Changing The World With Character Driven Films

Changing The World With Character Driven Films

30 years ago Sean McAllister was an unemployed kid in his hometown in Hull in the north of England making polemical films he hoped would change the world. But sadly (or maybe not) none of these films were ever seen publicly.

Years later he went to the National Film and TV school where he learnt the subtlety of character driven documentary film making (also called observational film making) and he applied that to his interest in political film making. 

His journey making documentaries in the years since film school has taken him around the world making feature docs for the BBC. Intimate character driven stories exploring people’s lives locked in political conflicts around the world.

Speaker
Sean McAllister

Sean McAllister is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His early films include ‘Working for the Enemy’ (1997) and ‘The Minders’ (1998), Sundance Jury Prizewinning

‘The Liberace of Baghdad’ (2004) and ‘Japan: A Story of Love and Hate’ (2008). More recent successes include ‘The Reluctant Revolutionary’, Sheffield Jury Prize winning, BAFTA nominated ‘A Syrian Love Story’ (2015), and now ‘A Northern Soul’ (2018). Sean’s work continues to inspire, surprise and fascinate audiences. In 2017, Sean was director of the opening ceremony of the Hull City of Culture.

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