Michael Winterbottom - Dark Matter: Independent Filmmaking in the 21st Century

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

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CONTENTS

T he directors I talk to in this book are not intended to be a representative cross section of directors working in Britain. They are simply people whose films I like and respect. I was lucky that so many people were willing to give up their time to talk to me. This was perhaps because these interviews took place during the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020. Everyone had time on their hands. The interviews took place by Skype or Zoom.

These conversations are not about the films themselves, but about the process of trying to get films made. Each directors experience is unique. But together they maybe give a series of snapshots of both what is possible, and what is not, in the current landscape of British cinema.

My motive was selfish. I had been making films for 25 years and wanted to step back and think about the way I was working. It felt like the best way of doing this was to talk to other directors about their experiences and this book was a useful excuse. I hope this book is useful for anyone who wants to make films in this country. But above all, having heard the experience of many directors I admire, I hope that the people who administer the public money invested in British cinema might listen to, and think about, what these directors have to say.

As I started to think about the people I wanted to talk to, I began to think about how few films, or, how few British films, they had made.

Pawe Pawlikowskis first film was The Stringer in 1998. He has made two films in Britain since then, the last being My Summer of Love in 2004.

Steve McQueens first film, Hunger, was in 2008. That is the only British film he has made.

Lynne Ramsays first feature was Ratcatcher in 1999. Since then she has only made one other British independent film and that was Morvern Callar, 18 years ago.

Joanna Hogg has made four films (and is currently in post-production on her fifth).

Asif Kapadias first film was The Warrior in 2001. Since then he has only made two fiction films based in the UK.

James Marsh has made four British (fiction) films.

Andrew Haighs first fiction film was Weekend in 2011. He has made one film in Britain since then.

Carol Morley has made two fiction films in Britain.

Edgar Wright directed Shaun of the Dead in 2004. Since then he has made two more films in Britain (though he is currently editing another: Last Night in Soho).

Stephen Daldry has made three films based in the UK.

Ben Wheatley has made seven films.

Peter Strickland has made four films.

There are exceptions of course.

Danny Boyle has made 11 films based in the UK.

Mike Leighs first film was Bleak Moments in 1971. Since then he has made 12 more films here in the UK.

Ken Loachs first film was Poor Cow in 1967. Since then he has made another 21.

It may, or may not, be coincidence that the two most prolific directors began their careers 30 years before the end of the twentieth century.

I am not suggesting that the low numbers of British independent films made by each director necessarily represent a series of tragedies for the individual involved or even a long, drawn-out, melancholy struggle. Many directors have simply moved on to studio movies, or gone to America, or switched to television or theatre. As the conversations in this book show, many are perfectly happy to have made the number of films they have made.

But surely it is a problem for British independent cinema itself, that even successful directors, like the ones in this book have made so few British films.