Gita Mehta, whose books transformed Western ideas on India, died today at her home in New Delhi. She was 80.
Nicholas Latimer, a vice president and director of publicity at Knopf, where Ms. Mehta’s husband, Sonny Mehta, was president and editor in chief for many years, said the cause was complications of a stroke.
Gita Mehta and her husband — who was an influential editor in his time — were international literary stars, frequently appearing in New York, London and India.
In 1979 Ms. Mehta published her first book, “Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East,” a mix of anecdotes and commentary on Westerners seeking enlightment in India, often getting ripped off in the process.
She was also the writer/director for the 1971 TV series World in Action, a documentary on current. affairs. In her 20s, she worked on British documentaries while teaching at Bombay University.
Nicholas Latimer, a vice president and director of publicity at Knopf, where Ms. Mehta’s husband, Sonny Mehta, was president and editor in chief for many years, said the cause was complications of a stroke.
Gita Mehta and her husband — who was an influential editor in his time — were international literary stars, frequently appearing in New York, London and India.
In 1979 Ms. Mehta published her first book, “Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East,” a mix of anecdotes and commentary on Westerners seeking enlightment in India, often getting ripped off in the process.
She was also the writer/director for the 1971 TV series World in Action, a documentary on current. affairs. In her 20s, she worked on British documentaries while teaching at Bombay University.
- 9/23/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul Greengrass may no longer be a journalist, but he has successfully brought a journalistic style to both action films and historical dramas over his career. The filmmaker is best known for his hand-held, cinéma vérité style where the camera moves like a cameraman embedded in the scene, struggling to capture real events. His style is often imitated, though few are able to match the subtly precise way that Greengrass constructs his sequences through quick cutting and frenetic camerawork. Despite being famous for a specific filmmaking technique, Greengrass’ filmography is still quite diverse, which should be apparent in the gallery below.
He began his career working for the audacious British current affairs program “World in Action.” He transitioned to fiction filmmaking with a series of TV movies based on historical events. His breakout hit was the historical drama “Bloody Sunday,” chronicling the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings. Greengrass was then hired to...
He began his career working for the audacious British current affairs program “World in Action.” He transitioned to fiction filmmaking with a series of TV movies based on historical events. His breakout hit was the historical drama “Bloody Sunday,” chronicling the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings. Greengrass was then hired to...
- 8/5/2023
- by Zach Moore and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Broadcasters can arrest their fall in ratings by making “really clever and difficult programs,” according to Dorothy Byrne, Channel 4’s head of news and current affairs, who delivered the keynote MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday night.
Speaking to an Edinburgh auditorium packed with many of the U.K.’s most senior executives, Byrne said that broadcasters who are “desperate for young audiences” should tap into the fact that millions of them are now politically aware and active, listening to podcasts and Ted Talks and reading books on serious subjects such as climate change and the viability of financial systems.
“We have to stop being afraid of serious analysis authored by big brainy people. We have the ability and we have the airtime. Let’s make some really clever and difficult programs.”
Byrne, who was following in the footsteps of previous MacTaggart lecturers such as Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner,...
Speaking to an Edinburgh auditorium packed with many of the U.K.’s most senior executives, Byrne said that broadcasters who are “desperate for young audiences” should tap into the fact that millions of them are now politically aware and active, listening to podcasts and Ted Talks and reading books on serious subjects such as climate change and the viability of financial systems.
“We have to stop being afraid of serious analysis authored by big brainy people. We have the ability and we have the airtime. Let’s make some really clever and difficult programs.”
Byrne, who was following in the footsteps of previous MacTaggart lecturers such as Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner,...
- 8/21/2019
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Kong: Skull Island crashes onto our screen on March 10th, and one final trailer has come our way to give us our best taste yet of what is in store for us. And what is that exactly? Well, judging by this its a nice line in odd humour (mainly from that old hand himself John C. Rielly), intense action, and Kong going medieval on whatever is put in front of him. Seeing the titular Eighth Wonder of the World in action (especially when we get up close and personal with Mr. Kong early on, playing with our heroes helicopters) makes me absolutely giddy, and I seriously can’t wait for this to finally come our way. Released: March 10th Synopsis: This compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“The Kings of Summer”) tells the story of a diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers uniting to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific,...
- 2/27/2017
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
With Run The Series, The A.V. Club examines film franchises, studying how they change and evolve with each new installment.
No one who tuned in to the special broadcast of the British current-affairs series World In Action on May 5, 1964, could have foreseen the remarkable sequence of documentaries—a monumental testament to the sadness and splendor of ordinary life—that would eventually follow. At the time, the filmmakers behind Seven Up!, as the program was called, couldn’t have either. But even the greatest undertakings often start small, and so the venerable Up series, a project that has to date encompassed eight features over nearly half a century, began with what was intended to be a one-off: 40-odd minutes of television devoted to “the struggling, changing world of the 7-year-old,” in the words of the paternal narrator.
Diverting if more than a little scattershot, Seven Up! gathered 20 ...
No one who tuned in to the special broadcast of the British current-affairs series World In Action on May 5, 1964, could have foreseen the remarkable sequence of documentaries—a monumental testament to the sadness and splendor of ordinary life—that would eventually follow. At the time, the filmmakers behind Seven Up!, as the program was called, couldn’t have either. But even the greatest undertakings often start small, and so the venerable Up series, a project that has to date encompassed eight features over nearly half a century, began with what was intended to be a one-off: 40-odd minutes of television devoted to “the struggling, changing world of the 7-year-old,” in the words of the paternal narrator.
Diverting if more than a little scattershot, Seven Up! gathered 20 ...
- 11/2/2016
- by Benjamin Mercer
- avclub.com
With Jason Bourne arriving this week, we’re looking back on the career of director Paul Greengrass. As the person who single-handedly popularized the technique of “shaky cam” for the new millennium, Greengrass has seen his signature style emulated in action films as wide-ranging as Quantum of Solace and Taken 2. While so many of these pictures exploit the visual chaos of handheld camerawork to mask lazy fight choreography, Greengrass has always wielded the aesthetic with visionary purpose, whether that purpose be visceral, political, or both.
Indeed, shaky cam may be Greengrass’ most recognizable trademark, but it is the filmmaker’s purposefulness in confronting social and political issues that most fully unites his work past and present. Prior to making feature films, Greengrass worked for ten years at World in Action, a British investigative current events program known for its forceful and unorthodox journalistic style. Leaving a trail of controversy in its wake,...
Indeed, shaky cam may be Greengrass’ most recognizable trademark, but it is the filmmaker’s purposefulness in confronting social and political issues that most fully unites his work past and present. Prior to making feature films, Greengrass worked for ten years at World in Action, a British investigative current events program known for its forceful and unorthodox journalistic style. Leaving a trail of controversy in its wake,...
- 7/28/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
After tons of buzz and media attention, the wait for ABC’s new thriller Quantico finally ended on Sunday night. With our very own Priyanka Chopra as the lead of this series, we at Bollyspice were beyond eager to finally check out Miss World in action as a feisty FBI recruit. And we were not disappointed.
Described as a cross between Homeland and Grey’s Anatomy, Quantico follows Alex Parrish (Priyanka) and a group of young FBI recruits as they endure a training camp in Quantico, Virginia. Fast forward nine months, and the U.S. suffers the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11. The kicker? Alex is the main suspect – and has clearly been framed.
It’s pretty impressive how much Quantico was able to squeeze into just one episode. We got plenty of scandal, romance, violence, mystery and plot twists in the action-packed pilot. Naturally, there was so much happening that...
Described as a cross between Homeland and Grey’s Anatomy, Quantico follows Alex Parrish (Priyanka) and a group of young FBI recruits as they endure a training camp in Quantico, Virginia. Fast forward nine months, and the U.S. suffers the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11. The kicker? Alex is the main suspect – and has clearly been framed.
It’s pretty impressive how much Quantico was able to squeeze into just one episode. We got plenty of scandal, romance, violence, mystery and plot twists in the action-packed pilot. Naturally, there was so much happening that...
- 9/29/2015
- by Chandni Suri
- Bollyspice
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Nothing could stop ‘Dick Poop’ from becoming a Twitter ‘Trending Topic’. The site exploded with clever responses to the Academy Award nominations Jan. 15 — from surprises to snubs to the unfortunate pronunciation of one cinematographer.
This flub occurred when Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences, announced Dick Pope as a nominee for achievement in cinematography.
So who exactly is Dick Pope?
Pope received his second Oscar nomination this year for his work on Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, about the obsessive British landscape artist J.M.W. Turner (portrayed by Timothy Spall). The film also received nominations for production design, costume design and original score. For his work on the film, Pope has earned BAFTA Award and Critics’ Choice Award nominations. Pope won the Vulcan Prize for Technical Artist at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. He...
Managing Editor
Nothing could stop ‘Dick Poop’ from becoming a Twitter ‘Trending Topic’. The site exploded with clever responses to the Academy Award nominations Jan. 15 — from surprises to snubs to the unfortunate pronunciation of one cinematographer.
This flub occurred when Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences, announced Dick Pope as a nominee for achievement in cinematography.
So who exactly is Dick Pope?
Pope received his second Oscar nomination this year for his work on Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, about the obsessive British landscape artist J.M.W. Turner (portrayed by Timothy Spall). The film also received nominations for production design, costume design and original score. For his work on the film, Pope has earned BAFTA Award and Critics’ Choice Award nominations. Pope won the Vulcan Prize for Technical Artist at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. He...
- 1/30/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
When Granada Television debuted the documentary special Seven Up! as an episode of World in Action on May 5, 1964, the primary point was to show a brief look at youth of varied social backgrounds around the UK. It was a study of sorts, but as original director Paul Almond told me last year, “All I wanted to do was to find out what little boys and little girls of different classes thought about. I didn’t have any intention other than trying to find out what in fact were the differences.” The show itself plainly states that the idea is to show viewers “the shop steward and the executive” of tomorrow, specifically that of the turn of the next century. Perhaps one follow-up in the year 2000 would have sufficed to update us on where those kids wound up. Instead, by that year there’d already been five installments, produced and released at seven-year intervals, and...
- 5/5/2014
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
World premieres include A Long Way down, starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and Pierce Brosnan, and The Two Faces of January, the directorial debut of Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac.
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has unveiled the 18-strong line-up for its Berlinale Special strand, including nine world premieres.
Stand-outs in the list include the world premiere of A Long Way Down, an adaptation of Nick Hornby’s bestseller about four people who meet on New Year’s Eve and form a surrogate family to help one another weather the difficulties of their lives. It stars Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots.
Also receiving its world premiere will be con artist thriller The Two Faces of January, the directorial debut of Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini, which stars Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac.
Mexican actor Diego Luna...
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has unveiled the 18-strong line-up for its Berlinale Special strand, including nine world premieres.
Stand-outs in the list include the world premiere of A Long Way Down, an adaptation of Nick Hornby’s bestseller about four people who meet on New Year’s Eve and form a surrogate family to help one another weather the difficulties of their lives. It stars Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots.
Also receiving its world premiere will be con artist thriller The Two Faces of January, the directorial debut of Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini, which stars Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac.
Mexican actor Diego Luna...
- 1/17/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Bourne, Captain Phillips director recognised for focusing international attention on the UK.
Paul Greengrass is to receive the Variety Award at the 16th Moët British Independent Film Awards, set to be held on Dec 8 at Old Billingsgate, London.
The prizes recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK. Previous recipents include Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Craig, Dame Helen Mirren and Richard Curtis among others.
Greengrass received an Oscar nomination for his work on 9/11 drama United 93 and won top awards at Berlin and Sundance for Bloody Sunday.
The British director took on the Bourne spy franchise in 2004 and worked with star Matt Damon again on sequel The Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone. His latest feature is Captain Phillips, which opened the BFI London Film Festival this year.
Greengrass spent the first decade of his career covering global conflict for ITV current affairs programme World In Action and writing...
Paul Greengrass is to receive the Variety Award at the 16th Moët British Independent Film Awards, set to be held on Dec 8 at Old Billingsgate, London.
The prizes recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK. Previous recipents include Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Craig, Dame Helen Mirren and Richard Curtis among others.
Greengrass received an Oscar nomination for his work on 9/11 drama United 93 and won top awards at Berlin and Sundance for Bloody Sunday.
The British director took on the Bourne spy franchise in 2004 and worked with star Matt Damon again on sequel The Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone. His latest feature is Captain Phillips, which opened the BFI London Film Festival this year.
Greengrass spent the first decade of his career covering global conflict for ITV current affairs programme World In Action and writing...
- 11/25/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Paul Greengrass puts his ship's captain through hell, shows reservations over Us seafaring might, and has empathy with the Somali pirates' plight
At the heart of Paul Greengrass's Captain Phillips is the story of two eternal seafaring archetypes. The first is the Master Mariner (Conrad's final rank) plying his cargo through the great nautical arteries of global commerce, and the second, the luckless fisherman turned pirate, picking off the stragglers among the gargantuan cargo ships passing too close to the coast of Somalia, the better to ransom their contents back to their owners.
Asymmetrical warfare structures the movie, as the pirates dog a city-sized cargo ship with only two clapped-out skiffs and a threadbare mother-vessel, boarding with a makeshift iron ladder, subduing the bridge, and issuing their demands. The second half sees the pirates and their captain-hostage trapped in the ship's sealed lifeboat, hemmed in by Us Navy frigates and an aircraft carrier,...
At the heart of Paul Greengrass's Captain Phillips is the story of two eternal seafaring archetypes. The first is the Master Mariner (Conrad's final rank) plying his cargo through the great nautical arteries of global commerce, and the second, the luckless fisherman turned pirate, picking off the stragglers among the gargantuan cargo ships passing too close to the coast of Somalia, the better to ransom their contents back to their owners.
Asymmetrical warfare structures the movie, as the pirates dog a city-sized cargo ship with only two clapped-out skiffs and a threadbare mother-vessel, boarding with a makeshift iron ladder, subduing the bridge, and issuing their demands. The second half sees the pirates and their captain-hostage trapped in the ship's sealed lifeboat, hemmed in by Us Navy frigates and an aircraft carrier,...
- 10/14/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
He handles his political subjects without being sentimental or exploitative, delivering consistently compelling thrillers
When Paul Greengrass took over the Bourne franchise, with Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, he did much more than repeat a well-worked formula. He re-invented the action genre, with the grittier-style popularised through the use of cinéma vérité. "To be perfectly honest, I couldn't afford tripods," he said. The journalist in him (he started as a director for World in Action) repeatedly draws him to political subjects – the Falklands (Resurrected), the Irish civil rights movement (Bloody Sunday), 9/11 (United 93) and now Captain Phillips, a taut thriller based on a Somali pirate attack on a Us container ship. He handles these subjects without being sentimental or exploitative, delivering consistently compelling thrillers on difficult subjects. Like Christopher Nolan, another successful British film-maker, Greengrass produces a fast-paced film for a mainstream audience, without compromising the intelligence of the script.
When Paul Greengrass took over the Bourne franchise, with Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, he did much more than repeat a well-worked formula. He re-invented the action genre, with the grittier-style popularised through the use of cinéma vérité. "To be perfectly honest, I couldn't afford tripods," he said. The journalist in him (he started as a director for World in Action) repeatedly draws him to political subjects – the Falklands (Resurrected), the Irish civil rights movement (Bloody Sunday), 9/11 (United 93) and now Captain Phillips, a taut thriller based on a Somali pirate attack on a Us container ship. He handles these subjects without being sentimental or exploitative, delivering consistently compelling thrillers on difficult subjects. Like Christopher Nolan, another successful British film-maker, Greengrass produces a fast-paced film for a mainstream audience, without compromising the intelligence of the script.
- 10/11/2013
- by Editorial
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-maker whose documentaries allowed the subjects to speak for themselves
The documentary film-maker Michael Grigsby, who has died aged 76, strove to convey the experiences of ordinary people, and those on the margins of society. His subjects ranged from Inuit hunters in northern Canada and North Sea fishermen to Northern Irish farmers, Vietnamese villagers and, most recently, ageing American veterans of the Vietnam war.
He made more than 30 films – many of them for Granada TV's World in Action and Disappearing World – which were marked by the way in which they allowed their subjects to speak for themselves. Taking his films back to the communities he had filmed for their approval became a vital part of Grigsby's process of securing trust. Some – like the Inuit – would subsequently use his films to explain their lives to outsiders.
Grigsby's questions were never heard and he abhorred commentary, preferring brief captions or the overlaid voices...
The documentary film-maker Michael Grigsby, who has died aged 76, strove to convey the experiences of ordinary people, and those on the margins of society. His subjects ranged from Inuit hunters in northern Canada and North Sea fishermen to Northern Irish farmers, Vietnamese villagers and, most recently, ageing American veterans of the Vietnam war.
He made more than 30 films – many of them for Granada TV's World in Action and Disappearing World – which were marked by the way in which they allowed their subjects to speak for themselves. Taking his films back to the communities he had filmed for their approval became a vital part of Grigsby's process of securing trust. Some – like the Inuit – would subsequently use his films to explain their lives to outsiders.
Grigsby's questions were never heard and he abhorred commentary, preferring brief captions or the overlaid voices...
- 3/21/2013
- by Ian Christie
- The Guardian - Film News
Producer and director Michael Apted pays tribute to the former Granada TV chairman who died last week
When I joined Granada in 1963, I was part of a small group straight out of university (which included Mike Newell) chosen by Sir Denis Forman, in his role as head of programmes, to train at the company. It was the place to be – ahead of the field in current affairs, drama, light entertainment and comedy. I doubt any of us has any idea of how lucky we were to be asked to join.
Granada was a small company, with neither the space nor resources for serious training, so ours was on-the-job. I did news, some small documentaries, football matches, church services, World In Action, then on to Coronation Street and eventually into drama, working with some to the best writers of their generation: Jack Rosenthal, Arthur Hopcraft and Colin Welland. In those early years,...
When I joined Granada in 1963, I was part of a small group straight out of university (which included Mike Newell) chosen by Sir Denis Forman, in his role as head of programmes, to train at the company. It was the place to be – ahead of the field in current affairs, drama, light entertainment and comedy. I doubt any of us has any idea of how lucky we were to be asked to join.
Granada was a small company, with neither the space nor resources for serious training, so ours was on-the-job. I did news, some small documentaries, football matches, church services, World In Action, then on to Coronation Street and eventually into drama, working with some to the best writers of their generation: Jack Rosenthal, Arthur Hopcraft and Colin Welland. In those early years,...
- 3/4/2013
- by John Plunkett
- The Guardian - Film News
Dedicated chairman of Granada who championed high-quality popular TV
Sir Denis Forman, who has died aged 95, was a driving force in Granada TV, one of the leaders in the first batch of independent regional commercial television companies, from its beginnings in the mid-1950s through to his lengthy spell as chairman (1974-87). Though scarcely ever named as producer, he was directly responsible for many programmes and ran his favourite series as personal fiefdoms. His greatest achievement in this capacity was The Jewel in the Crown (1984), based upon the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott.
Forman threw himself headlong into many other enthusiasms, including atheism, battle drill, Mozart and Scottish country dancing. A large man in every sense, he was affable, eloquent and determined. At Granada's Manchester studios in the early days, the shortest path to lunchtime refreshment was barred by a waist-high wall. Forman would lead the way and, despite...
Sir Denis Forman, who has died aged 95, was a driving force in Granada TV, one of the leaders in the first batch of independent regional commercial television companies, from its beginnings in the mid-1950s through to his lengthy spell as chairman (1974-87). Though scarcely ever named as producer, he was directly responsible for many programmes and ran his favourite series as personal fiefdoms. His greatest achievement in this capacity was The Jewel in the Crown (1984), based upon the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott.
Forman threw himself headlong into many other enthusiasms, including atheism, battle drill, Mozart and Scottish country dancing. A large man in every sense, he was affable, eloquent and determined. At Granada's Manchester studios in the early days, the shortest path to lunchtime refreshment was barred by a waist-high wall. Forman would lead the way and, despite...
- 2/26/2013
- by Philip Purser
- The Guardian - Film News
Former Granada TV chairman Sir Denis Forman has died, aged 95.
One of the founding executives of Granada TV in the mid 1950s, he was responsible for giving the greenlight to shows such as Coronation Street and World in Action.
Forman, who also served as director of the British Film Institute and deputy chairman of the Royal Opera House, died on Sunday (February 24) at a nursing home in London, The Guardian reports.
ITV's director of television Peter Fincham paid tribute to Forman, describing him as "one of the great pioneers of British broadcasting".
He added: "He made a lasting contribution to quality drama and investigative journalism, being at the helm of Granada Television for the commissioning of Coronation Street.
"[He was] responsible for programmes such as World in Action, 7Up, Jewel in the Crown and Brideshead Revisited. He was a remarkable man and will be sadly missed."
Ray Fitzwalter, former editor and executive producer of World in Action,...
One of the founding executives of Granada TV in the mid 1950s, he was responsible for giving the greenlight to shows such as Coronation Street and World in Action.
Forman, who also served as director of the British Film Institute and deputy chairman of the Royal Opera House, died on Sunday (February 24) at a nursing home in London, The Guardian reports.
ITV's director of television Peter Fincham paid tribute to Forman, describing him as "one of the great pioneers of British broadcasting".
He added: "He made a lasting contribution to quality drama and investigative journalism, being at the helm of Granada Television for the commissioning of Coronation Street.
"[He was] responsible for programmes such as World in Action, 7Up, Jewel in the Crown and Brideshead Revisited. He was a remarkable man and will be sadly missed."
Ray Fitzwalter, former editor and executive producer of World in Action,...
- 2/25/2013
- Digital Spy
What began as an effort to capture the predictive nature of the British class system has become a half-century cross-section of a cultural curiosity. Twenty children were chosen as subjects for “7 Up,” a Granada Television “World in Action” segment. Now over a dozen years beyond the original program’s intended “glimpse of England in the year 2000,” the series’ periodic revisiting has now reached “56 Up,” the eighth glimpse into the lives of those who formed one of documentary filmmaking’s landmark achievements. One participant likens the process to a scrapbook. Another draws the parallel to reality TV (of which the "Up" series was a precursor). But everyone knows the overall execution is unequaled in the medium. A box set of the first six installments is available on DVD and the first seven installments are available on Netflix Instant Streaming. Watching the series now is a curious process. In some...
- 1/11/2013
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
There was a terrific reminder last night of the brilliant investigative and campaigning journalism of Granada TV's World In Action in the 35 years from 1963 until 1998.
ITV1 screened a 90-minute documentary showing a variety of the highlights from the series with contributions from past editors - such as Ray Fitzwalter, John Birt, Leslie Woodhead, Steve Boulton and Ian McBride - plus a former editor, Paul Greengrass, cameraman George Jesse Turner, researcher Michael Apted and Granada's ex-chairman Sir Denis Forman.
Among about the programmes they spoke about, with understandable pride, were those that helped to effect genuine changes, such as the release of the innocent Birmingham Six, the reuniting of Anwar Ditta with her three children and the exposures of John Poulson and Reginald Maudling.
As Greengrass pointed out, it was the mixture of journalism and film-making that made the programmes so popular and so successful. It is fair to say World In Action...
ITV1 screened a 90-minute documentary showing a variety of the highlights from the series with contributions from past editors - such as Ray Fitzwalter, John Birt, Leslie Woodhead, Steve Boulton and Ian McBride - plus a former editor, Paul Greengrass, cameraman George Jesse Turner, researcher Michael Apted and Granada's ex-chairman Sir Denis Forman.
Among about the programmes they spoke about, with understandable pride, were those that helped to effect genuine changes, such as the release of the innocent Birmingham Six, the reuniting of Anwar Ditta with her three children and the exposures of John Poulson and Reginald Maudling.
As Greengrass pointed out, it was the mixture of journalism and film-making that made the programmes so popular and so successful. It is fair to say World In Action...
- 1/8/2013
- by Roy Greenslade
- The Guardian - Film News
Rock Band Blitz is only a few days away from its August 28 PlayStation Network release and August 29 Xbox Live Arcade release. Adding another interesting feature to the game, developer Harmonix has announced the launch of Rock Band World, a new Facebook app available today.
The app will allow players to accomplish certain achievement-like goals in both Rock Band Blitz and Rock Band 3 to obtain coins, which can be used in Rock Band Blitz to purchase new power-ups. Additional features include detailed game stats for players who link their game account and the ability to challenge Facebook friends to score battles.
More information can be found in the following video and press release:
Rock Band World Companion Application Announced,
Coming Soon To Facebook For Rock Band Blitz And Rock Band 3!
Cambridge, Mass. – August 22nd, 2012 – Harmonix is excited to announce an exciting new social application for Rock Band™ Blitz and Rock Band 3 players – Rock Band World!
The app will allow players to accomplish certain achievement-like goals in both Rock Band Blitz and Rock Band 3 to obtain coins, which can be used in Rock Band Blitz to purchase new power-ups. Additional features include detailed game stats for players who link their game account and the ability to challenge Facebook friends to score battles.
More information can be found in the following video and press release:
Rock Band World Companion Application Announced,
Coming Soon To Facebook For Rock Band Blitz And Rock Band 3!
Cambridge, Mass. – August 22nd, 2012 – Harmonix is excited to announce an exciting new social application for Rock Band™ Blitz and Rock Band 3 players – Rock Band World!
- 8/25/2012
- by John Fleury
- We Got This Covered
Documentary film-maker who caused a worldwide stir after smuggling camera equipment into Tibet
Vanya Kewley, who has died aged 75, was the courageous and passionate producer-director of many outstanding television documentaries exposing human-rights violations across the world. Most famously, after three years of secret contacts with Tibetan exiles, in 1988 she smuggled an amateur video camera and sound equipment into Tibet. Working alone, she made the first documentary in 40 years about that remote region, which had been effectively cut off from the outside world since Mao Zedong's victorious Red Army swept in after the end of China's civil war in 1949.
Slipping away by secret arrangement from a tourist group, Vanya travelled in disguise wearing peasant garb, helped by local guides for six weeks while covering more than 4,000 miles across Tibet's mountains and valleys. She interviewed some 160 individuals, including monks, nuns and former political prisoners, who described on camera their experiences of torture,...
Vanya Kewley, who has died aged 75, was the courageous and passionate producer-director of many outstanding television documentaries exposing human-rights violations across the world. Most famously, after three years of secret contacts with Tibetan exiles, in 1988 she smuggled an amateur video camera and sound equipment into Tibet. Working alone, she made the first documentary in 40 years about that remote region, which had been effectively cut off from the outside world since Mao Zedong's victorious Red Army swept in after the end of China's civil war in 1949.
Slipping away by secret arrangement from a tourist group, Vanya travelled in disguise wearing peasant garb, helped by local guides for six weeks while covering more than 4,000 miles across Tibet's mountains and valleys. She interviewed some 160 individuals, including monks, nuns and former political prisoners, who described on camera their experiences of torture,...
- 8/3/2012
- by Anthony Grey
- The Guardian - Film News
Despite being the world's favorite sport, and gaining increasing traction in the U.S., the number of great films about soccer (or football, as those of us in the rest of the world accurately call it), can be counted on the fingers of no hands. From John Huston's "Escape To Victory" to the would-be-blockbuster trilogy "Goal," virtually every attempt to capture the beautiful game on screen has stumbled badly, even as seemingly less cinematic sports like baseball and golf end up driving a string of classics.
But it sounds like one of Hollywood's biggest A-list directors is about to try and crack the code, albeit in documentary form, as 24 Frames report that Paul Greengrass, the British helmer behind "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," is planning to make a film on one of the world's most successful clubs, F.C. Barcelona. Entitled "Barca," the film will look at the Spanish club,...
But it sounds like one of Hollywood's biggest A-list directors is about to try and crack the code, albeit in documentary form, as 24 Frames report that Paul Greengrass, the British helmer behind "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," is planning to make a film on one of the world's most successful clubs, F.C. Barcelona. Entitled "Barca," the film will look at the Spanish club,...
- 5/17/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
He's a feted Hollywood director, whose career started with a bunch of children in Seven Up! And he is still charting their lives 49 years later in a landmark of documentary broadcasting
They understand longevity at Manchester's ITV Granada, which was Granada Television and is the only survivor of the original four independent TV franchisees awarded in 1954. Not only does it make Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, but this week sees the return of its Up series, which may be the world's longest-running documentary.
The first Up programme was the brainchild of Tim Hewat, the brilliant Australian producer behind the World In Action strand. Legend has it he walked into the World in Action office and quoted the Jesuit motto cited at the beginning of the film: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." And then instructed a young trainee...
They understand longevity at Manchester's ITV Granada, which was Granada Television and is the only survivor of the original four independent TV franchisees awarded in 1954. Not only does it make Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, but this week sees the return of its Up series, which may be the world's longest-running documentary.
The first Up programme was the brainchild of Tim Hewat, the brilliant Australian producer behind the World In Action strand. Legend has it he walked into the World in Action office and quoted the Jesuit motto cited at the beginning of the film: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." And then instructed a young trainee...
- 5/12/2012
- by Andrew Anthony
- The Guardian - Film News
It's 40 years since Get Carter hit British cinemas. The Guardian goes to meet the man in charge of the birthday celebrations
It's not even midday, and already my head is filled with stuff both unpleasant and grimly compelling: murder, violence, organised crime, the lower-grade parts of the sex industry, you name it. Having already visited pubs, houses, and the ruins of industrial installations, we've just called in at a cemetery; the next stop is a riverside location that will bring back memories of a reckless shoot-out.
This is a dry run for a guided tour conceived to mark the 40th birthday of Mike Hodges's Get Carter, the brilliant British film that set Michael Caine – in the role of Jack Carter – loose around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and beyond. My host is Chris Phipps, a film-maker and former producer on the Newcastle-located TV music show The Tube, who is an illuminating authority...
It's not even midday, and already my head is filled with stuff both unpleasant and grimly compelling: murder, violence, organised crime, the lower-grade parts of the sex industry, you name it. Having already visited pubs, houses, and the ruins of industrial installations, we've just called in at a cemetery; the next stop is a riverside location that will bring back memories of a reckless shoot-out.
This is a dry run for a guided tour conceived to mark the 40th birthday of Mike Hodges's Get Carter, the brilliant British film that set Michael Caine – in the role of Jack Carter – loose around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and beyond. My host is Chris Phipps, a film-maker and former producer on the Newcastle-located TV music show The Tube, who is an illuminating authority...
- 3/4/2011
- by John Harris
- The Guardian - Film News
British director Paul Greengrass will portray the serpent of the Nile as political strategist and warrior in a new blockbuster film
Dio Cassius, the Greek historian, said Cleopatra "was a woman of surpassing beauty… and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone". So it stands to reason that the greatest Hollywood beauties of succeeding eras have been cast as the Egyptian queen: from Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh, to Elizabeth Taylor and, now, Angelina Jolie. But, judging by the creative team being lined up by Sony Pictures, Jolie's 3D outing in the royal barge of beaten gold is set to rip up all our other assumptions about the fabled temptress.
The screenplay of the forthcoming blockbuster is risking a budget that rivals the studio-busting Taylor epic of 1963 on a fresh, revisionist interpretation of Cleopatra and, it seems, the vision of a maverick British director: Paul Greengrass.
Greengrass,...
Dio Cassius, the Greek historian, said Cleopatra "was a woman of surpassing beauty… and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone". So it stands to reason that the greatest Hollywood beauties of succeeding eras have been cast as the Egyptian queen: from Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh, to Elizabeth Taylor and, now, Angelina Jolie. But, judging by the creative team being lined up by Sony Pictures, Jolie's 3D outing in the royal barge of beaten gold is set to rip up all our other assumptions about the fabled temptress.
The screenplay of the forthcoming blockbuster is risking a budget that rivals the studio-busting Taylor epic of 1963 on a fresh, revisionist interpretation of Cleopatra and, it seems, the vision of a maverick British director: Paul Greengrass.
Greengrass,...
- 1/10/2011
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
As an actor, curating a feast of factual film-making showed me the beauty of the subjective truth, says Diana Quick
Aldeburgh cinema in Suffolk is not all it seems. From the outside, it looks like a half-timbered shop at the end of the high street. Within, it's an independent picture house that's been screening films for nearly a century. It's a proper community staple: to save it from shutting in the 1960s, a group of locals, including Benjamin Britten, clubbed together to buy it and then run it themselves. Year after year I've gone there to see mainstream releases, international arthouse films and special treats – I still remember introducing a bunch of teenagers to White Christmas at the cinema, one wintry day. I think it's ambitiously programmed every day of the year, but especially so for the three days its annual documentary festival comes around.
Molly Dineen had the brainwave...
Aldeburgh cinema in Suffolk is not all it seems. From the outside, it looks like a half-timbered shop at the end of the high street. Within, it's an independent picture house that's been screening films for nearly a century. It's a proper community staple: to save it from shutting in the 1960s, a group of locals, including Benjamin Britten, clubbed together to buy it and then run it themselves. Year after year I've gone there to see mainstream releases, international arthouse films and special treats – I still remember introducing a bunch of teenagers to White Christmas at the cinema, one wintry day. I think it's ambitiously programmed every day of the year, but especially so for the three days its annual documentary festival comes around.
Molly Dineen had the brainwave...
- 11/23/2010
- by Diana Quick
- The Guardian - Film News
Jim Loach swore he'd never follow his father, Ken, into film-making, yet his first movie – a searing drama about the scandal of children in care secretly shipped to Australia – is set to debut at the Rome film festival
When Jim Loach's first film, Oranges and Sunshine, makes its debut at the Rome film festival this week, it will mark the end of many journeys. For the subjects of Loach's film, some of the 100,000 or more children who were taken from orphanages in Britain and shipped as a secret cargo to Australia and other Commonwealth countries, it marks another stage of closure in a shameful and shocking passage in our recent history. For Margaret Humphreys, the Nottingham social worker who has made helping those children – now adults – discover their identities and families her mission and vocation, it is a stirring tribute to half a lifetime of compassionate forensic work, which...
When Jim Loach's first film, Oranges and Sunshine, makes its debut at the Rome film festival this week, it will mark the end of many journeys. For the subjects of Loach's film, some of the 100,000 or more children who were taken from orphanages in Britain and shipped as a secret cargo to Australia and other Commonwealth countries, it marks another stage of closure in a shameful and shocking passage in our recent history. For Margaret Humphreys, the Nottingham social worker who has made helping those children – now adults – discover their identities and families her mission and vocation, it is a stirring tribute to half a lifetime of compassionate forensic work, which...
- 10/23/2010
- by Tim Adams
- The Guardian - Film News
Film has the potential to be a most beautiful art, but it has been debased by Us cinema, and by television
Film is an extraordinary medium. Like theatre, it has all the elements of drama. It has character, plot, conflict, resolution. You can compare it to the visual arts, to painting, to drawing; it can document reality, like still photographs. It can explain and record like journalism, and it can be a polemic, like a pamphlet. It can be prosaic and poetic, it can be tragic and comic, it can be escapist and committed, surreal and realist. It can do all these things.
So, how have we protected and nurtured and developed this great, exciting, complex medium? How have we looked after it, and does it fulfil its potential?
Over a seven-year period, the Us market share of box-office takings in British cinemas was between 63% and 80%. The UK share, which was mainly for American co-productions,...
Film is an extraordinary medium. Like theatre, it has all the elements of drama. It has character, plot, conflict, resolution. You can compare it to the visual arts, to painting, to drawing; it can document reality, like still photographs. It can explain and record like journalism, and it can be a polemic, like a pamphlet. It can be prosaic and poetic, it can be tragic and comic, it can be escapist and committed, surreal and realist. It can do all these things.
So, how have we protected and nurtured and developed this great, exciting, complex medium? How have we looked after it, and does it fulfil its potential?
Over a seven-year period, the Us market share of box-office takings in British cinemas was between 63% and 80%. The UK share, which was mainly for American co-productions,...
- 10/15/2010
- by Ken Loach
- The Guardian - Film News
His new film about Iraq was made out of a sense of affront and anger
If this was a Paul Greengrass film, it would start like this. An aerial shot over central London. Digital letters flash up at the bottom of the screen saying: "London, 1400 GMT". A few cellos begin stirring ominously on the soundtrack. Then a hand-held camera tracks an oblivious reporter walking through Mayfair. Somewhere, a man with an earpiece looks at a flashing dot on a screen and says, "Subject proceeding east towards Claridges." Drums start up on the soundtrack. A short clip of Greengrass himself, perhaps finishing off his lunch. The shaky camera follows the reporter into Claridges, pitching through the revolving door to chase him up the stairs. The drums get heavier. The camera dashes down corridors after him. Greengrass strolls casually towards his suite. The drumming reaches a deafening frenzy, as if a tribal...
If this was a Paul Greengrass film, it would start like this. An aerial shot over central London. Digital letters flash up at the bottom of the screen saying: "London, 1400 GMT". A few cellos begin stirring ominously on the soundtrack. Then a hand-held camera tracks an oblivious reporter walking through Mayfair. Somewhere, a man with an earpiece looks at a flashing dot on a screen and says, "Subject proceeding east towards Claridges." Drums start up on the soundtrack. A short clip of Greengrass himself, perhaps finishing off his lunch. The shaky camera follows the reporter into Claridges, pitching through the revolving door to chase him up the stairs. The drums get heavier. The camera dashes down corridors after him. Greengrass strolls casually towards his suite. The drumming reaches a deafening frenzy, as if a tribal...
- 3/8/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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