Barney Platts-Mills

Infobox Person
name = Barney Platts-Mills


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birth_date = 1944
birth_place = Colchester, England
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occupation = Film director
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nationality = British
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Barney Platts-Mills is a British film director, best known for his award-winning films, "Bronco Bullfrog" and "Private Road".

Biography

1944 Born in Colchester England. Educated at University College School, London and at Bryanston School, Blandford, Dorset.

1960 Entered film industry as 3rd assistant editor at Shepperton Studios and worked on Stanley Kubrick’s "Spartacus", Lewis Gilbert’s "The Greengage Summer" and John Schlesinger’s "A Kind of Loving" amongst others, for editors including Peter R. Hunt and Reggie Beck. Worked as editor for Anglia TV "Survival" and Granada TV "World in Action".

1966 Established Maya Films with James Scott, Adam Barker-Mill and Andrew St. John. Produced and edited "Love’s Presentation", a 30 min. documentary on the work of David Hockney, directed by James Scott. Produced and directed "St Christopher" a 45 min. documentary on children in the care of Rudolf Steiner Schools and the Camphill Village Trust, Bottom, Yorkshire. Wrote, produced and directed "The War", a cinema short starring Colin Welland and Eric Burden. (15 min. B&W 35mm Panavision). Wrote and directed "Everybody’s an Actor, Shakespeare Said", a documentary on the work of Joan Littlewood with young people in the East End of London. (35 min. 16mm Eastmancolor).

1969 Wrote and directed "Bronco Bullfrog" with young people from the East End. (83 min. 35mm B&W) Selectione a l’Unanimite pour Semain de la Critique, Festival de Cannes. Screenwriter’s Guild award for Best Original Screenplay.

1970 Wrote and directed "Private Road" (86 min 35mm Eastmancolor) starring Bruce Robinson, Susan Penhaligon and Michael Feast. Awarded Golden Leopard at Locarno Festival for Best Film.

1972 Governor and Honorary Life Member of British Film Institute and Director of Prodigal Trust, Inner London School's video project. Took piano lessons with Trevor Fisher.

1976 Wrote screenplay "Double Trouble", published as a novel by Duckworth.

1977 Wrote screenplays for "The Scotsman" and "Hero". After two years preparation directed "Hero" (82 min 16mm Eastmancolor) for Film Four in ancient Gaelic with actors drawn from a Glasgow youth gang. Official entry Venice Film Festival.

1983 Wrote screenplay for "Ebb Tide" by Robert Louis Stevenson, to be filmed for Film Four in Sri Lanka starring Harry Dean Stanton and Christopher Lee. Project abandoned when war broke out in that country.

1984 - 88 Resident in Sussex with his two young children, Roland and Ruby.

1989 Wrote and directed "Blasphemy" for Channel Four "Dispatches".

1990 Worked in The Special Unit, HMP Barlinnie, Glasgow on various projects including a musical to be staged by prisoners in the jail and the first ever performance by a circus ('Arkaos) in a British jail. Edited John Steele's "The Bird That Never Flew" an autobiography of a prison trouble-maker published by Sinclair-Stevenson in 1992

1993 Advisor to development of Wornington Green Resident's Association Video Project for disadvantaged youth.

1994 Set up and supervised first year of North Kensington Video Drama Project including work for Metropolitan Police Scam scheme and the Youth Enterprise Scheme.

1995 Together with students from the N.K.V.D.P. established Massive Videos at North Kensington Community Centre and worked on the development of Courttia Newland's "The Scholar".

1996 - 99 Massive Videos made many short films by and about disadvantaged young people and founded the Portobello Film and video Festival. In Liverpool they established the 'Workhaus' project in a five story building in the city centre and the North X Northwest Film Festival. 2000 Went to Morocco. Lived for a year on a farm near Larache. Wrote screenplay for "Lovesways". 2004 Built house in Mejlaou near Assilah and wrote screenplay for "Looking for Tomorrow".

Press notices

*"Barney Platts-Mills is a real film maker… far and away the most interesting and exciting talent to emerge in the British Cinema since… well since Lindsay Anderson." — John Russel Taylor, "The Times"
*"Shines brightly out of the fog of inadequacy and faint-heartedness emanating from most British films.. has clearly gained in style and clarity without losing his spontaneous and open approach to the difficult art of making films that don't look in any way mocked-up." — Derek Malcolm, "The Guardian"
*"...a fresh and sympathetic manner … his style is beautifully consistent and appropriate." — Patrick Gibbs, "The Daily Telegraph"
*"…vigorous very real talent." — Jay Cocks, "Time"

"Bronco Bullfrog"

*"Tender, touching, wryly funny… Says more than any costly effort about the generation gap frustration that drives most kids to put the boot in. I will remember its bitter ironic tang." — Robert Ottaway, "The Daily Sketch"
*"A piece of neo-realism far more rigorous and effective than anything the Italians attempted even in the movements heyday. Funny, immensely telling. The non-professional cast is miraculously well directed." — John Russel Taylor, "The Times"
*"Funny, honest, serious… will be remembered long after most British products of the year have been forgotten." — Derek Malcolm, "The Guardian"
*"Remarkably free from pretentious messages and stylistic excess, constantly engaging… charming in its ingenuousness and one of the most touching love stories in recent years." — Michael Kerbel, "The Village Voice"
*"A smashing and pretty sobering Cockney film … stirring and true spirited." — Penelope Gilliat, "The New Yorker"

"Private Road"

*"A film of genuine distinction, notable for the honesty with which it faces every situation. The observation of character is so free of the usual manipulations that our concern is lastingly established. Not many films leave us asking for more, Private Road is a notable exception." — Eric Shorter, "The Daily Telegraph"
*"What is important in the film is the scope it gives for developing the characters and their relationships. It deals with individuals rather than a phenomenon generally labelled 'youth'. A film of immense charm and originality." — John Russel Taylor, "The Times"
*"…has the extraordinary ability to observe people frankly and lovingly, to make their very non-communication articulate and to define with precision and without losing their individuality, types that are recognisably contemporary and new to our times." — David Robinson, "Financial Times"
*"Funny and touching, sensitive but unsentimental, the great virtue of the film is that it plays fair." — George Melly, "The Observer"
*"The sort of movie that looks you straight in the eye." — Derek Malcolm, "The Guardian"

"Hero"

*"A true original… Possesses the most genuine feeling for an exploited land and its sorely tried people. A sad heroic tale, full of fantasy and magic and the signs of a forgotten culture." — Derek Malcolm, "The Guardian"
*"Truly original and startlingly full of allusions to the present. An examination of an exploited land and its troubled and dispossessed people" — Virginia Dignam, "The Morning Star"
*"A fascinating, bold enterprise. Deserves a big audience for the breadth of its adventure and its thrilling momentum." — Tom Hutchinson, "Mail on Sunday"
*"So powerful, so original, such good entertainment, it should be seen widely." — Lindsay Mackie, "Glasgow Herald"

External links

*imdb|0686933