Leslie Woodhead is a British film and television director, producer, and writer. He is best known for his documentaries and television dramas, which have explored some of the most important issues of our time.
Woodhead began his career in television in the late 1960s, working for the BBC’s current affairs department. His work included directing episodes of the BBC’s flagship Panorama programme, as well as documentaries for BBC2. He also directed a number of influential documentaries for Granada Television.
In the late 1970s, Woodhead moved into feature films. His first, The Spaceman and King Arthur (1979), was a comedy, starring Denholm Elliott. He then directed the award-winning drama, Dark Obsession (1989), starring Anthony Hopkins and Janet McTeer.
In the 1990s, Woodhead returned to television, directing a number of acclaimed dramas, including the Bafta-winning Prime Suspect (1991). He also directed the two-part epic, The Lost Language of Cranes (1992), starring Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins.
In the 2000s, Woodhead worked mainly in documentaries. He was behind a number of groundbreaking films, including The Death of Yugoslavia (1995), which won him an Emmy award. He also directed the Emmy-winning drama, The Burning Season (2009), which told the story of the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Woodhead continues to direct and produce a variety of films, both fiction and non-fiction. His most recent work includes the feature film, A United Kingdom (2016), starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, and the documentary, John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky (2018).
Throughout his career, Woodhead has been honoured with numerous awards, including a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for Prime Suspect, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Film Institute in 2018.
Woodhead’s films have been described as both “poignant” and “engrossing”. He has been praised for his ability to capture the complexities of human emotions, and for his willingness to tackle difficult subject matter. He has described his own approach to filmmaking as “an exploration of the human condition”, and his work continues to inspire and captivate audiences around the world.
