Following studies in law and politics, Nick Broomfield attended the
National Film and Television School as one of the first students on
its Masters in Documentary Direction. There he met Joan Churchill,
his longtime collaborator. Their films together included Soldier
Girls and Juvenile Liaison, both regarded as seminal works of
observational filmmaking.
It was while filming Driving Me Crazy, a documentary about the
production of a Broadway show, which began to go disastrously
wrong, that he developed his idiosyncratic style of putting himself
in the picture, something that academic Stella Bruzzi has defined
as 'performative documentary'. His participation in films ranging
from The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife to Aileen: Life
and Death of a Serial Killer has led to the creation of a persona,
notably 'sent up' in a range of commercials for Volkswagen.
However, this clumsy alter ego in his trademark sound recordist
get-up, belies the serious intent behind his work, to expose
hypocrisy and injustice, either within the system, as in his two
Aileen films, or in public figures, most notably the far-right
South African leader Eugene Terreblanche in The Leader.
All available titles for this name
His Big White Self (2006), Director
, Producer
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), Director
Biggie and Tupac (2002), Director
Kurt and Courtney (1998), Director
Fetishes (1996), Director
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1995), Director
Tracking Down Maggie: The Unofficial Biography of Margaret Thatcher (1994), Director
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992), Director
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife (1991), Director
, Sound
Juvenile Liaison II (1990), Director
Driving Me Crazy (1988), Director
Lily Tomlin (1986), Director
, Producer
Chicken Ranch (1983), Director
Tattooed Tears (1982), Director
Fort Augustus (1981), Director
Soldier Girls (1981), Director
Whittingham (1980), Director
Behind the Rent Strike (1979), Director
Marriage Guidance (1977), Director
Juvenile Liaison (1975), Director
, Producer
, Editor
Proud to be British (1973), Director
Who Cares (1971), Director
Other Films
Diamond Skulls (1989) - feature
Juvenile Liaison (1975)
Awards
1982: Flaherty Award (Soldier Girls)
1992: Grierson Award (Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer)
Links
www.nickbroomfield.com
www.aileenfilm.com