Grant Gee
Grant Gee | |
|---|---|
Gee in 2026 | |
| Born | Grant Robert Gee 1 November 1964 |
| Occupations | Film director Cinematographer |
| Years active | 1989–present |
Grant Robert Gee (born 1 November 1964) is a British film maker, photographer and cinematographer. He is most noted for his 1998 documentary Meeting People Is Easy about the British alternative rock group Radiohead.
Early life
Grant Robert Gee was born on 1 November 1964[1] in Plymouth, Devon and studied Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He did postgraduate study at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[2]
Career
In the early 1990s Gee worked on U2's Zoo TV and Zoo Radio, and collaborated with Mark Neale on several projects (many through London production company Kudos Productions), including "The Memory Palace", an experimental multi-media project combining film and live performance for the Expo '92.
In 1996 he directed a twenty-seven-minute short film commissioned by progressive house band Spooky for parts of their album "Found Sound" (namely the tracks "Central Heating", "Bamboo", "Aphonia", "Lowest Common Denominator", "Hypo-Allergenic"/"Interim"). The film was displayed on a continuous loop outside the Centre Georges Pompidou as part of its re-opening.[3][4]
Gee followed the band Radiohead whilst they were on tour for their highly acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer.[5] Gee's 1998 documentary of the tour, Meeting People Is Easy, was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Long Form Music Video.[2]
His short films including Tel Aviv City Symphony (commissioned by onedotzero), the documentary JC-03 (about John Cale at work) and the dance film Torsion (choreographed by Russell Maliphant) have been shown internationally as part of touring packages by the British Council, onedotzero and Film and Video Umbrella.[2] Gee has also made music videos for British bands including Radiohead and Blur.[6]
In April 2006 the Creative Commons-licensed film project A Swarm of Angels announced that Gee has joined the project team as Director of Photography. In 2007, he made Western Lands, a ten-minute film about climbing the Old Man of Hoy.[7] In November 2010 Grant received funding from the UK Film Council to develop the project New Career in a New Town: David Bowie in Berlin, a music documentary on David Bowie's Berlin period.[8]
Gee's 2007 documentary, Joy Division, told the story of the eponymous Manchester band and was made in collaboration with writer Jon Savage.[9] The film received generally positive reviews from critics.[10] In Variety, Robert Koehler wrote that the documentary was "emotionally deeper" than the biopic directed by Anton Corbijn, Control.[11]
In January 2011, Gee completed his film Patience: After Sebald based on Sebald's book The Rings of Saturn, which was accepted by the Vancouver International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. In The Observer, Philip French called it a "modest, immensely enjoyable documentary".[12]
In 2015, Gee's documentary film Innocence of Memories, made in collaboration with Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk and based on his novel The Museum of Innocence, was screened as a special event in the Venice Days section at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.[13]
In 2026, Gee’s biographical drama film Everybody Digs Bill Evans, based on Owen Martell’s novel Intermission and centred on jazz pianist Bill Evans,[14] premiered in the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for Best Director.[15][16]
Filmography
Feature films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Meeting People Is Easy | Director | |
| 2007 | Joy Division | Director | |
| 2012 | Patience: After Sebald | Director | |
| 2015 | Innocence of Memories | Director | Also served as cinematographer |
| 2020 | Judith | Director | |
| 2022 | The Gold Machine | Director | |
| 2026 | Everybody Digs Bill Evans | Director | Narrative feature |
Short films and television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Tel Aviv City Symphony | Director | Short film |
| 2003 | Jc-03 | Director | Short film; also cinematographer and editor |
| 2009 | Bang Goes the Theory Live Trailer | Director | Television short |
| 2009 | Haikus of the Heart | Director | Short film |
| 2012 | Making First Steps | Director | Television short |
| 2012 | Patience | Director | Short film; also cinematographer and editor |
References
- ^ "Grant Robert GEE personal appointments". GOV.UK. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ a b c "Grant Gee". 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "Found Sound by Spooky - Duncan Forbes". Duncan Forbes. 1996. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "In Conversation with Grant Gee". Screen and Film School. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Levelle, Tony (2008). Digital Video Secrets: What the Pros Know and the Manuals Don't Tell You. Michael Wiese Productions. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-932907-47-6.
- ^ "Grant Gee, Patience (After Sebald)". 9 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "2007 Banff Mountain Film Competition Award Winners" (PDF). 2007 Banff Mountain Film Competition Award Winners.
- ^ Lyttleton, Oliver (24 November 2010). "Latest Round of UK Film Council Funding Reveals New Hammer & Tongs Project". Indie Wire. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ Lewis, Tim (24 March 2019). "Jon Savage: 'Something about Joy Division transcends their time and place'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Joy Division – Under Review". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ Koehler, Robert (13 September 2007). "Review: 'Joy Division'". Variety. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ French, Philip (29 January 2012). "Patience (After Sebald) – review". The Observer. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ Nick Vivarelli (12 September 2015). "Venice: Nobel-Winning Turkish Novelist Orhan Pamuk And Director Grant Gee Talk About 'Innocence Of Memories' Film". Variety. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ D'Addario, Daniel (13 February 2026). "Docmaker Grant Gee Changes Tune for Berlin Competition Pic 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans'". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
- ^ Shafer, Elsa Keslassy,Ellise (20 January 2026). "Berlin Film Festival Full Lineup: 'Rosebush Pruning' Starring Riley Keough and Callum Turner, Channing Tatum's 'Josephine' and More". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lodge, Guy (21 February 2026). "Berlin Film Festival: İlker Çatak's 'Yellow Letters' Wins Golden Bear for Best Film, Sandra Hüller Wins Best Lead Performance (Full List of Winners)". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
External links
- Grant Gee at IMDb
- Grant Gee Archived 20 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine at the Music Video DataBase
- Biography at the site of production company Oil Factory
- Retrospective at Cinecity: The Brighton Film Festival in 2005
- John May interviews Grant Gee