Sarah Gavron

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The Honourable

Sarah Gavron
Born (1970-04-20) 20 April 1970 (age 53)
United Kingdom
OccupationFilm director
Years active2000–present
SpouseDavid Katznelson
Children2
Parent(s)Robert Gavron
Nicky Gavron

Sarah Gavron (born 20 April 1970) is a British film director. She has directed four short films, and three feature films.[1] Her first film was This Little Life (2003), later followed by Brick Lane (2007) and Village at the End of the World (2012). Her film, Suffragette (2015) is based in the London of 1912 and tells the story of the Suffragette movement based on realistic historical events.[2] Her most recent film is Rocks which she directed in a creative collaboration with the team and young cast. Rocks premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opened in cinemas in 2020.

Gavron is also both a wife and a mother, and "got into filmmaking to make a difference."[1][3] She has dedicated her career to accurately telling the stories of women.[1][3] In addition, the scarcity of women filmmakers in the UK is what inspires Gavron with her own filmmaking, and her responsibility as a female director.[1][3]

Biography[edit]

Gavron was educated at Camden School for Girls.[4] She graduated from the University of York with a BA in English in 1992[5] and an MA in film studies from Edinburgh College of Art when it was associated with Heriot-Watt University.[6] Later, she went to the National Film and Television School. Gavron was in a directing class that was taught by Stephen Frears.[1] Frears is one of her influences in filmmaking and directing, as well as Mike Leigh and Terence Davies.[1] She also cites many female filmmakers as having inspired her. Before studying at the National Film School, she worked for the BBC in documentaries for three years.

Gavron is married to cinematographer David Katznelson, and together, they have two children.[7]

Career[edit]

Gavron began her film career making documentaries, a field that seemed "more accessible at that point," but kept returning to narrative filmmaking because of her desire to tell stories.[8]

Her first film, This Little Life (2003), is classified as a television drama, with the plot surrounding a couple and their premature born child;[1] Brick Lane (2007) is her second most recognized feature film, that is an adaptation of Monica Ali's novel of the same name,[9] which encapsulates the life of a Bangladeshi, female immigrant living in London, U.K;[1] Village at the End of the World (2012) is a documentary that Gavron directed in a peninsula in Greenland.[1] Her next film, Suffragette (2015), is set in London of 1912 and tells the story of the Suffragette movement, specifically, the lives of three women that take on fictitious names in the film, however represent non-fictional historical figures.[2]

In Brick Lane (2007), Gavron centers on the female protagonist in "one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United Kingdom."[9]

Suffragette (2015) is "this first major feature film to focus on the fight for women's suffrage”. The film conveys important themes regarding legal and social positions of women, wives and mothers in 1912.[2] Gavron believes that the women's suffrage movement must be regarded as a "multi stranded, and complex story that is still unfolding."[2] Gavron intended Suffragette to be telling of important moments in the past, but also relevant in present day. Suffragette was acquired by Focus Features (originally Relativity) in March 2015.[10] The film premiered at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival.

Her most recent film, Rocks, premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival in the Platform Prize program.[11]

Favourite films[edit]

In 2022, Gavron participated in the Sight & Sound film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice.[12]

Gavron's selections were:

Filmography[edit]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Sarah Gavron was nominated for the BAFTA Award and BIFA Award for best director in 2007 for her film Brick Lane. The film won a Silver Hitchcock and best screenplay at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema.[13] She received the Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award from the Hamptons International Film Festival for directing the movie Suffragette, as well as the Mill Valley Film Festival's Audience Award (Mind the Gap), also for directing that film.[14]

Year Association Category Title Result Ref.
2003 British Independent Film Awards Douglas Hickox Award This Little Life Nominated [15]
BAFTA TV Awards Best Single Drama Nominated
2004 Best New Director (Fiction) Won [16]
2007 British Independent Film Awards Best Director Brick Lane Nominated
BFI London Film Festival Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival C.I.C.A.E. Award Won [17]
2008 BAFTA Film Awards Carl Foreman Award for
Special Achievement by a British Director 		Nominated
London Critics Circle Film Awards British Breakthrough - Filmmaking Nominated
2015 Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Female Focus Award - Best Woman Director Suffragette Nominated
Camerimage Golden Frog - Main Competition Nominated
Hamptons International Film Festival Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award Won
Mill Valley Film Festival Audience Award - Mind the Gap Won
Women Film Critics Circle Courage in Filmmaking Award Won
Best Movie by a Woman Won
Women's Image Network Awards Outstanding Feature Film Nominated
2016 Empire Awards Best British Film Nominated
Athena Film Festival Ensemble Award Won
European Film Awards Best Production Designer Won
Turia Awards, Spain Audience Award - Best Foreign Film Won
WFTV Awards Deluxe Director Award Herself Won [18]
2021 BAFTA Film Awards Best Director Rocks Nominated [19]
British Independent Film Awards Best British Independent Film Won [20]
Best Director Nominated

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Garcia, Maria. "Demanding To Be Heard". Film Journal International. 118.
  2. ^ a b c d Gwen Seabourne. (2016) Deeds, Words and Drama: A Review of the Film Suffragette (2015). Feminist Legal Studies 24:1, pages 115-119.
  3. ^ a b c Puchko, Kristy (2015-10-22). IndieWire.
  4. ^ Brown, Maggie (8 December 2003). "Interview: film maker Sarah Gavron". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  5. ^ "Brick Lane - The journey from stage to screen". Grapevine (Spring 2008). Alumni Office, University of York: 14.
  6. ^ "Successes at Heriot-Watt University". The Herald. 12 July 1994. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  7. ^ Falk, Quentin. "Sarah Gavron: Interview".
  8. ^ "Sarah Gavron: On Directing". BAFTA Guru. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b Murray, J. (2008, Summer). Brick lane. Cineaste, 33, 52-54
  10. ^ "Focus Features to Release SUFFRAGETTE". Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  11. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Sarah Gavron's 'Rocks' to open TIFF Platform". Screen Daily, 7 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Sarah Gavron | BFI".
  13. ^ Mowe, Richard (8 October 2007). "Hallam Foe takes top prize at French festival". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  14. ^ "Suffragette (2015) Awards". IMDB.
  15. ^ "This Little Life · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 11 October 2003.
  16. ^ "2004 Television Craft New Director - Fiction | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
  17. ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival.
  18. ^ "Meet the 2017 Women in Film and Television Award Winners". WFTV. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  19. ^ "BAFTA Nominations Analysis: Who Rises and Falls in the Final Days of Oscars Voting". Variety. 9 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Winners and Nominations: The Awards 2020". British Independent Film Awards. 4 December 2020.

External links[edit]

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