| Andrea Arnold | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 April 1961 [1] Dartford, Kent, England |
| Occupation | Film director and actress |
Andrea Arnold OBE (born 5 April 1961) is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.
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After leaving school in the late 70s, Arnold got her first TV jobs as a dancer on shows that included Top of the Pops.[2] She first came to prominence as an actress and television presenter alongside Sandi Toksvig, Nick Staverson and Neil Buchanan in the 1980s children's television show No. 73. This Saturday morning show on ITV, in which she played Dawn Lodge, had a similar premise to that of The Kumars at No. 42 in the way that the show was part sitcom, part chat show and based at a domestic residence. In addition to these parts, the show had the usual mix of music, competitions and cartoons (such as Roger Ramjet) that was in keeping to the formula of British Saturday morning children's TV of the 1980s.
In 1988 No. 73 had morphed into 7T3, with the set being moved from the Maidstone house (in fact in TVS studios in Kent) to that of a theme park. This revamp would only last the season, but Arnold would be seen for another two years in the same timeslot as part of the Motormouth presenting team. In 1990 she presented and wrote for the environmental awareness show for teens, A Beetle Called Derek. This also featured Benjamin Zephaniah and gave exposure to The Yes/No People of Stomp fame.
After retiring from her career as a television presenter, Arnold studied directing at the prestigious AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles and trained in screenwriting at the PAL Labs in Kent.[3][4][5] Her early short films included Milk (1998) and Dog (2001). She won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Wasp, in 2005.[6]
Red Road is the first instalment of Advance Party, a planned set of three conceptually-related films by different first-time directors. Set on a housing estate in Glasgow, the revenge-themed story centres on a CCTV (security TV cameras) operator who develops an obsession with someone she observes, for reasons that become clear through the progress of the film. The picture has won the British director comparisons with established names such as Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier. Screen International critic Allan Hunter said the film was "likely to emerge as one of the discoveries of this year's Cannes Film Festival (2006)."[7] It went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes that year.[8]
Arnold won the 2007 BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer for directing Red Road.
Her 2009 film Fish Tank premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival,[9] where she once again won the Jury Prize. The film also went on to win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2010.
In 2011, Arnold completed shooting an adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, produced by London's Ecosse Films. The film was shown in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September.[10], where it won the Golden Osella for Best Cinematography.
She is developing a project for HBO with Mandabach productions called Dirty. It is being written by Danny Brocklehurst, and Arnold will serve as Executive Producer (alongside Caryn Mandabach) and will direct the pilot episode.[11]
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the film industry.[12]
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