Peter Strickland (director)

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Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland in September 2018
Born (1973-05-21) 21 May 1973 (age 50)
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1996–present

Peter Strickland is a British film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his films Berberian Sound Studio (2012), The Duke of Burgundy (2014) and In Fabric (2018).

Life and career[edit]

Strickland was born to a Greek mother and British father, both teachers, and grew up in Reading, Berkshire, where he was a member of Progress Theatre, directing his own adaptation of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.[1] In 1997, his short film Bubblegum was entered in the Berlin Film Festival.[2] He made a short version of what would become Berberian Sound Studio in 2005.[3] For most of the 2000s, he lived in Slovakia and Hungary.[4]

His first feature, the low-budget rural revenge drama Katalin Varga, was financed by an inheritance from an uncle and filmed in Romania over a period of 17 days in 2006.[2][4] It won the European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year in 2009.[5]

His second, Berberian Sound Studio, is a psychological thriller set in a 1970s Italian horror film studio and starring Toby Jones.[6] It was previewed at London FrightFest Film Festival in August 2012[3] and at the 2012 Edinburgh International Film Festival, where Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph described it as the "stand-out movie".[7] In 2013, the film obtained the Best International Film Award at BAFICI.[8] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described Berberian Sound Studio as marking Strickland's emergence as "a key British film-maker of his generation".[9]

His third feature, the chamber drama The Duke of Burgundy, was an homage to Jess Franco starring Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna.[10] It received overwhelming praise from critics, and appeared on The A.V. Club and Indiewire best film lists for 2015.[11][12]

In 2018, Strickland released In Fabric, a psychological horror film about a haunted dress purchased in a London department store. Like his previous film, it received universal critical acclaim. It appeared in multiple best of the year critics' polls, including those of The Playlist and Sight & Sound.[13][14]

Filmography[edit]

Radio credits[edit]

  • The Len Continuum (2015) (BBC Radio 4)
  • The Stone Tape (2016) (BBC Radio 4)
  • The Len Dimension (2017) (BBC Radio 4)
  • The Third Consecutive Event in Talbot Leigh (2019) (BBC Radio 4)
  • Jason's Mates (2022) (BBC Radio 4)

References[edit]

  1. ^ 'Peter Strickland celebrates win at British Film Awards', 9 February 2010, archived from the original on 6 March 2016, retrieved 22 October 2013
  2. ^ a b Bergan, Ronald (19 June 2009). "'Should I buy a flat in Bracknell or make a film in Transylvania?'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b Cummings, Basia. "Foley Cow! Berberian Sound Studio Director Peter Strickland Interviewed". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  4. ^ a b Leigh, Danny (23 August 2012). "Peter Strickland: 'I'm glad British film produces mainstream crowd-pleasers, but I don't want to make one'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Peter Strickland wins European Discovery Award for KATALIN VARGA". The Agency. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  6. ^ French, Philip (2 September 2012). "Berberian Sound Studio – review". The Observer. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  7. ^ Collin, Robbie (28 June 2012). "Berberian Sound Studio, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012, review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  8. ^ "BAFICI 2013". Festivales de Buenos Aires. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  9. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (1 September 2012). "Berberian Sound Studio – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (1 September 2012). "Exclusive Audio Interview: Peter Strickland talks Jess Franco and "THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY"". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  11. ^ "The 25 Best Films Of 2019". The Playlist. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  12. ^ "The 50 Best Films Of 2019". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  13. ^ "The 25 Best Films Of 2019". The Playlist. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  14. ^ "The 50 Best Films Of 2019". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

External links[edit]