Sheila Hazel Whitaker"Ms Sheila Whitaker Authorised Biography"
Debrett's (1 April 1936 – 29 July 2013)Pat Saperstei
"Film Festival Vet Sheila Whitaker Dies in London"
''Variety'', 29 July 2013 was an English film programmer and writer. Whitaker was born in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

, south London and grew up in the north of the city, and Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham after the Second World War.Clyde Jeavon
"Sheila Whitaker obituary"
theguardian.com, 2 August 2013 She was appointed to oversee the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

's stills, posters and designs collections in 1968, leaving in 1975 to study for her degree in Comparative European Literature at

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

.Stuart Kem
"Film Festival Doyenne Sheila Whitaker Dies at 77"
''Hollywood Reporter'', 31 July 2013 At a difficult time for the venue, in 1979 she became director of the

Tyneside Cinema The Tyneside Cinema is an independent cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the city's only full-time independent cultural cinema, specialising in the screening of independent and world cinema from across the globe. The last remaining Newsreel ...

in Newcastle, also running Tyneside Festival of Independent Cinema at the same time which she founded.Clyde Jeavon
"Sheila Whitaker, 1936-2013"
British Film Institute, 12 August 2013 While head of programming of the

National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. His ...

, a role she held from 1984–1990, Whitaker became director of 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 ...

in 1987 in succession to

Derek Malcolm Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm (born 12 May 1932) is an English film critic. Son of J. Douglas Malcolm (died 1967) and Dorothy Vera (died 1964; née Elliston-Taylor), Malcolm was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford. As a child h ...

. She remained as director until 1996, when her contract was not renewed by the BFI to Whitaker's disappointment. During her period as director, Whitaker continued the expansion of the festival started by Malcolm. By the end of her tenure as director, the LFF had grown to include screenings of over 200 films from around the world, more venues had been added and more tickets were sold to non-BFI members.Geoffrey McNa
"Sheila Whitaker: Influential programmer who expanded the reach of the London Film Festival"
''The Independent'', 13 August 2013 She also began the festival's practice of including newly restored films from the National Film Archive and overseas institutions. Whitaker was the director of International Programming for the

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announc ...

from 2008; she had been a consultant for the event since 2004. With others, she co-edited ''Life and Art: The New Iranian Cinema'' (1999), and ''An Argentine Passion'', (2000) about the Argentinian film director

María Luisa Bemberg María Luisa Bemberg (April 14, 1922 – May 7, 1995) was an Argentine film writer, director and actress. She was one of the first Argentine female directors with a powerful presence both in the filmmaking and the intellectual world of Latin A ...

.John King, Sheila Whitaker, Rosa Bosch (eds.) ''An Argentine Passion'', Verso, 2000, Sheila Whitaker was a recipient of the Chevalier de l’ Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for services to French cinema in Britain, an award which coincided with the end of her time as director of the London Film Festival, and received honorary doctorates from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and Warwick Universities. She died in London after suffering from

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Sheila 1936 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the University of Warwick British Film Institute English film critics Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from motor neuron disease Film festival directors British women film critics