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Margy Kinmonth is a British film director and producer. Covering a wide range of genres, her award-winning films include feature documentaries '' Revolution: New Art for a New World'', '' Hermitage Revealed'', '' Royal Paintbox'' with
King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
, '' War Art with Eddie Redmayne'', '' Looking for Lowry'', ''
Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
'', '' The Nutcracker Story'', '' The Secret World of Haute Couture'',''The Strange World of Barry Who?'' and '' Naked Hollywood.'' Kinmonth has received numerous awards for her work, including the BAFTA for Best Documentary Series, the Royal Television Society Arts Award and the Creative Originality Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards. She is the founding director of independent film company Foxtrot Films Ltd. Kinmonth’s most recent project is the feature documentary ''Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War'' (2022), released by Dartmouth Films. This is the first major feature film to be made about
Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsc ...
, artist who was killed in a plane crash over Iceland in 1942.


Early life and education

Kinmonth was born to Kathleen ( Godfrey; 1922–2015) and her first husband, John Bernard Kinmonth (1916–1982). Kathleen was a daughter of
John Henry Godfrey Admiral John Henry Godfrey CB (10 July 1888 – 29 August 1970) was an officer of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy, specialising in navigation. Ian Fleming is said to have based James Bond's boss, " M", on Godfrey. Life and career God ...
, a Royal Navy intelligence officer on whom Ian Fleming is said to have based James Bond's boss "M". She was educated at St Paul’s Girls School in London, followed by a foundation in drawing and painting at the
Byam Shaw School of Art The Byam Shaw School of Art, often known simply as Byam Shaw, was an independent art school in London, England, which specialised in fine art and offered foundation and degree level courses. It was founded in 1910 by John Liston Byam Shaw and ...
. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at
Bath Academy of Art Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton P ...
in Corsham, specialising in film and animation.


Career

Kinmonth spent her early career as a producer and director of television and radio commercials. She worked for Wasey Campbell Ewald, part of
The Interpublic Group of Companies The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a ...
and at the
Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...
. She then moved to
Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...
in Manchester, where she started to research, write and direct current affairs programmes. In 1981, Kinmonth founded independent production company Foxtrot Films Ltd to make films celebrating art and culture. Her first film ''To The Western World'' with John Huston premiered at the
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...
. She then worked as a freelance director for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, ITV and MTV, making films including ''South of Watford'' with
Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...
in 1986 and a profile of Steven Berkoff for ''
The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...
'' with Melvyn Bragg, featuring
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
and Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 1990, she directed the series '' Naked Hollywood'' on the motion picture industry, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger,
James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...
,
Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...
, Oliver Stone,
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
and
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
. The series won her a
BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for Best Documentary Series. After moving into drama in the 1990s, Kinmonth directed episodes of BBC1's
Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running progra ...
,
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
with
Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series '' Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray Fusi ...
and
Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo (born 11 August 1968) is a British actress and narrator. The recipient of a Tony Award, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Television Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She began her f ...
, and Eastenders with
Ross Kemp Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...
and
June Brown June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...
. She then directed a biography of playwright
Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. While teaching at Q ...
in ''The Smoking Diaries'', featuring Harold Pinter. In the 2000s, Kinmonth started to present investigative biographies, including ''The Strange World of Barry Who?'' about the lives of
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
and Rudolph Nureyev. Her film '' The Secret World of Haute Couture'' with
Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
and
John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the crea ...
explored the world of the elite fashion industry. Starting from 2007, Kinmonth investigated the Russian world of ballet, opera and art in a series of films. '' Nutcracker Story'' explored the cultural phenomenon behind
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's ballet
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...
, from its genesis through to the present day''.'' In 2008, ''
Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
'' celebrated the 225th anniversary of
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
's
Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
and featured
Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...
,
Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...
, Anna Netrebko. In '' Hermitage Revealed,'' she became the first foreign director to be granted permission to film the story of the
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...
in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, including rare behind-the-scenes access to the archives. The film was premiered at the
Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...
and the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
in New York in June 2014. In 2017, to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Kinmonth directed the feature documentary '' Revolution: New Art for a New World'' about the artists of the Revolution, which premiered at the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in Paris and was shown theatrically in 34 countries. Her films about the art world have included '' Looking for Lowry'' with Ian McKellen,
Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...
and
Paula Rego Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game '' EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a s ...
, '' War Art with Eddie Redmayne'' and feature documentary '' Royal Paintbox'' with
King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
. Kinmonth’s latest film, '' Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War'' was the second most successful doc in UK theatrically of 2022. The film features
Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
,
Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...
, Grayson Perry, Robert Macfarlane with Freddie Fox and
Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...
. The film had its World Premiere at the Master of Art Film Festival in Bulgaria in 2022, and its UK Premiere at Curzon Mayfair in 2022. It won the Best Documentary Campaign at the Big Screen Awards 2022, and Best Documentary Film at La Femme International Film Festival. It was nominated at The Master of Art Film Festival in 2022. It is a Finalist at the Dallas Independent Film Festival 2023.


Charity Work

Kinmonth has worked with the charity Amnesty International, directing the feature doc film ''Remember the Secret Policeman’s Ball?'' produced by
Roger Graef Roger Arthur Graef OBE (18 April 1936 – 2 March 2022) was an American-born British documentary filmmaker and theatre director. Born in New York City, he moved to Britain in 1962, where he began a career producing documentary films investiga ...
, and starring Rowan Atkinson, Dawn French,
Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...
,
Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...
and Sting. Kinmonth’s feature documentary film '' Royal Paintbox'', made with
King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
, supported the
Royal Drawing School The Royal Drawing School is a not-for-profit educational organisation and registered charity in the London Borough of Hackney in England. It was founded in 2000 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and artist Catherine Goodman as The Prince ...
in promoting the art of drawing from observation. Kinmonth worked with Combat Stress, the charity for veterans' mental health, on '' War Art with Eddie Redmayne'', about
WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, shown on
ITV network ITV is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the ol ...
.


Publications and Talks

Kinmonth is the Granddaughter of Admiral John Henry Godfrey, (10 July 1888 – 29 August 1970) an officer of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
and
Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. F ...
. She has given several talks and written articles raising awareness of his life and work. This includes the article
The Ladies who Secretly won the War
about her grandmother, her mother Kathleen Godfrey, and Admiral Godfrey, who all worked secretly at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
during
WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The article features never before published personal correspondence, bundles of handwritten letters, private diaries and family photos. Her talks include
Secret Admiral
, an illustrated talk about Admiral Godfrey at th
Celebrating Bletchley Park
two-day Festival, at
Firle Place Firle Place is a Manor house in Firle, Sussex, United Kingdom. The Gage family have owned the land at Firle since acquiring it from the Levett family in the 15th century. The manor house was first built in the late 15th century by Sir John Gage ...
in 2016. The talk featured previously unseen material unearthed in the preparation of the biography film "Secret Admiral” directed by Kinmonth. Other speakers included Sir Dermot Turning (Alan Turing’s nephew) and Baroness Trumpington. In 2016, Kinmonth delivered a talk titled
Very Special Admiral
about Admiral Godfrey, immortalised as “ M” in the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
books written by Ian Fleming, his wartime assistant. The event was held at Wilmington, Folkington and Milton Street Village Club, Sussex in 2016, in the village where Godfrey lived from 1948 to 1980. The talk featured readings from his unpublished memoirs, previously unseen family photos, along with official wartime portraits by
Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...
and society photographer
Dorothy Wilding Dorothy Frances Edith Wilding (10 January 1893 – 9 February 1976) was an English professional portrait photographer from Gloucester, who established successful studios in both London and New York. She is known for her portraits of the Britis ...
.


Accolades

* Finalist, Dallas Independent Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Official Selection, Borderlines Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Official Selection, Deal Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Official Selection, Winnipeg Art + Architecture Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Official Selection, The Romford Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Official Selection, Emden Norderney Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2023 * Winner, Best Documentary Campaign, Big Screen Awards, for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Winner, Best Documentary Film,
La Femme International Film Festival LA Femme International Film Festival focuses on platforming women filmmakers, "by women, for everyone". The Festival was created in 2005, to answer the need to enhance women behind the camera as directors, producers, and writers. It was the first ...
for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Nominated, The Master of Art Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Semi-Finalist, Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Official Selection, Purbeck Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Official Selection, Aldeburgh Film Festival for ‘ Eric Ravilious - Drawn to War’ 2022 * Winner, The Likhachev Fellowship, 2017 * Winner, Creative Originality Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards, 2009 * Nominated,
Grierson Award The Grierson Awards are awards set up by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, created to commemorate the life and work of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The inaugural Awards w ...
, Best Arts Documentary for 'Nutcracker Story' 2008 * Nominated, Prix Italia for 'Secret World of Haute Couture' 2007 * Nominated,
Rose D'Or The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
for 'Remember The Secret Policeman's Ball?' 2005 * Nominated,
Grierson Award The Grierson Awards are awards set up by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, created to commemorate the life and work of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The inaugural Awards w ...
Most Entertaining Documentary for 'Remember The Secret Policeman's Ball' 2005 * Winner, Royal Television Society Arts Award 'The Strange World of Barry Who?' 2002 * Nominated, Cable Ace Comedy Special 'Dawn French' 1995 * Winner, BAFTA Best Documentary Series for Naked Hollywood 1991 * Winner, Cable ACE Award for Best Documentary, ' Naked Hollywood' 1991 * Winner, Chicago Film Festival Silver Hugo for Best Documentary, ' Naked Hollywood' 1991 * Nominated, Finalist
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...
for 'Steven Berkoff’ 1991 * Finalist, International Emmy Best Documentary, ' Naked Hollywood' 1991 * Winner, European Community Award for 'To The Western World' 1981


Filmography


References


External links

* *http://www.foxtrotfilms.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinmonth, Margy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British documentary film directors British women film directors British documentary film producers British women film producers 20th-century British screenwriters 21st-century British screenwriters British women screenwriters British women television writers