Jane Treays is a British

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

maker.

Early career

In 1984, Treays was a researcher working on documentaries for the BBC. She worked on the series ''Our House''. In 1988, she produced ''The Diary of Jack Dancy'' for

Timewatch ''Timewatch'' is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC. The ''Timewatch'' brandname is used as a ...

. In 1995, she produced ''Situation Vacant'', about the endurance test for the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

(a six-part series for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

Films

* ''I Don't Want to Be Remembered as a Chair'' (1990, Timewatch), about the

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

* ''Painted Babies'' (1996), about

child beauty pageant A child beauty pageant is a beauty contest featuring contestants under 18 years of age. Competition categories may include talent, interview, sportswear, casual wear, swim wear, western wear, theme wear, outfit of choice, decade wear, and eveni ...

s, which was watched by 3.5 million people * ''Under the Sun'' (BBC Two, 1998), about a

male prostitute Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

* ''

Aga Aga or AGA may refer to: Business * Architectural Glass and Aluminum (AGA), a glazing contractor, established in 1970 * AGA (automobile), ''Autogen Gasaccumulator AG'', 1920s German car company *AGA AB, ''Aktiebolaget Svenska Gasaccumulator'', a ...

s and Their Owners'' (BBC Two, 1998), "a quaint study of English class attitude" * ''Public Enemy: Mother and Son'' (

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, 1999), about

Sante Kimes Sante Kimes (born Sante Singhrs; July 24, 1934 – May 19, 2014) was an American criminal who was convicted of two murders, as well as robbery, forgery, violation of anti-slavery laws, and numerous other crimes. Many of these crimes were comm ...

* ''One Man, Six Wives and 29 Children: Real Life'', about

polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...

* ''Ken and Me'', about

William Roache William Patrick Roache (born 25 April 1932) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' since it was first broadcast on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the ''Guinness World Records ...

and

Ken Barlow Ken Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by William Roache. He was created by Tony Warren as one of ''Coronation Street''s original characters and December 2020 marked Ken's 60th anni ...

(2000) * '' True Stories: Men in the Woods'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, 2001), about flashers * ''This Model Life'', about

fashion models A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

, including Daphne Selfe and Ruth Crilly * ''Extraordinary Families: The Seven Wives of Alexander Spencer'' (Channel 4, 2005), about

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

* ''What Sort of Gentleman Are You After?'', about male prostitution * ''A Child's Life: Aged 12, and Looking After the Family'' (Channel 4, 2007), about

young carer A young carer is a young person who cares, unpaid, for a person who has any type of physical or mental illness, physical and/or mental disability or misuses substances such as alcohol or drugs. The age of a young carer varies between countries. F ...

s * ''The Man with the 7-Second Memory'', about Clive Wearing * ''The Virgin Daughters'' (2008), about the American

purity movement Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, in the United States, Christian organizations, especially Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, promoting ...

* ''Mum, Heroin and Me'' (2008) * '' Inside Claridge's'' (2012) * ''Land of Hope and Glory: British Country Life'' (2016, BBC Two), about the magazine '' Country Life'' * ''

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

's Green Planet'' (2018, ITV) Treays made a film about travelling with

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

on tour, but it has not been broadcast.

Critical response

Treays has been compared to

Molly Dineen Molly Dineen (born 7 March 1959) is a television documentary director, cinematographer and producer. One of Britain's most acclaimed documentary filmmakers, Molly is known for her intimate and probing portraits of British individuals and institut ...

, Lucy Blakstad and

Nick Broomfield Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...

. She has been described as "a film-maker unafraid to ask a blunt question and capture a telling moment". John Crace, in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', wrote of her 2012 documentary ''Inside Claridges'', "Director Jane Treays never actually appeared on camera, but she was a presence throughout with her off-screen questions. Unlike some documentary-makers who have the knack of putting their subjects on the defensive, she gnawed away at hers with love and was repaid time and again with delightful indiscretions ... Nor did Treays shy away from asking the difficult questions". Treays has said of her film-making, "I got better at it when I had children and I've got better since I've been divorced because of the sadness I felt. If I'd never experienced pain or sadness I would find it hard to identify. Documentary-making is an area people get better at as they get older. You have to know yourself. You have to be very tender in your relationship with the person you're making a film about ... everything I do is made with love and is about love in its many different forms and perversions." Her film ''True Stories: Men in the Woods'' (2001) was described by

Gareth McLean Gareth McLean (born c.1975) is a Scottish journalist and screenwriter who has written for ''The Guardian'' newspaper and on soap operas for the '' Radio Times'' magazine. McLean graduated with an MA (Hons) in English from the University of Aberd ...

in ''The Guardian'' as "On the whole interesting ... utOccasionally melodramatic and self-indulgent". Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn place it within the genre of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

and write that "the fantasy nature precisely depicted the act of telling and retelling a traumatic childhood event".

Personal life

Treays is Cornish. She was married to David Pearson, also a film-maker. They have two children, and are divorced.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Treays, Jane Living people People from Cornwall English film directors English film producers English-language film directors English television directors English television producers English women film directors British women television producers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)