Nick Broomfield

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Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film producer.

His self-reflexive style has been regarded as influential to several younger filmmakers.

He began using non-actors in scripted projects in the early 21st century, which he describes as "Direct Cinema."

His publications range from entertainment research to sociological studies, as well as assessments of South Africa before and after apartheid's ouster and the rise of Nelson Mandela's black-majority government and the African National Congress party. Most of the time, Broomfield employs a minimal crew, recording sound himself, and using one or two camera operators.

He is often seen in the finished film, often clutching the sound boom and carrying the Nagra tape recorder.

Early life and education

Nicholas Broomfield was born in 1948. He is the son of photographer Maurice Broomfield (1916-2010) and Sonja Lavenne (1922-1982). His mother was a Czech Jew. Broomfield was educated at Sidcot School, a Quaker boarding independent school for boys (now co-educational), near the village of Winscombe, Somerset, south west England, from 1959 to 1965. He obtained a high-level education at University College Cardiff (which later became Cardiff University in 1999), where he studied law, and the University of Essex, where he concentrated on political science. Subsequently, he studied film at the National Film and Television School in London. The comparison of observed scenes in a Broomfield's early style was typical cinéma vérité: no use of voice-over or text was made in this regard.

Personal life

Barney and Charlie Broomfield are his two sons.

He professes irreligion, according to Broomfield, who claims that the BBC is incorrect. "I believe there's a goodness out there," he said, and I believe there's goodness in everyone." We should probably all try and have a good look around to see what it is."

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Career in documentaries

After more than a decade of working as a filmmaker, Broomfield altered his film style, appearing on-screen for the first time in Chicken Ranch (1983). After several arguments regarding the budget and nature of the film, he decided that he would make the documentary only if he could experiment by filming the very process of making the film—the arguments, the failed interviews and the dead-ends.

This shift in film-making style was strongly influenced by Broomfield's struggles in trying to gain distribution for his earlier documentary, Lily Tomlin, which chronicled the American comedian's one-woman show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Tomlin claimed the film was a spoiler for her show and filed suit for $7 million in damages. The documentary was shown on public television but not widely released. Eventually Broomfield's documentary was incorporated into the video release of the one-woman show.

Broomfield became known for this self-reflective film-making style: making films that were also about the making itself as well as the ostensible subject. His influence on documentary could be seen in the work of younger filmmakers of the first decade of the 21st century: according to The Guardian, Michael Moore, Louis Theroux and Morgan Spurlock each demonstrated similar styles in their recent box-office hits. Such filmmakers have been classified as Les Nouvelles Egotistes; others have likened Broomfield's work to the Gonzo journalism of American Hunter S. Thompson.

Kurt & Courtney, about American musicians Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, was selected for the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Its screening was cancelled by the festival after Love threatened to sue, as the film was released after Cobain's death. A previous film, Soldier Girls, which Broomfield co-directed with Joan Churchill, won first prize at the BAFTA Film Awards a few years previously.

In 2006, Broomfield changed his style again, adopting techniques of what he calls 'Direct Cinema': using non-actors to play themselves in dramas with a screenplay. He completed a drama called Ghosts for Channel 4; this was inspired by the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, when 23 Chinese immigrant cockle pickers drowned after being cut off by the tides. Ghosts won an award and helped raise nearly £500,000 to help the victims' families.

In Battle for Haditha (2007), Broomfield worked with ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, as well as known actors. The film was shot sequentially, enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations, and a very small documentary-style film crew. Although working from a detailed script, Broomfield allowed the actors to improvise and add dialogue. Broomfield based his script on research with the Marines of Kilo Company who took part in the fighting on that day, the survivors of the massacre, and the six-thousand page NCIS government report. Battle for Haditha won two international awards.

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Awards

• British Academy Award (BAFTA)
• Prix Italia
• The Dupont Columbia Award for Outstanding Journalism
• The Peabody
• The Royal Television Society Award
• First Prize, Sundance Film Festival
• John Grierson Award
• Robert Flaherty Award
• The Hague Peace Prize
• The Chris Award
• The Blue Ribbon
• The California State Bar Award
• First Prize, Chicago Film Festival
• First Prize, US Film Festival
• First Prize, Festival of Mannheim
• First Prize, Festival di Popoli
• Special Jury Award, Melbourne Film Festival
• Inspiration Award, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011