Karl Francis

Karl Francis (born 1 April 1942) is a Welsh film and television director, producer and screenwriter, associated with left-wing political causes.[1] His work is inspired by the likes of Chris Marker and Ken Loach and has included output in both the English and Welsh languages.

Karl Francis in 2014

Biography

Francis was born in Bedwas in South Wales. He won a scholarship which allowed him to study at Manchester University where he gained his BA in 1964. He then attended Hornsey College of Art to study for a post-graduate diploma on Film in Education. He began his media career in television in 1971, first as an independent investigator, before taking a production post with ITV, working on Weekend World for London Weekend Television.[2] In 1973 he switched to the BBC and produced programmes such as 2nd House.

In 1977 he wrote, produced and directed the docu-drama Above us the Earth. The film, shot in the spring and summer of 1975, records the closure of the Ogilvie colliery in the Rhymney Valley and the effect on the miners and the larger community. The film uses professional and amateur actors to show the relationships between workers, unions and the National Coal Board, along with footage of the political leaders of the day.[3] The film is seen as an important film in its social commentary and is now part of the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. In 2010 the BBC Wales art site, selected Above us the Earth as one of the ten greatest films about Wales.[4] In 2012, the BFI/UK Film Council selected Above Us The Earth as the best independent film ever made in Wales.

In 1995 he was appointed the Head of Drama at BBC Wales,[5] a role he held until 1997.[1]

In 2008 Francis released Hope Eternal, the film tells the story of a Madagascan nurse working in a Tuberculosis and AIDS hospice in the Congo. Hope Eternal was made in six languages combining both film and poetry simultaneously using subtitles in English. The film opened the Hay Sony Film Festival 2008 and was submitted as the UK nominee for the category of Best Foreign Language Film for the 82nd Academy Awards; though it failed to be selected for the final five nominees.[6]

‘You are foolish to make this film in Africa. What horror they will say, we had to turn the television off’ Poem, by Karl Francis

‘Empowering women is what your film should be about’ Note from Hope to Director Karl Francis

'What Francis is doing in this film is taking a quite vicious story on the abuse of African children by African men, and embodying his own poetry into the harsh scenes as part of his own film culture' Hay Film Festival

'By forcing the film to stop and read poetry, he obliges the audience to move away from social realism into their own silence' Hay Film Festival

Films
  • Above Us the Earth (1977)
  • Afternoon of War (1980)
  • The Mouse and the Woman (1980)
  • Giro City (1982)
  • Yr Alcoholig Llon (1983)
  • Milwr Bychan (1984)
  • Ms.Rhymney Valley" (1985)
  • Nineteen 96 (1989)
  • Rebecca's Daughters (1992)
  • Streetlife (1995)
  • One of the Hollywood Ten (2000)
  • Hope Eternal (2008)

Television
  • Factfinder (1971)
  • Chekhov in Derry (1982)
  • Morphine and Dolly Mixtures (1990)
  • Raymond Williams: a Journey of Hope (1990)
  • Civvies (1992)

Notes and references
  1. "Francis, Karl (1942- )". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  2. "Francis, Karl (1942- )". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  3. "Above us the Earth". movinghistory.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  4. "Top 10 Welsh films: Above Us The Earth". BBC Wales. 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  5. Culf, Andrew (14 December 1995). "Drama revival in BBC £191m winter season". The Guardian. p. 9.
  6. "Welsh film on Academy Award list". BBC News. 18 October 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
Media offices
Preceded by
Ruth Caleb		 BBC Wales Head of Drama
1995-1997		 Succeeded by
Pedr James
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