When the Bolsheviks took power in Russia in 1917, they inherited a country with a relatively well-developed film industry. Of course, they set about bringing it under Soviet control; but for a time, in the Twenties, there was a brilliant flowering of experimental cinema from the “camera-eye” of Dziga Vertov, who believed cinema should concentrate on the depiction of reality, to the futurist poetry of Vladimir Mayakovsky.

The greatest director of the period was Sergei Eisenstein, whose theories of montage created a “language” for cinema, conveying meaning and emotion by the juxtaposition of images. In this week’s Art That Changed the World, Renny Bartlett assesses the impact of Eisenstein’s best-known work, Battleship Potemkin. Everyone with the slightest interest in art, media studies or modern history should be aware of it.

At 1.30pm on the same channel, there is a performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Jonathan Miller (who was among those discussing the opera for last week’s programme in this fine series).

Best of the rest: The Ad Factor BBC2 From Monday, April 30, 11.30pm-12 midnight.

This three-parter, made for the Open University, uses different advertising campaigns to illustrate the processes in creating a commercial from commissioning to implementation. It begins with a computer firm choosing the right agency to launch a new product. The second programme follows the advertisers planning a campaign for Guinness Ireland, while the final part shows how the outlines and ideas come together to make a fully realised campaign forDr Marten’s footwear. An unusual insight into the workings of advertising and a neat package for media studies, English and other areas - which could well guide some viewers in choosing a career.

Captain Corelli Night: BBC Knowledge Friday, May 4, 8-10pm.

In his own words, Louis de Berni res was “a rather dejected schoolteacher working with difficult kids” when he wrote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. The book was not hyped by its publishers, but succeeded because its first readers recommended it to their friends. The Bookmark film that opens Captain Corelli Night takes de Berni res back to the Greek island of Cephalonia, where his story is set, to discover the background to it and something about its author (who still manages to look rather dejected from time to time).

The evening ends with a documentary about the wartime massacre of Italian soldiers by the Nazis which is the central event in de Berni res’s novel. In between the two, Kevin Loader talks briefly about adapting the book for the screen to make what is expected to be one of the biggest British films of the year.

Emma: C4 Monday, April 30, 9pm.

Emma is one of Jane Austen’s most accessible novels, especially for teenagers, who can well understand the warring certainties and confusions behind Emma’s bossiness. Douglas McGrath, who wrote and directed this film version (with Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead), keeps a good deal of Austen’s text, without trying to be too clever with it.

Robin Buss

Full educational programme schedules can be found online at www.bbc.co.ukeducationlzonesched.shtmlwww.bbc.co.ukwhatsonwww.4learning. co.ukprogrammesspring2001.cfm