Edgar Anstey OBE (16 February 1907 – 26 September 1987[1]), was a leading British documentary filmmaker.
Anstey was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in 1907, and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College.
He spent a few years as a civil servant before starting in 1930 at The Empire Marketing Board's film unit, under the direction of John Grierson.[2]
He was the uncredited co-director of the "seminal 1935 'social problem' film" Housing Problems.[3][2] In 1949, he joined the British Transport Films unit, which he headed until 1974.[4] He also served on the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute.[5]
As a producer he was twice-nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1964 for Thirty Million Letters and Best Short Subject, Live Action for Snow in 1966 [6][7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Anstey, Edgar (Harold Macfarlane)". Who Was Who in America, 1993-1996, vol. 11. New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p. 7. ISBN 0837902258.
- ^ a b "Anstey, Edgar (1907-1987) Biography". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ Barsam, Richard Meran (1992). Nonfiction Film: A Critical History. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. pp. 96, 107. ISBN 9780253207067.
- ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (27 January 2001). "That was the age of the train". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ "Written Answers to Questions - Government Directors on Company Boards". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 281. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. 13 March 1967. col. 161–162.
- ^ "The 36th Academy Awards | 1964". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ "The 38th Academy Awards | 1966". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
Further reading
edit- Nicholas Pronay, ‘Anstey, Edgar Harold Macfarlane (1907–1987)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 4 Oct 2007
External links
edit
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