Alan Clarke

Alan Clarke (b. 1935 - d. 1990) was one of the great British filmmakers of the 1970’s and 80’s. He graduated from Ryerson in 1961 before returning to England where his career began as an assistant floor manager, while also directing at The Questors Theatre in Ealing, London. The vast majority of his work was made for television rather than the cinema. It was spare, provocative, and often experimental, but anchored in social realism and was always relevant to the times in which it was made. Alan pioneered the use of the steadicam and launched the careers of many of the best actors of today including Ray Winston (Scum), Tim Roth (Made in Britain) and Gary Oldman (The Firm). Alan also inspired generations of writers and directors, including Paul Greengrass and Danny Boyle.

In the years since his death, Alan’s work has been shown in film festivals internationally. In 2016, the British Film Institute collected and published two volumes of work that he made over twenty years for the BBC.