‘The film humanised Russians at a time when Rambo was killing them’: how we made Letter to Brezhnev

‘All of Kirkby turned out for the premiere – many of them had been extras. And 500 people crammed into my mum’s council house for a party. It’s still talked about’ I started banging out the script for this on a typewriter in my scruffy flat in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1981. Four years later, the film had its British premiere. My idea was for a working-class romance between a couple of girls from my native Kirkby and two Russian sailors on leave around the port of Liverpool, with a subtle politi...

By Interviews by Jack Watkins