Basil Wright

Basil Wright, (June 12, 1907, Sutton, Surrey - 14 October, 1987, Frieth, Buckinghamshire, England), was an English documentary film-maker, film historian, film critic and teacher. He was a key figure in the British documentary film movement and the first recruit to join John Grierson at the Empire Marketing Board's film unit early in 1930. Wright's 1934 film Song of Ceylon is his best known work, although he also received a joint directorial credit with Harry Watt for the GPO Film Unit's Night Mail (1936).

Centenary Celebrations

In honor of Basil Wright's centenary year, his career, and the careers of his colleagues and fellow centenarians: Edgar Anstey, Marion Grierson, Humphrey Jennings and Paul Rotha, were celebrated with a season of films between August and October 2007 at the British Film Institute in London.

Filmography As Director

• Conquest (1930)
• The Country Comes To Town
• O'er Hill and Dale
• Liner Cruising South
• Cargo From Jamaica
• Windmill in Barbados
• Song of Ceylon
• Children at School
• Waters of Time
• World Without End
• The Stained Glass at Fairford
• Greece: The Immortal Land
• Greek Sculpture: 3000 BC to 300 BC
• A Place For Gold

References

• 'The Long View: An International History of Cinema', Secker & Warburg, London, 1974.

External links

• Bfi's Screenonline entry for Basil Wright
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Arts Council Film Collection

See also

• Michael Ayrton
• Edgar Anstey
• Charles Burnett (director)
• Alberto Cavalcanti
• John Grierson
• Robert Flaherty
• Humphrey Jennings
• Paul Rotha
• Harry Watt