Andrew Haigh
Andrew Haigh | |
---|---|
![]() Haigh in June 2011 | |
Born | Harrogate, England | 7 March 1973
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Years active | 1996–present |
Spouse | Andy Morwood |
Children | 2 |
Website | andrewhaighfilm |
Andrew Haigh (/heɪɡ/;[1] born 7 March 1973) is an English filmmaker. He is best known for writing and directing the films Weekend (2011), 45 Years (2015), Lean on Pete (2017), and All of Us Strangers (2023). He also wrote and directed the HBO series Looking (2014–2015) and its film sequel Looking: The Movie (2016), as well as the BBC Two limited series The North Water (2021).
Early life
[edit]Haigh was born in Harrogate on 7 March 1973[2][3] and grew up in Croydon.[4] He studied history at Newcastle University.[5]
Career
[edit]Haigh worked as an assistant editor on films such as Gladiator and Black Hawk Down before debuting as a writer/director with the short film Oil. In 2009 he directed his first feature-length film, Greek Pete, which debuted at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.[6] The film is set in London and centers on male prostitution, chronicling a year in the life of rent-boy Pete. Greek Pete won the Artistic Achievement Award at Outfest in 2009.[7]
Haigh's second feature, the highly acclaimed romantic drama Weekend about a 48-hour relationship between two men (played by Tom Cullen and Chris New), premiered on 11 March 2011 at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Emerging Visions.[8][9] The film played in many other festivals around the world, and went on to collect many more awards including the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest[10] and London Film Critics' Circle award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker.[11][12]
Haigh's next film 45 Years (2015) premiered as part of the main competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.[13] The film won the top acting prizes at the festival for both its leads, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. The film screened at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September 2015. The film later received an Academy Award nomination for Charlotte Rampling. Upon release, the film received positive reviews, holding a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail wrote: "45 Years exposes the paradoxical balance of the successful marriage, one that requires a sentimental suspension of disbelief on the one hand and a hard-headed ability to deal with the everyday on the other."[14]
Haigh co-created, co-produced and occasionally wrote and directed the HBO drama series Looking (2014–2016), about a group of gay men in San Francisco, which struggled to attract audiences despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics.[15][16] Cancelled after two seasons, the series finished with a two-hour TV movie in 2016.[17][18] Haigh's next film, Lean on Pete, based on the Willy Vlautin novel about a teenage boy in Oregon, premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017. It was released in cinemas and on VOD in April–May 2018 and received critical acclaim.[19][20] In October 2016, Haigh was announced as the writer-director of The North Water, a mini-series based on the novel of the same name by Ian McGuire. Filming began in summer 2018.[21][22] After some filming delays in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released between 15 July and 12 August on BBC Two in 2021.[23]
In 2023, Haigh returned to film directing the romance drama All of Us Strangers starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. The film is an adaptation of the Taichi Yamada novel Strangers (1988). The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim and will be distributed by Searchlight Pictures. The film also screened across the UK as a part of the BFI London Film Festival and is set to appear at the New York Film Festival on 16 October 2023.[update] Peter Debruge of Variety praised the film writing, "Haigh brings a sense of intimacy to this movie, presenting us with characters who are willing to be vulnerable to partners they barely know. It’s sexy, of course, but also quite moving, as this kind of exposed honesty feels like the foundation for any relationship".[24]
In 2024, Haigh directed a music video for the Pet Shop Boys song "A New Bohemia". Filmed in Margate, the video features Tracey Emin and Russell Tovey.[25]
Influences
[edit]Haigh participated in the 2022 Sight and Sound poll, which is held once every 10 years for contemporary filmmakers to select their 10 favourite films in no particular order; he chose Black Narcissus (1947), Some Like It Hot (1959), L'avventura (1960), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Cries and Whispers (1972), Don't Look Now (1973), Watership Down (1978), Ratcatcher (1999), Uzak (2002), and The Holy Girl (2004).[26]
Personal life
[edit]Haigh is gay.[27] He is married to Andy Morwood,[18] with whom he has two daughters.[28][4][29]
Filmography
[edit]Films
[edit]Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Editor | Distributor | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Greek Pete | Yes | Yes | Yes | Peccadillo Pictures | |
2011 | Weekend | Yes | Yes | Yes | Peccadillo Pictures / IFC Films | |
2015 | 45 Years | Yes | Yes | No | IFC Films | |
2017 | Lean on Pete | Yes | Yes | No | Curzon Artificial Eye / A24 | |
2023 | All of Us Strangers | Yes | Yes | No | Searchlight Pictures |
Short films
Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Editor | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Oil | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2005 | Markings | Yes | Yes | No | |
2005 | Cahuenga Blvd | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2009 | Five Miles Out | Yes | Yes | No |
Editor / Miscellaneous
- 1996: The Proprietor - Production assistant (London)
- 2000: Small Time Obsession - Second assistant director
- 2000: Gladiator - Apprentice editor
- 2000: Born Romantic - Assistant editor
- 2000: Breathtaking - Assistant editor
- 2001: Black Hawk Down - Assistant editor
- 2002: The Count of Monte Cristo - Assistant editor
- 2002: The Four Feathers - Assistant editor
- 2003: Shanghai Knights - Assistant editor
- 2003: Mona Lisa Smile - Assistant editor
- 2004: Fits - Short film; unit production manager
- 2004: Fragments - Short film; first assistant director
- 2005: Kingdom of Heaven - Assistant editor
- 2007: The Good Night - Assistant editor (dailies)
- 2007: Hannibal Rising - Assistant editor
- 2007: Mister Lonely - First assistant editor
- 2008: A Matador's Mistress - First assistant editor
- 2008: Crack Willow - Editor
Filmography critical reception
[edit]Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score | Rotten Tomatoes Average Critic Rating | Metacritic | |
Greek Pete | 58% (12 reviews)[30] | 5.2/10[31] | - |
Weekend | 95% (87 reviews)[32] | 8.1/10[33] | 81 (18 reviews)[34] |
45 Years | 97% (211 reviews)[35] | 8.6/10[36] | 94 (36 reviews)[37] |
Lean on Pete | 90% (190 reviews)[38] | 7.9/10[39] | 80 (40 reviews)[40] |
All of Us Strangers | 96% (252 reviews)[41] | 8.8/10[42] | 90 (53 reviews)[43] |
Television
[edit]Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014–2015 | Looking | Yes | Yes | HBO series; executive producer | |
2016 | Looking: The Movie | Yes | Yes | HBO movie | |
2019 | The OA | Yes | No | Netflix series; 2 episodes | |
2021 | The North Water | Yes | Yes | BBC2 Miniseries; 5 episodes | [21] |
Awards and nominations
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Murphy, Mekado (31 December 2015). "Andrew Haigh Narrates a Scene From '45 Years'". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ Hughes, Sarah (19 January 2014). "Gay life in all its ordinariness: Director Andrew Haigh discusses his new HBO series". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014.
- ^ "Five Miles Out" (PDF). Berlin Film Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b Needham, Alex (29 December 2023). "'A generation of queer people are grieving for the childhood they never had': Andrew Haigh on All of Us Strangers". The Guardian.
- ^ Kellaway, Kate (9 August 2015). "Andrew Haigh: 'It takes a kind of insane self-belief to go on'". The Guardian.
- ^ "London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on Tour". The List. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Outfest 2011: Highlights of this year's festival". Reuters. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Weekend (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "SXSW 2011: Andrew Haigh is an emerging talent destined to become the main event". The Guardian. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ ""Weekend," "Habana Muda" Among Top Outfest Winners". indieWire. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "ANDREW HAIGH NABS BREAKTHROUGH FILM-MAKER AT LONDON CRITIC'S CIRCLE AWARDS". TheFanCarpet.com. 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ "Gay director Andrew Haigh talks about his memorable 'Weekend'" Archived 12 April 2013 at archive.today. Wisconsin Gazette, 29 September 2011.
- ^ "Berlinale 2015: Malick, Dresen, Greenaway and German in Competition". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "45 Years", Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 27 June 2017
- ^ Brennan, Matt (10 March 2014). "How HBO's Looking Went from Boring to Brilliant". IndieWire. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "HBO should renew Looking, even though nobody watches". 9 March 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "Synopsis | Looking: The Movie". HBO. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ a b Carney, Brian T. (28 January 2016). "Looking ahead". Washington Blade.
- ^ "Lean on Pete (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Lean on Pete Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ a b Mitchell, Robert (17 October 2016). "Andrew Haigh Dives Into The North Water". Variety.
- ^ "BBC Two announces Andrew Haigh to write and direct The North Water". BBC. 4 October 2017.
- ^ Mangan, Lucy (10 September 2021). "The North Water review – a riveting voyage of blood, sweat and beards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "All of Us Strangers Review: A Lonely Gay Man Explores Missed Connections in Andrew Haigh's Latest Heartbreaker". Variety. September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Pet Shop Boys: A New Bohemia". Nowness. 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Andrew Haigh | BFI". www.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ Edalatpour, Jeffrey (27 January 2016). "Chatting with Andrew Haigh". SF Weekly.
- ^ Ellis, Bret Easton (1 June 2015). "The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast - ANDREW HAIGH - 6/1/15" (Podcast). Podcast one. Event occurs at 41:30. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ Brennan, Matt (20 December 2023). "My journey to the heart of Andrew Haigh, the director behind the year's best film". LA Times.
- ^ "Greek Pete | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Greek Pete | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Weekend | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Weekend | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Weekend". Metacritic.
- ^ "45 Years | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "45 Years | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "45 Years". Metacritic.
- ^ "Lean on Pete | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Lean on Pete | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Lean on Pete". Metacritic.
- ^ All of Us Strangers rottentomatoes.com
- ^ "All of Us Strangers | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "All of Us Strangers". Metacritic.
- ^ Ritman, Alex; Shafer, Ellise (18 January 2024). "BAFTA Film Awards Nominations: Oppenheimer and Poor Things Lead as Barbie Falls Short". Variety. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
External links
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/host-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1973 births
- Living people
- 21st-century English LGBT people
- 21st-century English screenwriters
- Alumni of Newcastle University
- British gay writers
- British LGBT film directors
- British LGBT screenwriters
- English atheists
- English film directors
- English male screenwriters
- English LGBT writers
- English television directors
- English writers on atheism
- LGBT people from London
- LGBT people from Yorkshire
- LGBTQ television directors
- People from Harrogate
- People from the London Borough of Croydon