Peter Webber (born 1968) is a British film and television director and producer whose debut feature film as a director was '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003). He subsequently directed ''

Hannibal Rising ''Hannibal Rising'' is a psychological horror novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 2006. It is a prequel to his three previous books featuring his most famous character, the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The ...

'' (2007).

Early life

Webber took a one-year Postgraduate Film and TV course at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Career

Films

'' Girl with a Pearl Earring'', starring

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

, marked Webber's feature film debut. The film has received numerous accolades, including three

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations, two

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nominations, and 10

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 ...

nominations.

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

tapped Webber to direct ''

''. Based on

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...

' book of the same name, and starring

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

Gong Li Gong Li ( Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...

and

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

, this

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

depicts a young

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a Character (arts), fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who Human cannibalism, eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychi ...

as he gradually becomes a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. Webber made his first short film, ''The Zebra Man'', about sideshow performer Horace Ridler starring

Minnie Driver Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's '' Circle of Friends''. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic ''Grosse ...

. Then, in 2012, Webber returned to the big screen with the

World War II 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 opposin ...

drama ''

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

'', starring

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

Television

He directed

Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

and explored the counter-culture of tunnel-dwelling road protesters in ''Underground''. His 2001

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 ...

miniseries ''Men Only'' stirred controversy for its frank and shocking portrayal of the dark side of male sexuality. It is notable for giving early leads to Stephen Moyer of ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

'' and

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most no ...

of ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

''. In 2016, he directed the ITV miniseries ''

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

'', starring

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

Documentary

An award-winning documentary director, Webber directed several programmes for

about classical music including child prodigies, maestros and composers such as

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

. He also directed several popular science documentaries about a range of subjects including crash test dummies, deep sea life and phantom limbs. In 2009, he travelled into the remote

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

to film with the Macuna Tribe for a documentary called ''The Sand and the Rain''.

Producer

Webber moved to

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in 2008 where he took up the post of Creative Director at

Qatar National Day Qatar National Day ( ar, اليوم الوطني لقطر, Al-Yawm al-Waṭani li-Qaṭar) is a national commemoration of Qatar's unification in 1878. It is celebrated annually on 18 December. The holiday was established by a 21 June 2007 decree ...

for two years. During this time he developed their film programme. While in Qatar he also executive produced several documentary films including Sarajevo Film Festival winner ''For the Love of Books'', which was also the recipient of a Grierson Award in 2012 for Best Historical Documentary.

Filmography

Films

* ''

The Stretford Wives ''The Stretford Wives'' is a British drama film made by the BBC. It was first broadcast on BBC One in August 2002. It was written by '' Shameless'' writer Danny Brocklehurst and directed by Peter Webber. Plot The film revolves around the lives o ...

'' (2001) * '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2012) * ''Earth: One Amazing Day'' (2017) *''

Pickpockets Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

: maestros del robo'' (2018) * '' Inna de Yard: The Soul of Jamaica'' (2019)

Television

* ''The Temptation of Franz Schubert'' (1997) * ''Underground'' (1999) * ''Men Only'' (2001) * '' Six Feet Under'' (2004, TV episode "The Dare") * ''

'' (2016) * '' Kingdoms of Fire'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Peter 1968 births Alumni of the University of Bristol British film directors British television directors Living people