British Film Directors

British national cinema has produced an exceptional track record of innovative, creative and internationally recognised filmmakers, amongst them Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and David Lean. This tradition continues today with the work of directors as diverse as Neil Jordan, Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. This concise, authoritative volume analyses critically the work of 100 British directors, from the innovators of the silent period to contemporary auteurs. An introduction places the individual entries in context and examines the role and status of the director within British film production. Balancing academic rigour with accessibility, British Film Directors provides an indispensable reference source for film students at all levels, as well as for the general cinema enthusiast.Key features include:* A complete list of each director's British feature films.* Suggested further reading on each filmmaker.* A comprehensive career overview, including biographical information and an assessment of the director's current critical standing. * 10 B&W illustrations.

When examining the variety of British directors included here, the reader will see just how misleading the term 'British film' can be. The book places ten contemporary British directors side by side. But whilst the reader is able to trace certain common themes, comparisons between the characters are actually characterized by a startling degree of diversity of style and opinion.

A guide to directors who have worked in the British and Irish film industries between 1895 and 2005. Each of its 980 entries on individuals directors gives a resume of the director's career, evaluates their achievements and provides a complete filmography. It is useful for those interested in film-making in Britain and Ireland.

The guide encompasses the careers of over 350 directors from the last 20 years. A must for any film studies library, it is a unique reference to the changing dynamics of these cinemas.

This concise, authoritative volume analyses critically the work of 100 British directors, from the innovators of the silent period to contemporary auteurs.

A Sight & Sound Book of the Year "Eye-opening and addictively readable." Total Film Who and what decides if a film gets funded? How do those who control the purse strings also determine a film's content and even its message? Writing as the director of award-winning feature films including Welcome to Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People and The Road to Guantanamo as well as the hugely popular The Trip series, Michael Winterbottom provides an insider's view of the workings of international film funding and distribution, revealing how the studios that fund film production and control distribution networks also work against a sustainable independent film culture and limit innovation in filmmaking style and content. In addition to reflecting upon his own filmmaking career, featuring critical and commercial successes alongside a 'very long list' of films that didn't get made, Winterbottom also interviews leading contemporary filmmakers including Lynne Ramsay, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Asif Kapadia and Joanna Hogg about their filmmaking practice. The book closes with a vision of how the contemporary filmmaking landscape could be reformed for the better with fairer funding and payment practices allowing for a more innovative and sustainable 21st century industry.

This book focuses on the output of women film directors in the period post Millennium when the number of female directors working within the film industry rose substantially. Despite the fact that nationally and internationally women film directors are underrepresented within the industry, there is a wealth of talent currently working in Britain. During the early part of the 2000s, the UKFC instigated policies and strategies for gender equality and since then the British Film Institute has continued to encourage diversity. British Women Directors in the New Millennium therefore examines the production, distribution and exhibition of female directors’ work in light of policy. The book is divided into two sections: part one includes a historical background of women directors working in the twentieth century before discussing the various diversity funding opportunities available since 2000. The second part of the book examines the innovation, creativity and resourcefulness of British female film directors, as well as the considerable variety of films that they produce, selecting specific examples for analysis in the process.

Moreover, Phillips seeks to represent the various trends in filmmaking that have evolved over the years, such as American film noir, which is included in the discussion of Alfred Hitchcock's films, and British social realism, which is included in the discussion of Bryan Forbes's films."--BOOK JACKET.