Sean Martin (filmmaker)

Sean Martin (born in Weston-super-Mare, England, in 1966) is an Anglo-Irish writer and film director. He has written popular books on the Knights Templar and the Cathars, and appeared on History Channel documentaries such as Decoding the Past: The Templar Code and in Channel 5's Secrets of the Cross: The Trial of the Knights Templar.

Martin studied film and history in Plymouth, and later lived in London. He is also a poet, and has had a number of poems published in various magazines in the UK and Ireland, and also won the 2011 Wigtown Poetry Prize. His most recent book is The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics, on the subject of the early Christian Gnostics. He is currently writing a book on new wave cinema, due for publication in 2013.

Works

• The Knights Templar: The History and Myths of the Legendary Military Order, 2005. (ISBN 1-56025-645-1)
• The Cathars (ISBN 1-56025-674-5)
• Andrei Tarkovsky (ISBN 1-904048-49-8)
• The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics (ISBN 1-904048-56-0)
• Alchemy and Alchemists (ISBN 978-1904048626)
• The Black Death (ISBN 978-1904048862)

Filmography

• Mystery Play (2001), a comic drama about the occult history of London, inspired by the work of Philip K. Dick, and also the Dekalog of Krzysztof Kieślowski. The film features an original score by key P.J.Harvey collaborator John Parish.

• The Notebooks of Cornelius Crow (2005), a psychological thriller about the occult history of London. The film reflects Martin's interest in psychogeography.

• Genius Loci (2007), a short documentary detailing the mysteries and famous characters associated with Weston-super-Mare. Part of the Super-8 Cities Project – DVD released in 2007.

• Lanterna Magicka: Bill Douglas and the Secret History of Cinema (2009) Documentary, co-directed and co-produced with Louise Milne, about the Scottish filmmaker Bill Douglas, his collection of cinema memorabilia and his final film, Comrades (1987)

• The Druids: Travels in Deep England (2011) Documentary, directed by Louise Milne and produced by Sean Martin. Focussing on a grove of Druids who meet at the stone circle of Stanton Drew, the film features interviews with academic Ronald Hutton and science-fiction writer Liz Williams.

• A Boat Retold" (2011) A short documentary about boats, storytelling and travel, co-directed with Louise Milne. Shot on the Isle of Lewis, the film follows a journey made to the Shiants by writer Robert Macfarlane and poet/artist Ian Stephen.

• Folie à Deux (2012) A feature film that represents a complete change of style for Martin. Influenced by Béla Tarr, amongst others, the film tells the story of an online date with a dark secret.

External links

• Sean Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site
• Review of Gnostics, The Independent, 11 March 2007
• The Notebooks of Cornelius Crow at the Internet Movie Database