Moby Longinotto is a British documentary filmmaker best known for his intimate portraits of marginalized and ostracized people around the world. He has been directing documentaries since the 1970s, and his films have been featured in numerous international film festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, and Tribeca.
Longinotto was born in London in 1949. He attended the University of Kent where he studied philosophy and sociology, and his interest in film began during this time. After graduating, he worked as a film editor for the BBC and Channel 4, cutting news and documentary films.
In 1976, Longinotto made his first film, Dreamgirls, which followed the lives of three female impersonators in Tokyo. The film won the Grand Prix at the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam and was nominated for an Academy Award. He has since made over 30 documentaries, many of which have been highly acclaimed.
In the 1980s, Longinotto began to focus on making films about marginalized and ostracized people. His films, such as Sisters in Law (2005) and Shinjuku Boys (1995), explore the struggles and successes of individuals living on the fringes of society. He has also made films about issues such as abortion and female genital mutilation.
Longinotto's films often feature intimate and personal stories that he captures with his unique style of filmmaking. His films are characterized by a sense of empathy and understanding of his subjects, and he has said that his goal is to make people “understand the lives of others, and to help them see the world in a different way.”
Longinotto has won numerous awards for his films, including the Grand Prix at the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He has also been the recipient of numerous fellowships and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant.
In 2015, Longinotto was nominated for an Academy Award for his film The Secret Life of a Muslim (2014), which follows the life of a Muslim woman living in the UK. The film was also nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award.
Longinotto continues to make documentary films, and his work is an important contribution to the art of documentary filmmaking. His films have been praised for their insight
