Michael Winterbottom

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Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English filmmaker.

He began his career working in British television before moving into features.

Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Winterbottom often works with the same actors; many faces can be seen in several of his films, including Shirley Henderson, Paul Popplewell, John Simm, Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Raymond Waring and Kieran O'Brien.

Early life

Winterbottom was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. He went to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, and then studied English at Balliol College, Oxford, before going to film school at Bristol University, where his contemporaries included Marc Evans.

Personal life

Winterbottom was married to Sabrina Broadbent, with whom he has two daughters. After their divorce, Broadbent wrote her debut novel, Descent: An Irresistible Tragicomedy of Everyday Life, a roman à clef about their marriage.

Winterbottom is an atheist.

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Career

In 1989, Winterbottom's television directing career began with a documentary about Ingmar Bergman and an episode of the children's series Dramarama. He followed this with the television film Forget About Me, starring Ewen Bremner in 1990, which followed two British soldiers who became involved in a love triangle with a young Hungarian hitchhiker on their way to Budapest for a Simple Minds concert.

He produced episodes of many British television shows, including the four-part children's series Time Riders and an episode of Boon, in 1991.

He produced Under the Sun, a young British woman touring in Greece in 1992, starring Kate Hardie.

He produced an episode of Inspector Alleyn Mysteries in 1993; Love Lies Bleeding, Ronan Bennett's television film about a homeless IRA prisoner on a 24-hour home leave from prison in Belfast; and The Mad Woman in the Attic, Jimmy McGovern's mystery series Cracker's pilot.

He supervised the 1994 mini-series Family, written by Roddy Doyle. Each of the four episodes was focusing on one individual of a working-class Dublin family. When Winterbottom was turned into a film and shown at festivals, it was this series that first attracted filmgoers.

The 1995 episode of Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, focusing on Scandinavian silent cinema, was his final television project.

Winterbottom's 1995 film debut established his keen eye, naturalistic style, and persuasive use of pop songs to promote plot. As they slaughtered their way across Northern England's motorways, a mentally impaired lesbian serial killer and her subpoena are falling in love. It was only a limited run.

He and Jimmy McGovern reunited for the BBC television film Go Now, the story of a young man who develops multiple sclerosis right when he meets the love of his life. The film, which was focusing on the political difficulties that surrounds the couple, was released in many countries, including the United States.

Winterbottom adapted Thomas Hardy's bleak classic Jude the Obscure, a tale of forbidden love between two cousins that had so shocked British society when it was announced in 1895 that Hardy gave up novel-writing. This was not Winterbottom's first time doing the pig slaughter sequence at film school, but it wasn't the first time anyone approached the project. Winterbottom's first screening at Cannes and countless Hollywood offers, despite which he eventually turned down, were broadcasting Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet.

Welcome to Sarajevo was shot on location in Sarajevo just months after the Siege of Sarajevo had ended, lending to the city's authenticity and encouraging frequent intercutting of authentic news footage from the war. The film is based on Michael Nicholson's true account of a young orphanage girl who was spirited out of the war zone to safety in the United Kingdom.

Both of Winterbottom's next two films had distribution issues and were not widely distributed. I Want You is a neo-noir sex drama set in a declining British seaside resort town. Rachel Weisz and Alessandro Nivola were shot in vibrant primary colors by Polish cinematographer S.awomir Idziak and was inspired by the Elvis Costello song of the same name. At the 48th Berlin International Film Festival, Idziak received the Honourable Mention Award for his contribution to the film.

With or Without You, starring Christopher Eccleston, is a light Belfast-set sex comedy about a couple who are trying to conceive but who must first have past loves to re-enter their lives.

Wonderland's 1999 model represented a significant change in style for Winterbottom, with its loose, handheld photography, and often improvised conversation that attracted comparisons to Robert Altman. It stars Gina McKee, Shirley Henderson, Molly Parker, John Simm, Ian Hart, and Stuart Townsend. It is the story of three sisters and their extended family against Guy Fawkes Day weekend in London. The disparate elements are tied together by minimalist composer Michael Nyman's orchestral score, who would become a frequent collaborator with Winterbottom.

Winterbottom completed the project with The Claim, Thomas Hardy's version of The Mayor of Casterbridge, which was set in 1860s California. Shot with a budget of $20 million in the wilds of Canada, it wasn't a financial success and turned into an ordeal, with Winterbottom himself suffering frostbite. With sets already installed in Spain, the production had been ready to shoot when funds were not able to be financed. On an unusually frank official website, attempts to cast Madonna, a role that was later played by Milla Jovovich, and many of the production's specifics and challenges were explained to the public.

24 Hour Party People is a newspaper published in Manchester, England. Factory Records and the music scene exploded and fell from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, according to the anarchic, opioid, and sex fuelled rise and decline of the influential brand Factory Records and the Manchester music scene. The film stars Steve Coogan as broadcaster/music-mogul Tony Wilson, and it's as much an ode to Manchester as the story of the modern musical world.

In This World's 2002 film In This World chronicles two Afghan refugees from Pakistan, around the Middle East and Europe, to Britain, which they are attempting to enter with the help of people smugglers. Winterbottom received numerous accolades, including a Golden Bear and a BAFTA for best film not in the English language, shot on digital video with non-professional actors who virtually lived out the movie's events.

Code 46 is a futuristic romantic mystery set in a world where cloning has created people so interconnected that stringent guidelines (the Code 46 of the title) regulate human reproduction. It's basically a film noir in the sense that it follows Tim Robbins as he investigates a femme fatale played by Samantha Morton. The film's highly stylized scenes were created on a tight budget by sending the tiny crew around the world, shooting in locations that might not have existed for one hundred years. The majority of the film was shot in Shanghai, but Dubai and Rajasthan, India, were also mixed to create a multiethnic melting-pot culture.

9 Songs, which were released in 2004, attracted acclaim for being the first sexually explicit film to receive a certificate of general release in the United Kingdom. It depicts a year-long relationship between two couples, almost entirely due to their sexual relationship and a few rock concerts attended by the couple. The nine songs of the film's title often reflect on the couple's chemistry during these performances. Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley's candid scenes of unsimulated sex between the leads made the film popular in the United Kingdom.

He followed this tale with 2006's A Cock and Bull Story, which was published in the United States and Australia as Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. It's an adaptation of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman's, one of the oldest books, and it's widely "unfilmable" The Life and Opinions of the latter. Shandy is a narrator so easily distracted in relating his personal life that by the time of the book, he hasn't come to his own birth. The film, in a similar vein, is about the creation of a film of Tristram Shandy by Tristram Shandy and its impossibility. In addition, it explores the impossibility of portraying life in a work of art as well as the effort's value. Shandy and Coogan appear as himself and Shandy. Winterbottom's long association with writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, who wanted to be credited under the pseudonym Martin Hardy, was also marked by the film.

The Road to Guantanamo by Winterbottom is a docu-drama about three British Muslims who were captured by US forces in Afghanistan and spent two years as prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as suspected enemy combatants. In the fall of 2005, it was fired in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran (which doubled for Cuba). On February 14, 2006, it premiered at the Berlinale. On March 9, it premiered on television in the United Kingdom as a result of Channel 4's co-financed it.

A Mighty Heart is based on the book by Mariane Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl. Angelina Jolie stars in the film, pregnant Mariane's search for her missing husband in Pakistan in 2002. It was shot in India, Pakistan, and France by Jolie's partner Brad Pitt in the fall of 2006 and premiered out of competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007.

Genova is a family drama starring Colin Firth, who moves his two American daughters to Italy after his wife's death. The oldest child begins to investigate her sexuality, while the younger one begins to see her mother's ghost. During the summer of 2007, Catherine Keener and Hope Davis co-starred in the titular city of Genoa, Italy. Laurence Correat, a wonderland screenwriter, wrote it. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, and Winterbottom later received the Silver Shell for best director at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

On a documentary based on Naomi Klein's best-selling book The Shock Doctrine, Winterbottom was reunited with his The Road to Guantanamo co-director Mat Whitecross. The film follows the use of upheavals and disasters by several governments as a cover for the introduction of free market economic policies that benefit only a select few. Klein rejected the film at first after learning that it would be made almost entirely of period footage and narration, with virtually no interview information available. On September 1, 2009, the film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and premiered in the United Kingdom on Channel 4's More4 documentary channel. It was its American premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, along with Winterbottom's following film. Klein, who had reconciled herself with the filmmakers' approach, took part in a Q&A with Winterbottom and Whitecross at the festival.

Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba's film of Jim Thompson's 1952 noir novel follows a small town Texas sheriff (Affleck), who is also a psychotic killer, through to complete madness. It premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, sparking controversies over the brutality of its abuse against women. "It's not the real world," Winterbottom said in his defense. It's a bit like a mirror image of the real world... "I was taken in by this world."

This improvised six-episode comedy film, shot in the English Lake District and written and directed by Winterbottom, stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as the semi-fictionalized versions of themselves in A Cock and Bull Story. In order to impress his girlfriend Misha (Margo Stilley), Coogan, an actor unhappy with his work, agrees to write a series of restaurant reviews for The Observer. Brydon has snuckled him as the series begins, and she has been invited to take her place on the holiday. Each episode of the series revolves around a particular gourmet dish, with restaurant names indicating the episode's name. The episodes were turned into a full film for the US market, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, although the complete series premiered on BBC Two on November 2010.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Winterbottom's latest retelling of Tess of the d'Urbervilles is his third Thomas Hardy film. Riz Ahmed and Freida Pinto appear in this film, which was shot in Jaipur and Mumbai, India, in early 2011. On September 9, 2011, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was launched in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2012, and in the United States on July 13.

Known as Seven Days and Later, the film stars John Simm as a man in prison for drug-smuggling and charts his relationship with his wife, played by Shirley Henderson, during its lengthy run. The film, written by Winterbottom and Laurence Correat, was shot a few weeks at a time in a five-year cycle from 2007 to 2012 to represent the protagonist's time in jail and create an authentic aging process. Everyday premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 3rd, 2012, and then screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2012. The film was produced by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and premiered on television on November 15, 2012, then released theatrically on January 18, 2013. The film was honoured with the FIPRESCI award at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November.

The Look of Love, originally known as The King of Soho, but it had to be cancelled due to a legal dispute, is a biography of respected British pornographer/strip club owner/real estate developer Paul Raymond, who reteams Winterbottom with Steve Coogan, who plays Raymond. Imogen Poots, Anna Friel, and Tamsin Egerton were among the film's costs, and Matt Greenhalgh wrote them. On the 26th of April 2013, it was announced in the United Kingdom.

In the summer of 2013, Winterbottom filmed a second series of the hit TV show, this time taking Coogan and Brydon on a culinary tour of Italy. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats are among the Romantics' routes, as it follows. IFC Films released it in the United States as a shorter feature-length film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014. In April 2014, the complete series premiered on BBC Two.

In November 2013, Winterbottom returned to Italy to film The Face of an Angel, starring Daniel Brühl, Kate Beckinsale, and Cara Delevingne. Paul Viragh's script was inspired in part by Barbie Latza Nadeau's book Angel Faced. Amanda Knox's trial, conviction, and eventual acquittal of American student Amanda Knox for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher was inspired by her film. However, the film is not about the true Knox case but rather focuses on a filmmaker (Brühl) who becomes obsessed with the investigation. In 2010, Winterbottom travelled to Perugia, Italy, and attended legal hearings on the project. He said at the time that the film would be fictionalized and place more emphasis on journalists and the media circus surrounding the trial than on the actual events in dispute. At the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, the film premiered.

In October 2014, Winterbottom began shooting this documentary. Russell Brand's film examines the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and global economic inequality. On April 21, 2015, it premiered in London and on April 24, 2015 at the Tribeca Film Festival, followed by its international premiere on April 24th.

When the band is on tour, the film follows Wolf Alice, focusing on two fictional members of the band's crew, played by Leah Harvey and James McArdle. At the BFI London Film Festival on October 9, 2016, it premiered on October 9, 2016.

Winterbottom was reunited with Coogan and Brydon for their third six-episode series in which the two guys traveled around Spain, visiting Cantabria, the Basque region, Aragon, La Rioja, Castile-La Mancha, and Andalusia. In September 2016, the series debuted as a 6-part weekly TV series on Sky Atlantic and as a shorter feature film on the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2017. On August 11, 2017, the film was released in the United States.

The narrator of a young British Muslim man who flies to Pakistan to kidnap a young woman on the eve of her proposed marriage is chronicled in this drama. In February 2018, Dev Patel and Radhika Apte appear on Dev Patel and Radhika Apte, and filming in Jaipur, India and other locations in Rajasthan began. On September 8, 2018, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time.

Greed is a comedy satirizing the lives of the ultra wealthy, starring Steve Coogan as a fictional retail fashion magnate, Isla Fisher as his wife, and David Mitchell as a journalist hired to cover the billionaire's life. The film is set at Mykonos' disastrous 60th birthday party, exposing the difference between the character's fortune and the workers' abject poverty. Sacha Baron Cohen had been scheduled to star in the film. In December 2018, Winterbottom began shooting in December 2018. On September 7, 2019, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In January 2019, Coogan and Brydon announced that they will reunite with Winterbottom for their fourth series of their famous program, which will be set in Greece. On June 12, 2019, filming began. On SkyOne, a six-part weekly television series premiered on March 3rd. In the United States, it was turned into a feature film, with IFC Films' planned theatrical release in summer 2020 postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 20, 2020, the first digital and on demand version debuted.

On September 5, 2020, Winterbottom began filming his part of the film. The documentary film will feature five 15-minute segments from directors around Europe, with Winterbottom handling the UK portion. Julia von Heinz (Germany), Fernando León de Aranoa (Spain), Jaco Van Dormael (Belgium), and Michele Placido (Italy).

In May, Winterbottom co-directed the 2022 film Eleven Days. The film examines the deaths of over 60 Palestinian children killed by Israel during Gaza's bombardment of Gaza during an 11-day period in May 2021. Mohammed Sawwaf, a Gaza-based filmmaker, was the other director, and Kate Winslet provided the narration.

For The Jewish Chronicle, David Rose wrote a critical essay about the film. Rose said that the film "fails to include criticism directed of Hamas for launching rockets from densely populated areas of Gaza, effectively turning the civilian population into a human shield" and neglects to mention the 13 Israelis killed by rockets fired from Gaza, including two children.

Boris Johnson's leadership of the United Kingdom began with his appointment as Prime Minister and continuing into the COVID-19 pandemic, and his family welcomed their son, and Britain suffered among the world's highest death tolls. Kenneth Branagh appears as Johnson, Ophelia Lovibond portrays Carrie Symonds and Simon Paisley Day as Dominic Cummings. Winterbottom was supposed to star all five episodes, but he co-wrote with Kieron Quirke. Winterbottom resigned from directing in March after the miniseries debuted in February 2021, citing health problems. On September 28, 2022, Sky's miniseries was shown.

Promised Land, a political drama set in 1930s/1940s British Mandatory Palestine, is his next project. Douglas Booth, Harry Melling, and Irina Starshenbaum are expected to begin filming in October 2022. For many years, the scheme has been in the works. In 2010, Jim Sturgess, Colin Firth, and Matthew Macfadyen were announced as the company's stars. Two British police officers will be sent to kill Zionist terrorist Avraham Stern, a zionist hacker, and Firth will be a British Mandate cabinet official. Winterbottom and Laurence Cortinat wrote the screenplay. Despite the fact that the film never came out in 2010, Winterbottom did film a documentary film in Israel with surviving participants in the festivities.

In 2017, Winterbottom announced that it was collaborating with Annapurna Pictures on the battle in Syria, focusing on foreign journalists and non-governmental organisations. He first revealed that he was researching the issue in May 2017.

Winterbottom was hired in May 2014 to film a feature adaptation of Richard Hammer's 1982 book The Vatican Connection, the true story of how NYPD detective Joe Coffey discovered links between the Vatican and the Mafia while looking into a local New York mobster, sparking a worldwide investigation. It was supposed to be written by Paul Viragh, based on Alessandro Camon's earlier script.

In October 2011, Winterbottom was hired to direct an adaptation of Richard DiLello's 1973 book The Longest Cocktail Party. It was designed to tell the tale of Apple Corps, the record company founded by The Beatles in 1968. It was designed to represent the company and its employees, including DiLello and Derek Taylor, from 1968 to its closing in 1970, when The Beatles split. Jesse Armstrong and Andrew Eaton and Liam Gallagher were supposed to have modified the book.

Winterbottom was hired by writer Jess Walter's book The Financial Lives of the Poets in May 2011, which Walter adapted for the screen. The film, directed by Jack Black, was supposed to follow a man who loses his job and must keep his family afloat by working as a pot dealer.

Winterbottom released a book about the British independent film industry, based on his own experience and observations with 15 other notable British directors, including Pawe Pawlikowski, Danny Boyle, Joanna Morley, Asif Kapadia, Andrew Haigh, Andrew Morley, Asif Kapadia, Andrew Morley, Stephen Morley, Richard Neigh, Peter Strickland, and Ken Loach in 2021.

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