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Anthony Minghella CBE

18 March 08

  • Anthony Minghella pictured at the Academy in December 2006
  • Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.
  • Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.
  • Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.

Anthony Minghella pictured at the Academy in December 2006

BAFTA/Marc Hoberman

Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.

BAFTA / Marc Hoberman

Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.

BAFTA / Marc Hoberman

Anthony Minghella on stage at an Academy Life in Pictures event.

BAFTA / Marc Hoberman

The Academy was deeply saddened to learn of the untimely passing of filmmaker Anthony Minghella on 18 March 2008. Here we look at the remarkable career of an exceptional talent.

Writer, director and producer Anthony Minghella was one of Britain's major filmmakers. He won his first BAFTA for the Original Screenplay of Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991). International acclaim followed, with three BAFTA nominations for The English Patient (1996), winning for Film and Adapted Screenplay, and nominations in the Direction and Adapted Screenplay categories for both The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) and Cold Mountain (2003). He also won an Oscar for directing The English Patient.

His last completed feature film as a director was the London-set Breaking and Entering (2006) which starred Jude Law and Juliette Binoche. He recently stepped down as Chairman of the British Film Institute before completing a TV adaptation of the bestselling novel The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency (due to air on BBC1, Easter Sunday), co-written with Richard Curtis.

Amongst his producer/executive producer credits were Michael Clayton (2007), Catch a Fire (2006), The Quiet American (2002), Heaven (2002) and Iris (2001) whilst his additional writing credits included TV's Grange Hill and Inspector Morse.

Speaking in December 2006 at a Life in Pictures event at the Academy, Minghella discussed his work and career, including dealing with immediate success and working out where his talents lie: “One of the things that is most notably different in America is that if you are embraced you are almost completely embraced, without reservation, immediately… I tried to be a director and discovered that I am not really a director, but what I am is a writer who is able to direct the films that he writes.”

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More on Anthony Minghella

  • In Memory Of: Anthony Minghella
  • Anthony Minghella's IMDB entry

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A Life in Pictures: Anthony Minghella

Writer, director and producer Anthony Minghella visited the Academy on 2 December 2006 to talk about his life and work with Duncan Kenworthy.

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In memory of...

The Academy remembers the lives and achievements of the committed and passionate individuals who worked in the film, television and video game industries.

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