Suri Krishnamma (born 10 May 1961) is a British
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
best known for feature films ''
A Man of No Importance'', ''
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
'' and ''
Dark Tourist'' and television dramas ''A Respectable Trade'' and ''
The Cazalets''. He has a number of festival awards, including 3
BAFTA nominations.
Early life
Born in
Shanklin,
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, Suri Krishnamma is the son of an English mother and Indian Father. His mother, a former head teacher at an Island comprehensive school, was a Labour Councillor and peace activist. Together with his father she helped with the organisation of the
Isle of Wight Festivals of 1969 and 1970 with brothers Ronnie and Ray Foulk of Fiery Creations. During the 1969 festival, some of
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's band (
The Band) stayed in the Krishnamma family home.
Career
Krishnamma studied Photography, Film and Television at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design (now the
Arts University Bournemouth
Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The ...
), leaving with a
BAFTA nomination for ''Mohammed's Daughter'', then 3 years on the directing course at the
National Film and Television School
The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...
, collecting a second
BAFTA nomination for ''Water's Edge''. In 1989 he directed popular television drama series such as ''South of the Border'' (1989) and ''
Spender
''Spender'' is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1 ...
'' (1991) before directing his first full-length film, ''O Mary This London'', written by the
Oscar nominated writer of ''
My Left Foot'',
Shane Connaughton
Shane Connaughton (born 4 April 1941 in Kingscourt, County CavanHogan, Sinead.Shane Connaughton brings it all home to his beloved native county ''The Anglo-Celt''. 4-29-2009.) is an Irish writer and actor, probably best known as co-writer of ...
. His first global theatrical release was ''
A Man of No Importance'' with ''
Albert Finney
Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960) ...
'' and
Brenda Fricker in 1994.
Films
In 1999, ''
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
'' won Best UK Feature Film at the
Raindance Film Festival in London and the Grand Prix at
Yubari. He directed ''Good Sharma'' starring
Billy Connolly and
Joan Allen, ''
Locked In'' (2009), ''Bad Karma'', Australia (2011) with
Ray Liotta and ''Dark Tourist'' (2012) with
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s.
Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...
which won
Michael Cudlitz the Total Film Award for Best Actor at
Frightfest, London (2013).
Television
In British television and film drama Suri has worked alongside producers
Simon Channing-Williams
Simon Channing Williams (10 June 1945 – 11 April 2009) was a British film producer. After having worked as a production assistant and producer of TV films and TV series in the 1970s and early 1980s, he and Mike Leigh formed the film product ...
, Ruth Caleb,
Jonathan Cavendish
Jonathan Stewart Cavendish (born 4 February 1959) is a British independent film producer. He is notable for his work on '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' (2007), '' Breathe'' (2017) and the Bridget Jones films. He is a member of the Cavendish family ...
,
Eric Fellner,
Tony Garnett,
Mark Redhead
Mark Redhead is a British producer, director, and occasional actor. He was the producer of ''Bloody Sunday'' and an executive producer of God on Trial. He has been nominated for several awards and won a BAFTA TV Award in 2000 for '' The Murder of ...
, Kieran Roberts,
Mark Shivas, and
Michael Wearing. Krishnamma has directed TV drama including ''
Waking the Dead'' (2004), ''
Sea of Souls
''Sea of Souls'' is a BBC paranormal drama series, recounting the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland and for the final season by Carnival Films, init ...
'' (2005), ''
Blue Murder'' (2006) and ''
Cold Blood'' (2007). He was awarded a third
BAFTA nomination for ''A Respectable Trade'' (1997). Based on
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...
's novel, this four-part drama set in 18th Century
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
tells the story of an African slave and his relationship with the wife of a slave-trader and won Frances Tempest the
BAFTA for best costume design. He followed this in 2001 with ''
The Cazalets'' (produced by
Verity Lambert and
Joanna Lumley for
Jane Tranter and Pippa Harris at the BBC) which gained
BAFTA nominations for costume design and make-up design.
Short films
Krishnamma's graduation film from Bournemouth, Mohammed's Daughter, earned him his first of three
BAFTA nominations. He was awarded a second
BAFTA nomination for 'Water's Edge' (
NFTS), a Gold Mikeldi at the Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films, a Silver Hugo at the
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
and screened at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival where Krishnamma was runner up in the Young Filmmaker of the Year Award (1989).
Comrades and Friends (
NFTS), co-directed with Nick Godwin, a documentary chronicling
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...
's campaign for the
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gen ...
leadership in 1988, won a certificate of merit at the
Cork Film Festival
The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City
Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the i ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Krishnamma travelled around the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
in 1989 following
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
's putative campaign for the mayoralty of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Between 2007 and 2010 he adapted and directed 3
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
tragedies,
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
,
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
and
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
, for the Actors Centre and Skillset.
Personal life
Krishnamma is an
honorary fellow
Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...
of the
Arts University Bournemouth
Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The ...
and lectures in Film at
Norwich University of the Arts. In 2013 he was appointed Jury President of the Munich International Festival of Film Schools (hosted by
Filmfest München
The Munich International Film Festival (german: Filmfest München) is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/earl ...
). He is a season ticket holder at
West Ham United Football Club
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, h ...
and lives in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with his wife and 3 children.
Representation
Suri Krishnamma is represented in the UK by Phil Adie at Nick Turner Management.
Nick Turner Management
(Accessed 30 March 2022)
Filmography
* '' Dark Tourist'' (2012)
* ''Bad Karma'' (2011)
* '' Locked In'' (2010)
* ''Good Sharma'' (2009)
* ''New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
'' (2000)
* '' A Man of No Importance'' (1994)
* ''O Mary This London'' (1993)
Television
* ''Wuthering Heights'' (2003)
* '' The Chest'' (1996)
* '' The Place of the Dead'' (1995)
* ''The Turnaround'' (1994)
* '' The Cazalets'' (2001)
* ''A Respectable Trade'' (1997)
* '' Cold Blood'' (2007)
* '' Blue Murder'' (2006)
* ''The Sea of Souls'' (2005)
* '' Waking the Dead'' (2004)
* '' Dalziel and Pascoe'' (1998)
* '' Soldier Soldier'' (1992)
* ''Spender
''Spender'' is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1 ...
'' (1992)
* ''South of the Border'' (1989)
Documentaries
* The Curry Connection (1990)
* Comrades and Friends (1989)
References
External links
*
*http://film.britishcouncil.org/suri-krishnamma
*http://mubi.com/cast_members/52583 Suri Krishnamma at MUBI
*
* nterview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HED3D7c1FJgwith Suri Krishnamma about "Dark Tourist" at Raindance in 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamma, Suri
1961 births
Living people
British film directors
Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth
Alumni of the National Film and Television School
British people of Indian descent