From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bill Forsyth (born 29 July 1946, Glasgow) is a Scottish film director and writer, noted for his commitment to national film-making.
Forsyth first came to attention with a low-budget film, That Sinking Feeling, made with youth theatre actors and featuring a cameo appearance by the Edinburgh gallery owner Richard Demarco.
The relative success of the film was carried to a far higher level by his next film Gregory's Girl in 1981.
This featured some of the same young actors, in particular John Gordon Sinclair, as well as the acting debut of Clare Grogan.
The film was a major hit and won 'Best Screenplay' in that year's BAFTA Awards.
In 1983 he wrote and directed the successful Local Hero, produced by David Puttnam, and featuring Burt Lancaster.
It was rated in the top 100 films of the 1980s in a Premiere magazine recap of the decade.
Forsyth's next film was the 1984 Comfort and Joy, about a Glasgow radio DJ caught between rival ice cream companies, which again featured Clare Grogan.
When Puttnam went to Hollywood, Forsyth followed, but had limited success.
The 1987 Housekeeping was his first American film.
Another movie, Being Human, was shelved by the studio for four years after Puttnam was ousted.
Gregory's Two Girls from 2000 appeared as a sequel to Gregory's Girl, with John Gordon Sinclair playing the same character, but it received mixed reviews.
In a June 2009 interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, Forsyth stated that he is currently working on a new film project with the working title of Exile.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Forsyth, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Abraham lives deep in the heart of an industrial wasteland. His only companion is a giant machine. Inside the machine is a man and a woman who take care of Abraham's every need. Abraham drifts through daily life until a tiny singing cowboy bursts from his stomach and leads him into the wild.
Twenty years after his teenage crush on a football-mad schoolgirl, Gregory is back at his old school, teaching English. When two of his pupils uncover evil practices at a local factory they want their teacher to help them expose the wrong-doer, who happens to be Greg's old schoolfriend.
A look at the career of Oscar-winning cameraman Chris Menges. Filmed on location of 'Comfort and Joy'. Chris Menges discusses his early career in television and film. Featuring interviews with Bill Forsyth, Bill Paterson, Ken Loach, Neil Jordan, and Jeremy Isaacs.
Documentary for Scottish television about the making of Bill Forsyth's 1983 film "Local Hero."
A documentary about the making of Bill Forsyth's 1983 film "Local Hero."
Captain Bill Torvald has retired to his quiet home in Orkney after fifty years at sea. When a young woman, Andrina, begins visiting him through the dark winter, he is grateful for her kindness and company. But as she starts to enquire about his past, he worries about the long-held secret he'll have to reveal to her.
A teenager falls hard for the female soccer player who has replaced him on the team and attempts to pursue her.
Ronnie, Wal, Andy and Vic are four bored, unemployed teens in dreary, rainy Glasgow. Ronnie comes up with a great idea. He has noticed that stainless steel sinks are worth a lot of money and comes up with a complicated scheme: to steal sinks from a warehouse dressed as girls and using a stop-motion-potion.