Brian Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Brian Gilbert is a film director
. Born in England
, he spent much of his childhood in Australia
, where he was a child actor
of film, television and radio. Returning to England
at the age of fourteen, he completed his education at Oxford University.
He continued working as a professional actor until 1979, when he joined the National Film and Television School as a directing student. So well-received was his graduation film, The Devotee that producer David Puttnam
immediately commissioned him to write and direct a feature length film for the Channel Four First Love series back in the 80s. From there, he went on to direct The Frog Prince (1984 film)
(French Lessons US title), a French-English co-production.
Subsequently, he has worked in both Hollywood and the UK, directing Vice Versa
in 1988, and in 1990 - Not Without My Daughter
, the adaptation of the controversial best-seller of the same name, which starred Sally Field
as Betty Mahmoody
.
Four years later came Tom & Viv
starring Willem Dafoe
and Miranda Richardson
, the story of poet T. S. Eliot
's first marriage, nominated for two Academy Awards. This was eventually followed by the 1997 production Wilde
, starring Jude Law
and Stephen Fry
, based on the Richard Ellmann
biography of Oscar Wilde
. In 2002, he directed The Gathering, starring Christina Ricci
.
He wrote and directed the documentary Lord Haw-Haw: Portrait of a Fanatic for UK and Irish television, and in 2006, directed the stage version of Mary Kenny
's play Allegiance
, starring Mel Smith
, and produced by Daniel Jewel
, at the Edinburgh Festival
. He is currently a regular guest tutor at the National Film and Television School
.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. Born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he spent much of his childhood in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where he was a child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
of film, television and radio. Returning to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at the age of fourteen, he completed his education at Oxford University.
He continued working as a professional actor until 1979, when he joined the National Film and Television School as a directing student. So well-received was his graduation film, The Devotee that producer David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
immediately commissioned him to write and direct a feature length film for the Channel Four First Love series back in the 80s. From there, he went on to direct The Frog Prince (1984 film)
The Frog Prince (1984 film)
The Frog Prince is a 1984 romantic comedy film written and directed by Brian Gilbert. The film was a British and French co-production and was released in the US under the title French Lessons. The story revolves around a young British girl who travels to Paris to go to college, and is determined...
(French Lessons US title), a French-English co-production.
Subsequently, he has worked in both Hollywood and the UK, directing Vice Versa
Vice Versa (1988 film)
Vice Versa is a 1988 comedy film starring Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the 1882 novel of the same name by F. Anstey...
in 1988, and in 1990 - Not Without My Daughter
Not Without My Daughter
Not Without My Daughter is a film released in 1991 depicting the escape of American citizen Betty Mahmoody and her daughter from her husband in Iran. The film was shot in the United States and Israel, and the main characters are played by Sally Field and Alfred Molina...
, the adaptation of the controversial best-seller of the same name, which starred Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
as Betty Mahmoody
Betty Mahmoody
Betty Mahmoody is an American author and public speaker best known for her book, Not Without My Daughter, which was subsequently made into a film of the same name...
.
Four years later came Tom & Viv
Tom & Viv
Tom & Viv is a 1984 play by British playwright, Michael Hastings, which tells the story of the relationship between the American poet, T. S. Eliot, and his first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot...
starring Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
and Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
, the story of poet T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's first marriage, nominated for two Academy Awards. This was eventually followed by the 1997 production Wilde
Wilde (film)
Wilde is a 1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert with Stephen Fry in the title role. The screenplay by Julian Mitchell is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.-Plot:...
, starring Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
and Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, based on the Richard Ellmann
Richard Ellmann
Richard David Ellmann was a prominent American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats...
biography of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
. In 2002, he directed The Gathering, starring Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
.
He wrote and directed the documentary Lord Haw-Haw: Portrait of a Fanatic for UK and Irish television, and in 2006, directed the stage version of Mary Kenny
Mary Kenny
Mary Kenny is an Irish author, broadcaster, playwright and journalist. She was a founder member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, though she has modified her radical past, but not rejected feminist principles....
's play Allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
, starring Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
, and produced by Daniel Jewel
Daniel Jewel
Daniel Jewel is a London based film producer and director. A graduate of Bristol University and Oxford University he has worked with British film directors such as Stephen Poliakoff, Charles Sturridge and Brian Gilbert. In 2006 he produced the play Allegiance at the Edinburgh Festival, which...
, at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. He is currently a regular guest tutor at the National Film and Television School
National Film and Television School
The National Film and Television School was established in 1971 and is based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, and it is located close to Pinewood Studios.-History:...
.
Filmography
- Lord Haw-Haw: Portrait of a Fanatic (documentary) - 2005
- The Gathering - 2002
- WildeWilde (film)Wilde is a 1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert with Stephen Fry in the title role. The screenplay by Julian Mitchell is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.-Plot:...
- 1997 - Tom & VivTom & VivTom & Viv is a 1984 play by British playwright, Michael Hastings, which tells the story of the relationship between the American poet, T. S. Eliot, and his first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot...
- 1994 - Not Without My DaughterNot Without My DaughterNot Without My Daughter is a film released in 1991 depicting the escape of American citizen Betty Mahmoody and her daughter from her husband in Iran. The film was shot in the United States and Israel, and the main characters are played by Sally Field and Alfred Molina...
- 1991 - Vice VersaVice Versa (1988 film)Vice Versa is a 1988 comedy film starring Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the 1882 novel of the same name by F. Anstey...
- 1988 - French LessonThe Frog Prince (1984 film)The Frog Prince is a 1984 romantic comedy film written and directed by Brian Gilbert. The film was a British and French co-production and was released in the US under the title French Lessons. The story revolves around a young British girl who travels to Paris to go to college, and is determined...
- 1985 - Sharma and Beyond - 1984