Nick Broomfield

Documentary maker

What has Nick done?Nick has created numerous documentaries,amongst which are:

What is Nick’s style?Nick only agreed into making his documentaries, if he could film the process of making the documentary. This gave way to his fist documentary to hit the screen (‘Driving Me Crazy’) being considered ‘self-reflexive’ and this is something Broomfield is still renowned for, as his documentaries focus as much on the subject as they do the process.

This process has in fact inspired other documentarians such as: Louis Theroux, Michael Moore & Morgan

Spurlock in their box-office hits.

In 2006 Nick changed his style to ‘Direct Cinema’ using non-actors to play themselves, most famously used in ‘Ghosts’ aired on channel 4, about the death of 23 Chinese cockle pickers by drowning.

Extracts:From the extract (found below in this post) you can clearlysee Nick’s two forms of direction. In the ‘Ghosts’ extract,there is a strong sense of realism, following a journey ratherthan it being a documentary. Whereas with the ‘Hollywood Madam’ extract Nick is visible with his recording equipment, the extract itself also has little to do with the subject matter and more to do with the reaction of the documentary and how he is struggling to get a personal interview. This contrasts greatly with ‘Ghosts’ as it makes the viewer aware that is a documentary.

Awards:British Academy Award (BAFTA)The Dupont Columbia Award for Outstanding JournalismThe PeabodyThe Royal Television Society AwardFirst Prize, Sundance Film FestivalThe Blue RibbonThe California State Bar AwardFirst Prize, Chicago Film FestivalFirst Prize, US Film FestivalFirst Prize, Festival of MannheimFirst Prize, Festival di PopoliSpecial Jury Award, Melbourne Film FestivalBroomfield was also given a BAFTA tribute evening on 8 March 2005.

More info:Nick has his own website depicting his full filmography and information about himself, for more information about him visit: www.nickbroomfield.com