James Marsh (director)

James Marsh
Born (1963-04-30) 30 April 1963
Truro, Cornwall, England, UK
Alma mater St Catherine's College, Oxford
Occupation Director
Children 2

James Marsh (born 30 April 1963) is a British film and documentary director best known for his work on Man on Wire, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and The Theory of Everything, the multi-award winning biopic of physicist Stephen Hawking released in 2014.[1]

Early life

Marsh was born in Truro, Cornwall and raised in Sennen, a Cornish village, and Woolwich, a district in southeast London. In Woolwich, he lived in a "miserable council flat" with his family.[2]

Marsh won a scholarship to the University of Oxford.[2] As an undergraduate, he studied at St Catherine's College, Oxford and graduated with a degree in English.[3]

Career

Marsh began his early career in directing with several documentaries made for the BBC. His first TV documentary was the 90-minute, Troubleman – The Last Years of Marvin Gaye, and was followed by the 26-minute 1990 documentary The Animator of Prague starring Jan Svankmajer and his works. Later came The Burger and the King: The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, in 1995, and the Welsh musician John Cale, which was made in 1998. His relationship continued with the BBC as a producer in 1993 for three Arena series episodes.

In 2005 he directed the film The King which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.[4]

In 2008 he made the documentary Man on Wire, about Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Man on Wire won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 81st annual Oscars, the BAFTA Award for Best British film, the Independent Spirit Award, and many others. The film, called "exhilarating", has had a hugely positive audience response and was among the Top Ten Films of 2008 on many critics' lists.

In 2009, he directed the "1980" episode of Red Riding, which aired on Channel 4 in the UK.

He also directed Project Nim in 2010, which is based on the book Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess. It is a documentary about the landmark study conducted by Herbert S. Terrace on the subject of animal language acquisition and the subject of the study is a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky. Marsh watched different films to gain inspiration before making Project Nim. He watched E.T., Frederick Wiseman's Primate, and the Bresson film Au hasard Balthazar. He gained the most information from Au hasard Balthazar which is a fictional account of a donkey as it passes through various human owners. The structure of Project Nim reflects a lot from this film as we see the drama of the human world through the eyes of the chimpanzee.[5]

In 2012, he directed Shadow Dancer,[6] a joint Irish/UK production about the Irish republican movement, which was filmed in Dublin and London. The film features Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, Domhnall Gleeson and Aidan Gillen.

Most recently he directed The Theory of Everything, a biopic on Stephen Hawking starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones.[7] Marsh received a nomination for the BAFTA for Best Director and the film was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Personal

Marsh currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, with his Danish wife and two daughters.[2][8]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Year Award / film Festival Category Work Result Ref(s)
2001 BAFTA Award Huw Wheldon Award Wisconsin Death Trip Nominated
2006 Gotham Awards Breakthrough Director Award The King Nominated
2008 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Documentary Man on Wire Won [9]
Directors Guild of America Best Director - Documentary Nominated
European Film Awards Best Documentary Nominated
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2008 Best Documentary Nominated
2009 Academy Awards Best Documentary Man on Wire Won [10]
BAFTA Award Best British Film Won [11]
Cinema Eye Honors Best Film-Making Won [12]
Best Director Nominated
Audience Choice Prize Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Documentary Won [13]
2011 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Documentary Project Nim Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2011 Best Documentary Won [14]
Directors Guild of America Best Director - Documentary Won [15]
2012 BAFTA Award Best Documentary Project Nim Nominated
Cinema Eye Honors Best Film-Making Nominated
Audience Choice Prize Nominated
Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Documentary Nominated
Dinard British Film Festival Golden Hitchcock Award Shadow Dancer Won [16]
Audience Award Won [16]
Edinburgh International Film Festival Best Feature Film Nominated
Film by the Sea International Film Festival Film Award Nominated
2013 Humanitas Prize Best Documentary Man on Wire Nominated
2015 BAFTA Award Best British Film The Theory of Everything Won [17]
Best Director Nominated

Filmography

Year Feature film Credit/Role Notes
1999 Wisconsin Death Trip Writer/Director/Producer San Sebastián International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize – Special Mention
Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Specialised Programme or Series
Nominated – Stockholm Film Festival Bronze Horse
2005 The Team Writer
2005 The King Writer/Director Philadelphia Film Festival American Independents Award
Nominated – Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director Award
2008 Man on Wire Director Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
BAFTA Award for Best British Film
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Documentary Feature Film
Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature
International Documentary Association Award for Best Feature Documentary
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Documentary
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize
Sundance Film Festival Audience Award
Nominated – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Nominated – European Film Award for Best Documentary
Nominated – Gotham Award for Best Documentary
Nominated – Robert Festival Award for Best Non-American Film
2011 Project Nim Director Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Documentary
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Humanitas Prize for Documentaries (Runner-up)
Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary
Sundance Film Festival Directing Award
Nominated – BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary Film
Nominated – Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award Best Documentary Feature Film
Nominated – Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Documentary
Nominated – Miami International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize
Nominated – News & Documentary Emmy Award for Best Documentary
2011 Shadow Dancer Director Dinard British Film Festival Golden Hitchcock Award
Dinard British Film Festival Audience Award
Nominated – Edinburgh International Film Festival Award for Best British Feature Film
2014 The Theory of Everything Director Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Direction
2017 The Mercy Director

References

  1. "THE Q&A: JAMES MARSH, FILM DIRECTOR". 24 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview: James Marsh". RadioTimes. 12 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. "12TH BELFAST FILM FESTIVAL : JAMES MARSH". 24 September 2013.
  4. "Festival de Cannes: The King". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  5. "'Shadow Dancer' Begins Filming in Ireland". IFTN. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  6. Child, Ben (13 June 2013). "Eddie Redmayne set to play Stephen Hawking in biopic". The Guardian.
  7. James Marsh talks about Red Riding and the Ripper
  8. "2008 EDA Awards". AWFJ.org. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  9. "Academy Awards". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  10. "2009 Bafta". Bafta.org. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  11. Willmore, Alison (2009-01-19). "2009 Cinema Eye". IFC.com. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  12. Brooks, Brian (2009-02-21). ""The Wrestler" Leads 2009 Spirit Award Winners". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  13. "BFC Award". Bostonfilmcritics.org. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  14. "DGA Awards". Dga.org. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  15. 1 2 "2012 Festival du Film". Festivaldufilm. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  16. "2015 BAFTA Awards". BAFTA.org. Retrieved 2015-02-12.

External links

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