Leslie Woodhead
Encyclopedia
Leslie Woodhead is an award-winning British
documentary
filmmaker.
For his National Service he served in Fife
at the Joint Services School for Linguists
where he was taught Russian. and posted to West Berlin to monitor the communications of Soviet pilots flying in and out of East Germany. The experience I've come to realise since that it shaped my continuing obsession with what was going on in eastern Europe
and particularly the Iron Curtain
at that time."
Woodhead first made his name as a reporter for Granada Television
's flagship current affairs
series World in Action
. He remained with Granada for 28 years. Woodhead was among the first exponents of docudrama
, a format which allowed him to explore daily life of those "behind the wall
" during the Cold War, when journalists had little direct access. - among them his films Invasion, about Soviet invasion and the Prague Spring
of 1968 and Strike, which deals with the rise of Solidarnosc in Poland. In 1999 his documentary film A Cry From The Grave, which documents, hour by hour, the atrocities of the Srebrenica massacre
, won awards at four film festivals.
Since 1989, when he went freelance, Leslie Woodhead has made a number of films for BBC
's Storyville and Arena
series - among them My Life as a Spy, Star Wars Dreams (a history of the American missile defence program). He has also worked with the Sundance
channel, making Godless in America, a documentary about the life of Madalyn Murray O'Hair
who founded American Atheists
, and successfully campaigned for the separation of church and state
. In 2006 he was nominated for an Emmy for his HBO documentary Children of Beslan
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
filmmaker.
For his National Service he served in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
at the Joint Services School for Linguists
Joint Services School for Linguists
The Joint Services School for Linguists was founded in 1951 by the British armed services to provide language training, principally in Russian, and largely to selected conscripts undergoing National Service...
where he was taught Russian. and posted to West Berlin to monitor the communications of Soviet pilots flying in and out of East Germany. The experience I've come to realise since that it shaped my continuing obsession with what was going on in eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and particularly the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
at that time."
Woodhead first made his name as a reporter for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
's flagship current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
series World in Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
. He remained with Granada for 28 years. Woodhead was among the first exponents of docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
, a format which allowed him to explore daily life of those "behind the wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
" during the Cold War, when journalists had little direct access. - among them his films Invasion, about Soviet invasion and the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
of 1968 and Strike, which deals with the rise of Solidarnosc in Poland. In 1999 his documentary film A Cry From The Grave, which documents, hour by hour, the atrocities of the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
, won awards at four film festivals.
Since 1989, when he went freelance, Leslie Woodhead has made a number of films for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Storyville and Arena
Arena (TV series)
Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. It has run since 1 October 1975, and over five hundred episodes have been made. Arena covers all manner of subjects, from profiles of notable people such as Bob Dylan to the Ford Cortina car...
series - among them My Life as a Spy, Star Wars Dreams (a history of the American missile defence program). He has also worked with the Sundance
Sundance
Sundance Resort is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah, spanning over on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Snow skiing began on the site in 1944...
channel, making Godless in America, a documentary about the life of Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an American atheist activist and founder of the organization American Atheists and its president from 1963 to 1986. One of her sons, Jon Garth Murray, was the president of the organization from 1986 to 1995, while she remained de facto president during these nine years....
who founded American Atheists
American Atheists
American Atheists is an organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating for the complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs and the news media. It also publishes books and the monthly...
, and successfully campaigned for the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
. In 2006 he was nominated for an Emmy for his HBO documentary Children of Beslan
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
Recent filmography
- 2009 How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin (Director)
- 2006 Saving Jazz (Director)
- 2005 Children of Beslan (Director / Producer)
- 2004 The Russian Newspaper Murders (Executive Producer)
- 2003 Star Wars Dreams (Director / Producer)
- 2002 Media by Milosevic (Director)
- 2001 NOVANOVA (TV series)Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
: Russia's Nuclear Warriors (Director / Producer / Screenwriter) - 2000 Tony Bennett's New York (Director / Producer)
- 2000 NOVA: Holocaust on Trial (Director / Screenwriter)
- 1998 EnduranceEndurance (film)Endurance is a docudrama about the famous distance runner Haile Gebrselassie with Gebrselassie playing the role of himself.It was written and directed by Leslie Woodhead and Bud Greenspan, and produced and released by The Walt Disney Company...
(Director) - 1991 The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story (Director)
Awards and nominations
- 1999 Biarritz International Festival Special Jury Award for A Cry from the Grave
- 2000 Silver FIPAFIPAThe Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents is a body for developing and setting computer software standards for heterogeneous and interacting agents and agent-based systems....
award for A Cry from the Grave - 2006 Emmy (Nominated) for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming for Children of Beslan