Michael Apted
Encyclopedia
Michael David Apted, CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 film The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film 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...

.

On 29 June 2003 he was elected president of the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment 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 Rome
Rome (TV series)
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...

. Apted directed Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace (2006 film)
Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn...

which premiered at the closing of the Toronto Film Festival in 2006. His most recent feature film project was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...

which premiered 30 November 2010 at the Royal Film Performance
Royal Film Performance
The Royal Film Performance is a charity performance of a British film which is attended by members of the British Royal Family. The proceeds from the evening's entertainment are donated to the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, a charity which offers financial support to people from the film,...

. 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 Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

, Buckinghamshire, the son of Frances Amelia (née Thomas) and Ronald William Apted, who worked for an insurance company. Michael Apted secured a scholarship to attend City of London School
City of London School
The 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 the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...

 and then to study law and history at Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing 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 television as a six-months trainee at Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 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 Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...

. As a researcher and assistant to Canadian director Paul Almond
Paul Almond
Paul Almond, is a Canadian former television and motion picture screenwriter, director and producer, and since 1990 has been a novelist.-Life and career:...

, 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 instalment, 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 Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

,
then written by Jack Rosenthal
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.-Biography:...

. Apted and Rosenthal went on to collaborate on a number of popular television and film projects including the pilot episodes for The Dustbinmen
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...

and The Lovers
The Lovers (TV series)
The Lovers is 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 Granada Television for the ITV network. The hook for the show was the mismatch between the two, particularly in...

. They teamed up again in 1982 for the TV movie P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang is a television film first shown on Channel 4 on its second night, 3 November, 1982.Written by Jack Rosenthal as part of his First Love series, it is a simple coming-of-age film set in a grammar school in the outer London suburbs of the early 1950s...

, the first film commissioned by Britain's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

.

In 1976 he directed a play in the Granada TV Series Laurence Olivier Presents
Laurence Olivier Presents
Laurence Olivier Presents is 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 Collection
The Collection
- Film :*The Collection , an upcoming American sequel film to The Collector- Music :*The Collection *The Collection *The Collection *The Collection...

" by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

. The play starred Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence 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. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

, Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...

, Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...

 and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...

.

For his work in television, Apted has won several British Academy Awards
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...

, including one for Best Dramatic Director.
  • Coronation Street
    Coronation Street
    Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

    (1963–64)
  • Haunted
    Haunted (UK TV series)
    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 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.-Biography:...

  • The Dustbinmen
    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
    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 (TV series)
    The Lovers is 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 Granada Television for the ITV network. The hook for the show was the mismatch between the two, particularly in...

    (1970)
  • Follyfoot
    Follyfoot
    Follyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by the majority-partner British television company Yorkshire Television and the independent West German company TV Munich...

    (1970)
  • Another Sunday and Sweet F.A. (1970) – written by Jack Rosenthal
    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.-Biography:...

  • The Collection (1976) – written by Harold Pinter
    Harold Pinter
    Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

     and starring Laurence Olivier
    Laurence Olivier
    Laurence 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. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

  • Play for Today
    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. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...

    (1972–77)
  • P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
    P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
    P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang is a television film first shown on Channel 4 on its second night, 3 November, 1982.Written by Jack Rosenthal as part of his First Love series, it is a simple coming-of-age film set in a grammar school in the outer London suburbs of the early 1950s...

    (1982)
  • New York News
    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.-Premise: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
    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 (TV series)
    Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...

    (2006)

Film

Apted made his first feature film in 1972, The Triple Echo
The Triple Echo
The Triple Echo is a 1972 British drama film directed by Michael Apted starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on a novel by H. E...

, starring Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed
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 Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...

, and he directed two films for David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...

. He alternated this work with working on the TV series Play for Today
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. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...

. He directed six plays including Stronger than the Sun, written by Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...

 and starring Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis is an English actress, known for her film and television appearances, most recently in the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Early life and education:...

 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 Agatha
Agatha (film)
Agatha is a 1979 drama thriller film directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, and written by Kathleen Tynan...

, featuring Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...

. The majority of Apted's feature films since then have been based around a female protagonist. He went to the United States in 1980, where he directed Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon 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 film was...

, which received seven Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nominations, winning best actress for Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...

. Both Spacek and Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...

, 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 Appalachian
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

 residents and to the avoidance of stereotypes that previously had marred portrayals of mountain culture. Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...

 and Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....

 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 Smith
Martin Cruz Smith
Martin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...

, that deals with police corruption in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Class Action
Class Action
Class Action may refer to:*Class action, a form of lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court*Class Action , a 1991 film starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio...

deals with a corporate whistleblower, and Extreme Measures
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.-Cast:...

is about medical ethics.

Apted directed the 1999 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 film The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film 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...

, the first Bond film in which the main villain
Elektra King
Elektra Vavra King is a fictional character, and primary antagonist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau.- Fictional character history :...

 is a woman. He also gave considerably more screen time than usual to the character of M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...

, as played by Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

.
  • The Triple Echo
    The Triple Echo
    The Triple Echo is a 1972 British drama film directed by Michael Apted starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on a novel by H. E...

    (1972)
  • Stardust (1974)
  • The Squeeze
    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 (film)
    Agatha is a 1979 drama thriller film 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
    Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon 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 film was...

    (1980)
  • Continental Divide
    Continental Divide (film)
    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; the latter was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.An attempt was made during...

    (1981)
  • Gorky Park (1983)
  • Firstborn
    Firstborn (film)
    Firstborn is a 1984 drama film starring Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Corey Haim , Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr....

    (1984)
  • Bring On the Night
    Bring on the Night (film)
    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 (1991 film)
    Class Action is a 1991 American drama thriller 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
    Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...

    (1992)
  • Incident at Oglala
    Incident at Oglala
    Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...

    (1992)
  • Blink
    Blink (film)
    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
    Nell (film)
    Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...

    (1994)
  • Extreme Measures
    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.-Cast:...

    (1996)
  • The World Is Not Enough
    The World Is Not Enough
    The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film 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...

    (1999)
  • Enigma
    Enigma (2001 film)
    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. The film's screenplay was by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel Enigma by Robert Harris...

    (2001)
  • Enough
    Enough
    The score for Enough, composed by David Arnold, was released on June 4, 2002.#"Give Me a Sign"#"F.B.I.?"#"New Leaf"#"Slim and Joe"#"Get Out of the House"#"Goodbye Gracie"#"Training Day"#"Breaking In"#"Setting the Trap"#"Fight Club"...

    (2002)
  • Amazing Grace
    Amazing Grace (2006 film)
    Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn...

    (2006)
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...

    (2010)

Documentary

In addition to feature films, Apted has continued directing documentaries, including Bring on the Night
Bring on the Night (film)
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...

, 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 Thunderheart
Thunderheart
Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...

, Apted made the documentary Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...

about convicted murderer Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...

. And Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...

then informed Thunderheart
Thunderheart
Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...

in the casting of actors for the fiction film. In 1997, he explored the creative process in Inspirations through candid discussion with seven artists from diverse media, including music, painting, dance, sculpture, and architecture.

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 Styler
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...

, 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.

In 2006, Apted directed The Official Film of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, narrated by Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...

.

Apted was the collaborator and subject of documentary: Michael Apted - Visions on Film, by artist and filmmaker Melinda Camber Porter
Melinda Camber Porter
Melinda Camber Porter was an artist, author, poet, journalist and filmmaker. Porter was a modernist who worked in oils, watercolor and ink...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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