s probably the oldest purpose-built cinema in the country still functioning as a cinema.
‘Thanks to the efforts of Frank Gray, the University of Brighton and others, the work of those Brighton and Hove pioneers is celebrated in Hove Museum, while the South East Film and Video Archive preserves and celebrates film in the lives of local people over the years. Around the city you’ll find blue plaque memorials commemorating the places where those early 20th Century pioneers lived or worked. The spirit of those early pioneers emerged again in the 1980s with local companies like Barefoot Video and 20th Century Vixen, later through Lighthouse Media working with local people and giving them the tools and skills to express themselves through film, and now in the hundreds of local people working in the ‘‘new’’ media industries across the city - and in the youngsters working with First Light, whose successes I mentioned earlier.
‘Many of us lobbied in the past for an annual Brighton Film Festival and the CineCity Festival fulfils that role, celebrating the best of the old and new. And, of course, Brighton has long been a popular location for filmmakers - from Brighton Rock to Oh! What A Lovely War, Mona Lisa, Ian McKellen’s Richard III and The End Of The Affair - all of which contribute to the local economy and promote images of Brighton around the world.’

Re censorship, is the BBFC getting it right or do there need to be changes?
‘I hear few complaints about the censor these days. The concern has shifted to video games etc.’

Is the planned remake of Brighton Rock a good idea?
‘Although it was made in the 1940s, the mood of the original film of Brighton Rock was very close to that of the novel, which was set in the 1930s - despite the imposition of a fraudulently happier ending for Rose. Richard Attenborough’s performance as Pinkie is one of the most chilling in any British film. From what we know about it so far, the new Brighton Rock isn’t a remake of the earlier classic film, but a re-interpretation of the novel. I’ll reserve my judgement until I’ve seen it. After all, the classic John Huston and Humphrey Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon was the third screen interpretation of Dashiell Hammett’s novel.’

And finally, who would you like to play you in David Lepper: The Movie?
‘The obvious choices are Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Robert De Niro at the different stages of my life. But if they’re not available and as I’m retiring from Parliament soon, with a little sympathetic lighting and make-up maybe I could play myself.’

Colin Houlson