- Philip Donnellan
Philip Donnellan (9 February 1924 – 15 February 1999) was an English documentary film-maker.
Described in his "Guardian" obituary as "one of the greatest of all documentarists", Donnellan worked with the
BBC for over four decades, producing around 80 documentary films and programmes, most reflecting working-class lives.The son of an Irish headmaster, Donnellan grew up in Surrey. After
World War II , in which he fought inBurma , he became a journalist, then a BBC radio announcer. He began interviewing working people, such as the fishermanSam Larner , who had a vast repertoire of traditional songs. The two programmes Donnellan made for the BBC of these songs introduced them toEwan MacColl .From there, Donnellan diversified into television, focusing on working people; his first film was "Joe The Chainsmith", and his 1962 "Private Faces" was a portrait of a
Durham miner . He also filmed public figures such asAdenauer ,Nehru andDe Gaulle ; these were well received but he found them less satisfying. His continual addressing of political issues led to many editorial disputes, but Donnellan kept his film-making base atPebble Mill in Birmingham, which meant he could present his films to the BBC controllers as "faits accomplis".Donnellan continued to be entertaining and provocative: "Where Do We Go From Here?" dealt with the question of the 'Gypsy menace' (travelling people), "Gone For A Soldier" (1980) was a 105-minute montage of ordinary soldiers' diaries and letters, and he made film versions of the
radio ballads "Shoals Of Herring" (1972), "The Fight Game" and "The Big Hewer" (1973) with MacColl andPeggy Seeger . He co-founded and chaired the West Midlands Gypsy Liaison Group.References
W Stephen Gilbert, 'Obituary: Philip Donnellan: Let the people speak', "The Guardian" (London), 1 March 1999, Features Page; Pg. 16.
External Links
* [http://www.philipdonnellan.co.uk/ The Friends of Philip Donnellan]
*
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