I'm British But ... The Many States of Film
I'm British But ... The Many States of Film
- Date
- Feb 13th 2017
- With
- Ben Gibson, Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha became a household name in the UK with the runaway success of Bend It Like Beckham, in 2002 the highest-grossing British film to date at the national box office. Born in Nairobi of Punjabi Sikh Kenyan Asian origin, Chadha grew up in England, and her experiences coming-of-age as a British woman in the Indian diaspora figure prominently in the stories and characters of her films. A queen of comedy amongst other genres, Chadha’s works progressively address the social and emotional issues faced by immigrants. Chadha takes time away from the premiere of her newest film, Viceroy's House, to tell the story of how the outspoken girl, who refused to cook Indian food, ended up bravely taking the film world by storm.
Ben Gibson
Ben Gibson is the director of the DFFB film school in Berlin. He was previously director of degree programmes at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and a visiting professor at Goldsmiths. From 2001 to 2014, he was director of the London Film School. He is a former independent producer and was head of production at the British Film Institute from 1988 to 1998. Before that he was a distributor, exhibitor, theatre director, film critic and journalist.
Gurinder Chadha
Born in Kenya in 1960 as the daughter of Indian parents, she grew up in London where she first worked as a news reporter for the BBC. She then directed award-winning documentaries for the British Film Institute, the BBC and Channel 4. She also won numerous awards for her feature film debut Bhaji on the Beach. Her international breakthrough came with Bend It Like Beckham which was a national and international commercial success. In 2006 Chadha was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to the film industry.