Colin James Nutley (born 28 February 1944) is an English filmmaker who became known for his work in Sweden's film and television industry.

Early life

Colin James Nutley was born in

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

on 28 February 1944. He attended an art college in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Career

Nutley began his career in British television as a graphic designer. He then turned to drama and documentary filmmaking for ITV,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and

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 ...

. He directed the first two episodes of children's television series ''

Press Gang Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is a type of conscription of people into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion, conducted by an organized group (hence "gang"). European nav ...

'', but was unhappy with the final edit and asked for his name to be removed from the credits. He was the driving force behind

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited. However, in 1966, during the application pr ...

's ITV-networked children's series '' The Flockton Flyer'', taking personal responsibility for much of the casting and acting as a producer of the first series (1977) before producing and directing the second series (1978). Nutley's work in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

began with the making of ''

Annika Annika is a feminine given name with multiple origins in different cultures. It is a Swedish diminutive for Anna, derived in the 15th century from Anneke, a Dutch and Northern Germanic diminutive of Anna. Swedish-born retired professional golf ...

'', a TV series about a Swedish girl who spent three weeks on England's

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

as a language student. Then came the documentary ''Where Roses Never Die'', a film about life in a small Swedish country village which was also the inspiration for '' House of Angels''. His first feature '' The Ninth Company'' was a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

, the story of a group of young conscripts that tries to make a smart economic killing. ''

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

'', was about love and betrayal in a small town, set against the backdrop of dance-music bands. ''House of Angels'' opened in 1992 and is to date one of the most loved Swedish films of all time. The film was awarded two

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Sweden, Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a Cetonia aurata, rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbagg ...

s for "Best Film" and "Best Direction" at the Swedish Film Awards that year. '' The Last Dance'' was a black comedy about a rollercoaster friendship between two big city couples, and won "Best Actress" and "Best Photography" awards at the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Swedish Film Awards. ''House of Angels – the Second Summer'' opened on Christmas Day

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and was an immediate box office success. '' Such Is Life'', a drama comedy about love, broken promises and fulfilled dreams, opened in Sweden in October

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. '' Under the Sun'', a story about trust, friendship and love set in the mid-1950s, opened on Christmas Day

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and ''

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Etymology The word is from Old English ''godsibb'', from ''god (word), god'' and ''sibb'', the term for the ...

'', starring an ensemble cast of ten of Sweden's top actresses, opened all over Sweden on Christmas Day

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. '' Deadline'' (

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) and ''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

'' (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) were both based on

Liza Marklund Eva Elisabeth "Liza" Marklund (born 9 September 1962) is a Swedish journalist and crime writer. Her novels, of which most feature the fictional newspaper journalist Annika Bengtzon, have been published in forty languages. Marklund is the co-own ...

's best-selling novels. '' The Queen of Sheba's Pearls'' (2004) was an English language film set in post war England in the 1950s. ''Heartbreak Hotel'' opened in 2006 and Nutley's latest feature ''Angel'' in 2008. ''House of Angels'', ''The Last Dance'' and ''Under the Sun'' have all been nominated by the

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...

to represent Sweden as Best Foreign Language Film at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(1993, 1994 and 1999). ''House of Angels'' was screened out of competition at the

1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 18 May 1992. French actor Gérard Depardieu served as jury president for the main competition. Swedish filmmaker Bille August won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for a second time ...

. ''Under the Sun'' was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

and also received the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Personal life

In 1990, Nutley married Swedish actress

Helena Bergström Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (; born 5 February 1964) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (''Dramaten'') and the Stockhol ...

, whom he met while filming ''

''. He is 20 years older than her and was married when they met. They have a son named Timothy and a daughter named Molly, who is an actress. He also has a son named Daniel from his previous marriage. They split their time between an apartment on Sweden's

Kungsholmen Kungsholmen is an island in Lake Mälaren in Sweden, part of central Stockholm, Sweden. It is situated north of Riddarfjärden and considered part of the historical province Uppland. Its area is with a perimeter of . The highest point is a ...

island and a house in the countryside.

Filmography

TV

* ''

'' (1983) TV series * ''Where Roses Never Die'' (''Där Rosor Aldrig Dör'') 1984 documentary * ''Fifth Generation'' (''Femte Generationen'') 1985 series * ''Long Way Home'' (''Vägen Hem'') 1989 * ''Tillsammans med Strömstedts'' 2017 TV series * ''Saknad'' 2017 TV series * ''Bröllop, begravning och dop'' 2019 TV series

Film

* ''The Ninth Company'' (''Nionde Kompaniet'') 1987 * ''Blackjack'' (''Blackjack'') 1990 * '' House of Angels'' (''Änglagård'') 1992 * '' The Last Dance'' (''Sista Dansen'') 1993 * ''

House of Angels – The Second Summer ''House of Angels – The Second Summer'' () is a 1994 Swedish drama film directed by Colin Nutley starring Helena Bergström, Rikard Wolff, Ron Dean, and Ernst Günther. It is the second Swedish drama film about the mansion Änglagård (Angel Fa ...

'' (''Änglagård – Andra Sommaren'') 1994 * '' Such Is Life'' (''Sånt är Livet'') 1996 * '' Under the Sun'' (''Under Solen'') 1998 * ''

'' (''Gossip'') 2000 * '' Deadline'' (''Sprängaren'') 2001 * ''Paradise'' (''Paradiset'') 2003 * '' The Queen of Sheba's Pearls'' 2004 * ''Heartbreak Hotel'' 2006 * ''Angel'' 2008 * '' House of Angels – Third Time Lucky'' (''Änglagård – Tredje gången gillt'') 2010 * ' 2014

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutley, Colin English film directors Swedish film directors 1944 births Living people People from Gosport Best Director Guldbagge Award winners English emigrants to Sweden English expatriates in Sweden