Michael David Apted,
CMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(born 10 February 1941) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
,
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
,
writerScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is one of the most prolific British
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
s of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up series of documentaries.
On 29 June 2003 he was elected
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the
Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
. He returned to television, directing the first three episodes of the TV series
RomeRome is an American-British-Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius, and William J. MacDonald. The show's first season originally aired on HBO in the United States between August 28 and November 20, 2005, subsequently being broadcast on the United Kingdom's...
. His most recent feature film project was
Amazing Grace, which premiered at the closing of the Toronto Film Festival on 16 September 2006.
Michael David Apted,
CMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(born 10 February 1941) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
,
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
,
writerScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is one of the most prolific British
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
s of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up series of documentaries.
On 29 June 2003 he was elected
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the
Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
. He returned to television, directing the first three episodes of the TV series
RomeRome is an American-British-Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius, and William J. MacDonald. The show's first season originally aired on HBO in the United States between August 28 and November 20, 2005, subsequently being broadcast on the United Kingdom's...
. His most recent feature film project was
Amazing Grace, which premiered at the closing of the Toronto Film Festival on 16 September 2006. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
Early life
Apted was born to a middle-class family in
AylesburyAylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in south east England. In the 2001 census the Aylesbury Urban Area, which includes Bierton, Fairford Leys, Stoke Mandeville and Watermead, had a population of 69,021, which included 56,392 for the Aylesbury civil parish.-History:The town name is of...
,
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
, the son of Frances Amelia (née Thomas) and Ronald William Apted, who worked for an insurance company. Apted secured a scholarship to attend
City of London SchoolThe City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and of the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
and then to study
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
and
historyHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
at
Cambridge UniversityThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
(
Downing CollegeDowning College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
).
Television
He began his career in
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
as a six-months trainee at
Granada TelevisionGranada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England and the Isle of Man.It is the only one of the original four ITA franchisees from 1954 that survived as a franchise holder into the twenty-first century. Broadcasting began on 3 May 1956, with the company originally...
in Manchester where he worked as a researcher. One of his first projects at Granada would become his most famous: the
Up! series, which began in 1964 as a profile of fourteen seven-year-old children for the ground-breaking current affairs series
World In ActionWorld in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 to 1998. The efforts of its production team not infrequently had a major impact on events of the day...
. As a researcher and assistant to Canadian director
Paul AlmondPaul Almond, OC is a Canadian television and motion picture director and novelist.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he attended Bishop's College School, McGill University and Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics, Economics, edited the University magazine Isis and played for the Oxford...
, Apted was involved in selecting the children. Though it began as a one-shot documentary, the series has become an institution, revisiting the subjects every seven years, with Apted directing the later episodes in the series. It follows Apted's thesis that the British class system remains largely in place, and is premised on the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Now in its seventh installment, the series is a dramatic look at the lives of ordinary (and not-so-ordinary) people over the years. The latest version,
49 Up, was produced in 2005 and Apted has said that he hopes to be able to make
56 Up, at which time he will be 72.
During his seven-year stay at Granada, Apted also directed a number of episodes of
Coronation StreetCoronation Street is an award-winning prime time soap opera set and produced in Manchester created by Tony Warren...
, then written by
Jack RosenthalJack Morris Rosenthal CBE was an English playwright, who wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations....
. Apted and Rosenthal went on to collaborate on a number of popular television and film projects including the pilot episodes for
The DustbinmenThe Dustbinmen was a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for ITV, which starred Bryan Pringle, Trevor Bannister, Graham Haberfield and Tim Wylton. The show was a spin-off from a one-off 90-minute TV Movie "There's a Hole in Your Dustbin, Delilah" written by Jack Rosenthal and...
and
The LoversThe Lovers was a British television sitcom by Jack Rosenthal, starring Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox as a courting couple, Geoffrey and Beryl. It was made between 1970 and 1971 by the ITV company Granada. The hook for the show was the mismatch between the two, particularly in the area of sex...
. They teamed up again in 1982 for the TV movie
P'tang Yang Kipperbang, the first film commissioned by Britain's
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
.
In 1976 he directed a play in the Granada TV Series
Laurence Olivier PresentsLaurence Olivier Presents was a British television series made by Granada Television which ran from 1976 to 1978.The plays, with the exception of Hindle Wakes, all starred Laurence Olivier. Some of the plays were based on productions staged at the National Theatre during the period when Olivier was...
. The episode was "
The CollectionThe Collection may refer to:*The Collection by Harold Pinter*The Collection *The Collection *The Collection *The Collection...
" by
Harold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE , was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and poet. He was among the most influential British playwrights of modern times...
. The play starred
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
,
Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor. McDowell's career has spanned more than forty years and includes notable roles in if...., A Clockwork Orange, O Lucky Man!, Tank Girl, Star Trek Generations, the TV serial Our Friends in the North, Entourage, Heroes, Metalocalypse, the 2007 remake of Halloween...
,
Alan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was a British actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:Bates was born in Allestree, Derby, England on 17 February 1934, the eldest of three sons of Florence Mary , a homemaker and a pianist, and Harold Arthur Bates, an insurance broker and a cellist...
and
Helen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards during her career.-Family:...
.
For his work in television, Apted has won several
British Academy AwardsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
, including one for Best Dramatic Director.
- Coronation Street
Coronation Street is an award-winning prime time soap opera set and produced in Manchester created by Tony Warren...
(1963–64)
- Haunted
Haunted was a British supernatural drama series broadcast by ITV . It ran for eight episodes from 1967-68 and starred Patrick Mower as University lecturer Michael West, who travelled around Britain investigating reported paranormal phenomena...
(1967)
- There's a hole in your dustbin, Delilah (1968) — written by Jack Rosenthal
Jack Morris Rosenthal CBE was an English playwright, who wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations....
- The Dustbinmen
The Dustbinmen was a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for ITV, which starred Bryan Pringle, Trevor Bannister, Graham Haberfield and Tim Wylton. The show was a spin-off from a one-off 90-minute TV Movie "There's a Hole in Your Dustbin, Delilah" written by Jack Rosenthal and...
(1969)
- Big Breadwinner Hog
Big Breadwinner Hog is a British television thriller serial devised by Robin Chapman, produced by Granada TV and transmitted in eight parts, starting at 9.00pm on 11 April 1969 on the ITV network. It portrayed the ruthless rise through the criminal underworld of the trendy young London gangster...
(1969)
- The Lovers
The Lovers was a British television sitcom by Jack Rosenthal, starring Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox as a courting couple, Geoffrey and Beryl. It was made between 1970 and 1971 by the ITV company Granada. The hook for the show was the mismatch between the two, particularly in the area of sex...
(1970)
- Follyfoot
Follyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by Yorkshire Television and the independent West German company TV Munich...
(1970)
- Another Sunday and Sweet F.A. (1970) — written by Jack Rosenthal
Jack Morris Rosenthal CBE was an English playwright, who wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations....
- The Collection (1976) — written by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE , was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and poet. He was among the most influential British playwrights of modern times...
and starring Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
- Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. Over three hundred original plays, most between an hour and ninety minutes in length, were transmitted during the fourteen-year period the series aired, and it is by far the...
(1972–77)
- P'tang Yang Kipperbang (1984)
- New York News
New York News was a newspaper drama which was broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1995 fall lineup.New York News was the story of the fictional New York Reporter, a struggling tabloid in the nation's largest, most competitive newspaper market, New York City...
(1994)
- Married in America
Married in America is an ongoing documentary film series that follows the lives of nine American married couples. Directed by British director Michael Apted, it is a similar take on his famed Up Series.-Premise:...
(2002)
- Rome
Rome is an American-British-Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius, and William J. MacDonald. The show's first season originally aired on HBO in the United States between August 28 and November 20, 2005, subsequently being broadcast on the United Kingdom's...
(2006)
Film
Apted made his first feature film in 1972,
The Triple EchoThe Triple Echo is a 1972 film starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on a novel by H. E. Bates. Brian Deacon played the deserter from the British Army. It is also known as Soldier in Skirts. The film was directed by Michael Apted.- External links :*...
, starring
Oliver ReedRobert Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough-guy" roles...
and
Glenda JacksonGlenda May Jackson, CBE is an English actress and politician, currently Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in the London Borough of Camden.- Biography:...
, and he directed two films for
David PuttnamDavid Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA, is a film producer and politician. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords.- Early life :...
. He alternated this work with working on the TV series
Play for TodayPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. Over three hundred original plays, most between an hour and ninety minutes in length, were transmitted during the fourteen-year period the series aired, and it is by far the...
. He directed six plays including
Stronger than the Sun, written by
Stephen PoliakoffStephen Poliakoff CBE is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Career:...
and starring
Francesca AnnisFrancesca Annis is a Brazilian-born British actress, particularly well known for her film and television appearances, most recently the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Biography:...
as a young woman who places her life in danger to expose a crime, a theme Apted has returned to several times.
In 1979 he directed the Hollywood-financed
AgathaAgatha is a dramatic thriller directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, and written by Kathleen Tynan...
, featuring
Vanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave CBE is an Oscar winning English actress of stage, film and television. She is a member of the Redgrave family, the world-renowned theatrical dynasty. A former Trotskyist and leading member of the Workers' Revolutionary Party, She is also a social activist for human rights and has...
. The majority of Apted's feature films since then have been based around a female protagonist. He went to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1980, where he directed
Coal Miner's DaughterCoal Miner's Daughter is an American 1980 biographical film which tells the story of country music performer Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The...
, which received seven
Academy AwardThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
nominations, winning best actress for
Sissy SpacekMary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek is an American actress and singer. Her screen debut was in the 1972 film Prime Cut co-starring Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman....
. Both Spacek and
Loretta LynnLoretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter; she was one of the leading country vocalists and songwriters during the 1960s and is revered as a country music cultural icon....
, the subject of the film, have said that they believe Apted's outsider point of view was crucial to the movie's success in securing the participation of
AppalachianThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
residents and to the avoidance of stereotypes that previously had marred portrayals of mountain culture.
Sigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies. Weaver is also a three-time Academy Award nominee for her performances in Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl...
and
Jodie FosterAlicia Christian Foster, better known as Jodie Foster , is an American actor, film director and producer.Foster began acting in commercials at 3 years old, and her first significant role came in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as the preteen prostitute, Iris, for which she received a nomination for the...
have also earned Academy Award nominations for their work in Apted-directed films.
Apted has also made several films with a strong social message or that deal with an ethical dilemma. In 1983 he directed
Gorky Park, a political thriller based on the novel by
Martin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz Smith was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1942. He originally wrote under the name Martin Smith only to discover there were other writers with the same name. His agent Knox Burger asked Smith to add a third name and Smith chose Cruz, the shortest name in his family...
, that deals with police corruption in the former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
.
Class ActionThe title Class Action refers to multiple works :*Class Action, a 1991 film starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio...
deals with a corporate whistleblower, and
Extreme MeasuresExtreme Measures is a 1996 thriller film based on Michael Palmer's 1991 novel of the same name, about the ethics of how far we are willing to go, and how much we are willing to sacrifice, in order to cure the world's ills.-Primary cast:...
is about medical ethics.
Apted directed the 1999
James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
film
The World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It was...
, the first Bond film in which
the main villainElektra King is a fictional character, and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau...
is a woman. He also gave considerably more screen time than usual to the character of
MM is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. M has been portrayed by Dame Judi Dench since 1995.- Background :...
, as played by
Judi DenchDame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English actress.Originally trained as a set designer, Dench began her acting career in the mid 1950s in amateur productions, and made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company...
.
Apted will direct the third instalment of the Narnia films,
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
- The Triple Echo
The Triple Echo is a 1972 film starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on a novel by H. E. Bates. Brian Deacon played the deserter from the British Army. It is also known as Soldier in Skirts. The film was directed by Michael Apted.- External links :*...
(1972)
- Stardust (1974)
- The Squeeze
For other films called "The Squeeze" see The Squeeze )The Squeeze is a 1977 British gangster thriller, directed by Michael Apted, based on a novel by Bill James...
(1977)
- Agatha
Agatha is a dramatic thriller directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, and written by Kathleen Tynan...
(1979)
- Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is an American 1980 biographical film which tells the story of country music performer Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The...
(1980)
- Continental Divide
Continental Divide is a 1981 American romantic comedy. It was directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and produced by Steven Spielberg and stars John Belushi and Blair Brown...
(1981)
- Gorky Park (1983)
- Firstborn
Firstborn is a 1984 drama film starring Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim , Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr..-Plot summary:...
(1984)
- Bring On the Night
Bring on the Night is a 1985 documentary film, directed by Michael Apted, which focuses on the jazz-inspired project and band led by the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career. Some of the songs, whose recording sessions are featured in the film, appeared on his debut...
(1985)
- Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
- Class Action
Class Action is a 1991 film directed by Michael Apted. Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star; Laurence Fishburne, Colin Friels, Fred Dalton Thompson and Donald Moffat are also featured.-Plot:...
(1991)
- Thunderheart
Thunderheart is a 1992 American mystery film directed by Michael Apted with Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene, and Fred Ward. Val Kilmer plays an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation. Graham Greene, a full Oneida Indian from Six Nations Reserve...
(1992)
- Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two FBI agents, Coler and Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975, and the legal case surrounding the subsequent trials of Robert Robideau, Darrell Butler, and...
(1992)
- Blink
Blink is a 1994 Neo-noir thriller film starring Madeleine Stowe and Aidan Quinn. Director Michael Apted was nominated for a Crystal Globe award for the film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and screenwriter Dana Stevens was nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Edgar Allan Poe...
(1994)
- Nell (1994)
- Extreme Measures
Extreme Measures is a 1996 thriller film based on Michael Palmer's 1991 novel of the same name, about the ethics of how far we are willing to go, and how much we are willing to sacrifice, in order to cure the world's ills.-Primary cast:...
(1996)
- The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It was...
(1999)
- Enigma
Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II. The film, directed by Michael Apted, stars Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet...
(2001)
- Enough
Enough is a Hollywood psychological thriller. It stars Jennifer Lopez as Slim, a young waitress who one day finds the man of her dreams in the diner where she works...
(2002)
- Amazing Grace (2006)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third published novel in C.S. Lewis's fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the third in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The...
(2010)
Documentary
In addition to feature films, Apted has continued directing
documentariesDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
, including
Bring on the NightBring on the Night is a 1985 documentary film, directed by Michael Apted, which focuses on the jazz-inspired project and band led by the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career. Some of the songs, whose recording sessions are featured in the film, appeared on his debut...
, a feature-length concert film about the making of Sting's first solo album. In 1988/9 he directed the documentary
The Long Way Home, which chronicled the UK, US and USSR adventures of Boris Grebenshikov, the first Soviet underground musician allowed to record in the West. Before the making of
ThunderheartThunderheart is a 1992 American mystery film directed by Michael Apted with Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene, and Fred Ward. Val Kilmer plays an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation. Graham Greene, a full Oneida Indian from Six Nations Reserve...
, Apted made the documentary
Incident at OglalaIncident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two FBI agents, Coler and Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975, and the legal case surrounding the subsequent trials of Robert Robideau, Darrell Butler, and...
detailing the judicial railroading of Indian activist
Leonard PeltierLeonard Peltier is an American activist and member of the American Indian Movement who was convicted and sentenced in 1977 to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who were killed during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian...
. And
Incident at OglalaIncident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two FBI agents, Coler and Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975, and the legal case surrounding the subsequent trials of Robert Robideau, Darrell Butler, and...
then informed
ThunderheartThunderheart is a 1992 American mystery film directed by Michael Apted with Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene, and Fred Ward. Val Kilmer plays an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation. Graham Greene, a full Oneida Indian from Six Nations Reserve...
in the casting of actors for the fiction film.
In a departure from his earlier work, from 1992–94, Apted ventured into China's rapidly-changing popular culture. In a project backed by
Trudie StylerTrudie Styler Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January, 1954 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England is an actress and producer. She is married to the musician Sting.-Biography:...
, Apted directed
Moving the Mountain, a feature documentary which probed the origins of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square and the consequences of the movement in the lives of several of the movement's student leaders.
External links