P OWELL AND P RESSBURGER British Film Producers/ Writers/ Directors

P OWELL AND P RESSBURGER F ILMOGRAPHY – M OST S UCCESSFUL F ILMS The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp The Volunteer A Canterbury Tale I Know Where I’m Going A Matter of Life and Death Black Narcissus The Red Shoes The Small Black Room Gone To Earth

A SHORT H ISTORY British film partnership - Michael Powell ( )= Director - Emeric Pressburger ( ) = Writer Also known as ‘The Archers’, their production company name. They shared a ‘writer-director-producer’ credit, which is unusual in the industry. Their films consisted of inventive creations, and were incredible distinctive for their time. In 1981 they recieved a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award Having recieved a huge amount of critisism for their unique films, they managed to become one of Britains most loved and influential film makers. Their partnership came to an end in 1957, but they remained forever devoted friends.

T HE A RCHERS M ANIFESTO In a letter to Deborah Kerr, Pressburger created five points to highlight the intentions of ‘The Archers’ 1. We owe allegiance to nobody except the financial interests which provide our money; and, to them, the sole responsibility of ensuring them a profit, not a loss. 2. Every single foot in our films is our own responsibility and nobody else's. We refuse to be guided or coerced by any influence but our own judgement. 3. When we start work on a new idea we must be a year ahead, not only of our competitors, but also of the times. A real film, from idea to universal release, takes a year. Or more. 4. No artist believes in escapism. And we secretly believe that no audience does. We have proved, at any rate, that they will pay to see the truth, for other reasons than her nakedness.escapism 5. At any time, and particularly at the present, the self respect of all collaborators, from star to prop-man, is sustained, or diminished, by the theme and purpose of the film they are working on.

P ROPERGANDA They created some films within the periods of war which have been described as properganda films, and through these inspired their British audience to have an increased sense of patriotism, something that was important in a time of crisis. These films usually had values of solidarity, pride and courage. Their main aim was to create anti-German messages ‘49 th Parallel’ was the most successful of these films Trailer: UkQrIQAhttp:// UkQrIQA Speech scene :

I NVENTIVE Their films were consistently describe as ‘unique, inventive and boundary-breaking’ due to their imaginative storyline and direction. The Red Shoes (1:20)

D EVOTED F OLLOWERS Martin Scorsese Frances Ford Coppola Steven Spielberg Ridley Scott Danny Boyle Tilda Swinton Roman Polanski Sam Mendes Kate Bush Jarvis Cocker Stephen Fry Chris Weitz Courtney Love Ken Russell Franz Ferdinand Daniel Radcliffe

A WARDS & H ONOURS British Film Institute place 4 of their films in the ‘Top 50 British Films of the 20 th Century, with The Red Shoes placing top 10. Winners of 5 Oscars, and of 3 other individual film awards. Contribution to film awards include: National Film Theatre – partial retrospective Dartmouth Film Award BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award Career Gold Lion- Venice Film Festival Fellows of the British Film Institute Akira Kurosawa Award from San Fransisco International Film Festival