Spain reveres its flamenco tradition; Ireland won hearts with Riverdance. What form of national expression does England bring to the global table? Morris dancing - a folk-infused activity whose practitioners hop backwards and forwards waving handkerchiefs.

But what England also has is a genius for poking fun at itself, in particular its more eccentric cultural legacies. "Morris: A Life With Bells On" continues that gift in the finest traditions of "This Is Spinal Tap" and "The Full Monty."

The film's premiere in London's West End is like no other I’ve ever seen: The usual red carpet has been replaced by green Astroturf bedecked with straw bales, milk churns and a couple of dozen morris dancers hopping away. What is your favorite mockumentary? "Spinal Tap," "Borat," or maybe "Best In Show?" Tell us below.

Yet, despite a paltry half-millon dollar budget and a production base set on a chicken farm, ex-investment banker and first-time filmmaker Chaz Oldham managed to recruit seasoned talent including the venerable British actor Sir Derek Jacobi, French star Dominic Pinon and Naomie Harris, who joined the production straight from the premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean."

The exceptional script of this British-made mockumentary follows a documentary crew on the story of Britain’s finest morris dancer Derecq Twist - a man determined to go beyond the boundaries of dance who inevitably falls foul of the ultra-conservative guardians of the dance.

International fascination with the film has been high, with 120,000 hits in a peak week on the movie’s website and fourth place from 248 entries at Seattle Film Festival. Hopes are high to lure a U.S. distributor on board.

The English are polarized about the prospect of morris dancing at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012. Some believe we should flaunt it, others would rather curl up and die than present it to the world.

Last word on the subject of morris dancing goes to Sir Derek Jacobi, whose talent in turn was discovered by another peer of the English acting realm, Sir Laurence Olivier:

“When you say ‘morris dancing’ usually people smile - never too maliciously but there’s a hint of malice behind their smiles. But it is so essentially English that the other half who are smiling are really genuinely fond of it and rather proud that its something that is so essentially English, nowhere else in the world will you see it, it’s ours and we mustn’t let it die.”

ROME, Italy– The man sitting opposite me is regarded by many as not only one of the most talented directors in Hollywood, but also as one of the nicest guys in the business. But this view is by no means unanimous. Others would have you believe that I’m sitting opposite the enemy of Catholics the world over, the scourge of a billion souls.

Angels & Demons director Ron Howard talks to The Screening Room about making the film.

In a clear attempt to dispel this impression, the scourge offers me a squirt of his hand sanitizer as we say goodbye at the conclusion of our interview in Rome before the premier of his new feature “Angels & Demons”.

 With keen anticipation for his follow-up to blockbuster success "The Da Vinci Code" there will be plenty of flesh to press in the hours ahead - and Ron Howard is taking no chances with swine flu already postponing the film’s opening in Mexico.

 He talked about the controversy surrounding the film. The Vatican and Catholic church has so far stopped short of an official statement about the film - but feelings are still running high in the wake of the first film. The name of author Dan Brown was enough to earn a refusal of permission to shoot in the Vatican City and the churches of Rome.

Many in the church were upset by the storyline of "The Da Vinci Code," which suggested Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had children who could then be traced to a living heir.

Exploring similar territory, "Angels & Demons" speculates that in previous centuries the church dealt with a provocative group of scientists and free-thinkers called The Illuminati by hunting them down and killing them.

The story for the new film is set in Rome. It forced the film-makers to improvise, going undercover and even posing as tourists to shoot vital images which would help set designers create landmark locations such as the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Square in Hollywood’s own City of Angels - better known as Los Angeles.

On the surface, my interview with Howard appeared to go well. The director appeared friendly, open and courteous – but I was not to be so easily taken in by his act. For I had uncovered evidence destined to put him on potential collision course with the church.

It was only a fleeting glimpse - but I had seen it in the new movie. A two-second shot of a statuette towering over St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The figure had a beard, it was bald - and bore a distinct resemblance to the mortal at the helm of this unearthly blockbuster.

Either Howard had emulated Alfred Hitchcock and other film-makers by including himself in his own production –- or worse, he was attempting to make people follow a false idol by presenting himself in God’s image. I challenged him on the matter.

At first Howard pretended not to understand what I was talking about. Then a smile drew across his face - and to my surprise he even laughed.

"Oh I know the shot you mean," he confessed. "Bushy beard, bald head?"

"That’s the one!" I countered, savouring my moment as a member of the Spanish Inquisition might have rejoiced at breaking a particularly persistent sinner’s resistance to repentance.

"Sorry, that’s not me," he replied. "I think he looks more like Lenin, don’t you?"

 With that the mask that had briefly slipped returned once more and the jovial face – the one that Howard projects to the world – was back in place. And then we were shaking hands and swapping hand sanitizer.

My inquisition was at an end. But would the false prophecies of Ron Howard be enough to convince millions of Catholics to enter the cinematic den of iniquity?

I pray we will soon know the answer.

You don't need to be a brain surgeon to make TV, but sometimes it can be pretty complicated.

Rainy weather on the Australia's 'sunny' Gold Coast covers the camera lenses with raindrops forcing the chopper to land.

Take our shoot for the November show. We were on the "The Gold Coast" in Australia for one of the southern hemisphere's big film events, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The Gold Coast is normally blessed by blue skies and bluer seas, but this time it was grey, wet and windy. To show off the classic "Gold Coast look," we had hired a helicopter with special "cineflex" cameras - that can shoot a stable image no matter how much turbulence the chopper encounters - to shoot the coastline from above.

The plan for the opening and closing sequences of the show was to fly the chopper in from the sea towards shore, running fast over the water Miami Vice-style, then pan up to reveal our presenter, Myleene Klass, perched on the deck of a boat saying "Welcome to the show."

Sounds simple, right? But each day we would prepare for this "money shot" and the weather would dash our hopes. No matter how much expensive technology you have, if the weather isn't with you then there's nothing you can do. The final day of the shoot dawned, we still hadn't got our shot, and Myleene, was due on a plane at 10am. Time was running out.

The boat's skipper relays instructions from the show producer in the chopper above the Myleene on the boat deck.

Logistical issues, like how to communicate, were also making things more complicated. The chopper is too noisy for a mobile phone so I had to cue Myleene to deliver her lines using a combination of hand signals and radioing between the chopper pilot and the skipper of the boat who would then instruct Myleene, inevitably causing a delay.

This meant the first attempt at the shot was a failure. Shortly after, it started raining again. The pilot's satellite indicated there would be rain for 10 minutes followed by a seven minute window of sunshine, followed by a long-lasting downpour. This shot had to work.

Success: both shots bagged just as the rain began to come down again.

We wiped the rainwater off the lenses and took off amid the gathering rain clouds. I timed my cues a bit later and we got the opening link and the closing link in the bag just as it started to rain once more.

Television: it's not brain surgery but sometimes it makes you feel like you're in need of some.

Watch the successful shots on this month's Screening Room which goes behind the scenes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, shows footage of the CNN APSA Viewer Choice Award for the Best Asia-Pacific film of all time and features an in-depth interview with Oliver Stone.