WARIS HUSSEIN IN CONVERSATION WITH SHAMA HABIBULLAH
LITERATI INVITES YOU TO AN EVENING WITH RENOWNED FILMMAKER WARIS HUSSEIN ON FRIDAY 16TH JANUARY 2015 AT 7 P.M. AT LITERATI A COMPILATION OF HIS WORKS WILL BE SCREEENED FOLLOWED BY CONVERSATION. Born in Lucknow, India, Waris Hussein moved to England at age nine with his parents. He studied at Eton, Cambridge and the Slade School of Fine Art. Later he briefly worked as an actor before being accepted on the BBC directors' training course. He made his directorial debut on the soap Compact (BBC, 1962-65) but only gained real recognition after helping to launch Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-89; 2005- ) in partnership with producer Verity Lambert. Hussein was instrumental in selecting the original cast and establishing the template for the show by directing the pilot story 'An Unearthly Child' (tx. 23/11/1963). This already contained many characteristics that would recur throughout his work: elaborate tracking shots, a fondness for depicting protagonists isolated from their surroundings and a special interest in female psychology. This is particularly evident in 'A Passage to India' (Play of the Month, tx. 16/11/1965). One of his few works to directly address his Asian heritage, it depicts with typical sensitivity the plight of outsiders on both sides of the racial divide. After starting in television with work on Doctor Who [1] (1963) (including directing the very first episode, Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child [2] (1963)), Hussein moved on to film, directing such legends as Lord Laurence Olivier [3], Dame Bette Davis [4] and Joan Plowright [5]. Hussein directed feature films, starting with A Touch of Love (1969), Margaret Drabble'smoving story about a single mother, featuring a gratifyingly unmannered performance by Sandy Dennis. This was followed by the eccentric but warm-hearted comedy Quackser Fortune has a Cousin in the Bronx (US, 1970), the box-office hit Melody (aka S.W.A.L.K., 1971) which re-unitedMark Lester and Jack Wild from Oliver! (d. Carol Reed, 1968), and The Possession of Joel Delaney (1971), an unusual and intriguing New York-set horror tale that was barely released. Like so many British films of the 1970s, Henry VIII and his Six Wives (1972) was made to capitalise on the success of a television series (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, BBC, 1970) and proved to be his final cinema project for 25 years. He received a BAFTA award [6] for _Edward and Mrs. Simpson_ (shared with producer Andrew Brown), and an Emmy Award [7] for the Barry Manilow musical _Copacabana_ [8]__ While considering himself a British filmmaker, Hussein has worked both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in the country of his birth, India. Links: ------ [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056751?ref_=nmbio_mbio [2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0562828?ref_=nmbio_mbio [3] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000059?ref_=nmbio_mbio [4] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000012?ref_=nmbio_mbio [5] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687506?ref_=nmbio_mbio [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Academy_Television_Awards [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Award [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copacabana_(musical)#.22Copacabana.22_TV_film_.281985.29
