Prominent British Film Directors
Many of the most famous and successful films were not directed by the American but by British film directors. The directors mentioned below played the key role in the development of modern film industry and went into history with their outstanding work.
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Sir David Lean (1908-1991). One of the greatest British directors of all times directed a number of internationally acclaimed films including The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1962) and A Passage to India (1984) all of which won Academy Awards and a number of other prestigious film awards. Lean himself won two Academy Awards of total nine nominations.
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Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). The celebrated English film director and producer is best remembered for his films in the psychological thriller and suspense genres. He directed more over 50 films of which 16 were nominated for Academy Awards. Hitchcock himself was nominated five times but was never awarded. But he did win a large number of other prestigious film awards, while the Queen honoured him with the Order of the British Empire in 1980 for his contribution to film culture.
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Michael Powell (1905-1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902-1988). The two film directors, also known as The Archers went into history of the British film with a series of internationally successful films such as 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948) and many others winning totally five Academy Awards. For their contribution to British film, they were awarded BAFTA Academy Fellowship in 1981.
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Mike Leigh (1943- ). Film and theatre director, and writer directed his first film - Bleak Moments in 1971. His first major success came only with High Hopes in 1988, while his film directing career took off in the 1990s. Leigh’s most notable films include Life is Sweet (1990), Cannes Best Director Award winning Naked (1993), Palme d’Or and BAFTA winning Secrets & Lies (1996) and Vera Drake (2004) that won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and three BAFTAs.
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Danny Boyle (1956- ). One of Britain’s currently most respected film directors is known for his internationally successful films such as Slumdog Millionaire (2008) which won eight Academy Awards (nominated for ten including for Best Picture and Best Director), seven BAFTA Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. Other prominent films by Boyle include Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002) and 127 Hours (2010).
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David Yates (1963- ). He rose to prominence in the film directing world when he was hired by David Heyman to direct the last four films from the series of Harry Potter. Before that, he was mainly shooting television and short films. For six-part drama State of Play (2003), Yates won the Directors Guild of Great Britain Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, while The Gilr in the Cafe television drama won him Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie.