Alison Fairweather Murray is a Canadian director of films, documentaries and music videos. She is well-known for writing and directing '' Mouth to Mouth'' (2005) starring

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...

, and documentaries such as ''Carny'' (2008) and ''Train on the Brain'' (2000).

Early life

Murray was born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada and ran away to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when she was 15. She studied theatre writing, dance and choreography before completing a M.A. in Film Direction at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

(1995).

Career

Murray has been making short films since ''Kissy Suzuki Suck'' (1992),Alison Murray : The Hellhound
/ref> with commissions for BBC television as well as European broadcasts and an international tour compiled by the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris. Her work has been presented alongside that of

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, photographer, artist, and author. His methods feature an erratic, loose and transgressive aesthetic, exploring taboo themes and incorporating experimental techniques,Alicia Kn ...

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one o ...

and

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

(executive producer of '' Mouth to Mouth'') in "RET. INEVITABLE" at Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage – an event billed as "screening today's most important visualists". The

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

in London has presented a retrospective of her short films, also shown at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

and Toronto's

Royal Cinema The Royal Cinema is an Art Moderne event venue and cinema in Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Pro ...

. Between 1996 and 2002, she directed over twenty music videos for British pop acts such as The Sugababes, Busted, and

B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002 ...

, and was nominated for a CAD award for Best New Director in 1997, and for Best Pop Video in 2003. Many of her films incorporate her approach to dance, and in 1995, she received a Paul Hamlyn Award for Choreography. She has choreographed and directed two films for the BBC's ''Dance for the Camera'' series. In 2000, she completed ''Train on the Brain'', an hour long documentary for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

in which she rode the rails across North America, armed with a DV and Super 8 camera. In 2003, Alison collaborated with London based rapper Jonzi D to make ''Aeroplane Man'', a film adaptation of Jonzi D's hit theatre show of the same name. ''Mouth to Mouth'' is her first feature film as a writer and director, premiered at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

and went on to win Best Feature Prizes at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, Berlin's Britspotting Festival, and Festival D'Annonay, France. She produced and directed a documentary about

Carny Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper", or "floss wagon"), or rid ...

s that was broadcast on the Sundance Channel, Channel 4 and TVOntario. It premiered at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto and won Diane Seligman Award for Best Documentary in the Brooklyn International Film Festival in 2008. Her feature documentary ''Caprichosos de San Telmo'' (2011), which she shot on location in Buenos Aires, premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. As of 2020, Murray is working on a new fictional feature film called ''The Vegas'', developed with The Film Farm and co-produced with JA Productions and Cepa Cine.

Themes

Murray's films show her interest in subcultures. In her dramatic feature ''Mouth to Mouth'', a teenager who runs away from home and ends up in a European youth cult. ''Train on the Brain'' chronicles the lives of teenage hobos. ''Carny'' looks into the private lives of carnival workers.

Personal life

Murray is a dancer and teacher of

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a Time signature, or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in pat ...

. She and her husband Carlos Boeri won First Place at the ''Campeonato Metropolitano de Baile de Tango de Buenos Aires'' in 2014.

References

Further

*
Filmmaker Magazine interview

Alison Murray: The Hellhound
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Alison Canadian documentary film directors Canadian expatriates in England Canadian women film directors Canadian music video directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Film people from London Film directors from Nova Scotia Female music video directors Alumni of the Royal College of Art Canadian women documentary filmmakers