Nigel Lucius Graeme Finch (1 August 1949 – 14 February 1995) was an English film director and filmmaker whose career influenced the growth of British gay cinema.[1]

Biography

Nigel Finch was born in Tenterden, Kent, the son of Graham and Tibby Finch, and raised in Bromley, south east London. He studied art history at the University of Sussex.[2]

Finch began working as co-editor for the BBC television documentary series Arena in the early 1970s.[2] He produced and directed many notable programs including My Way (1978), and The Private Life of the Ford Cortina (1982). He rose to prominence with the documentary Chelsea Hotel (1981), which profiled the famed New York hotel[3] and its legacy of famous gay guests, including Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, William S. Burroughs, Quentin Crisp and Andy Warhol. His documentary subjects include artist Robert Mapplethorpe (1988), filmmaker Kenneth Anger (1991),[1] and artist Louise Bourgeois (1994). Finch went on to direct films such as the BAFTA-nominated drama The Lost Language of Cranes, and the musical soap opera The Vampyr.

Finch died from AIDS-related illness in London in 1995 during post-production of his first full-length feature film Stonewall, a docudrama loosely based on events leading up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.[2][4]

Filmography

Film

  • The Errand (1980) (Short film)
  • The Caravaggio Conspiracy (1984)
  • Stonewall (1995)

TV movies

TV series

Year Title Notes
1986 Screen Two Episode "Shergar"
1988 Bergerac Episode "Whatever Lola Wants"
1992–1993 The Vampyr: A Soap Opera Miniseries

Documentary works

TV movies

TV series

Year Title Episode
1978 Omnibus "Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision" (Also producer)
Arena My Way
1981 Did You Miss Me?
Chelsea Hotel
1982 The Private Life of the Ford Cortina
1983 Kurt Vonnegut , Jr: "Deadeye Dick"
1988 Robert Mapplethorpe
1991 Kenneth Anger
1993 Tales of Rock 'N' Roll: Peggy Sue
Pirates[5] (Also producer)
1994 Louise Bourgeois: No Trespassing

Executive producer

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1988 BAFTA TV Award Best Factual Series Arena TV series Nominated
1989 Won
1990 Nominated
1991 Nominated
1992 Nominated
1981 Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo Best Short Film The Errand Nominated
1995 BFI London Film Festival Audience Award Stonewall Won
1996 Frameline Film Festival Audience Award Won

Nigel Finch's death was commemorated in the ending title of the opera-film "Dido and Aeneas" (1995) directed by Peter Maniura (conducted by Richard Hickox. See the corresponding entry in Dido and Aeneas discography).

References

  1. ↑ Also featured as an episode in the Screen Two series
  1. 1 2 Forde, John (2006). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture. London: Routledge. p. 217.
  2. 1 2 3 Williams, Nigel (17 February 1995). "Obituary: Nigel Finch". The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "BBC Blogs - Arena Gazette - Tribute to Nigel Finch". BBC. 19 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (23 July 1996). "Riot Girls". The Advocate. Liberation Publications Inc.: 51–53.
  5. ↑ "Arena: Radio Night - BBC Two England, 18 December 1993 - BBC Genome". BBC Genome. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  6. ↑ Xtravaganza, Brooke; Christian, André; Corey, Dorian; Duprée, Paris (1 August 1991), Paris Is Burning, retrieved 28 April 2017
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