Eleanor Yule is a Scottish film director, best known for her feature film '' Blinded'' and her television documentaries with

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

. She also directed ''Ghost Stories for Christmas'' a TV mini-series with

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

for

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

Biography

From a family of stage actors, Yule studied film at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and later at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. Her first film credit was as a director for ''A Small Deposit'', produced by Paul Homes. The film was nominated for a BAFTA award in 1994 in the Short Film Category. In 1996, she directed ''Weathering the Storm'' for BBC 2, a documentary produced by May Miller about the lives of painters Joan Eardley and June Redfern and in 1998, she directed ''A Love Exposed'' for BBC1, which highlighted the career and relationship of

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist gr ...

and his painter, muse, wife Marthe de Méligny. In 2000 she directed four episodes — ''The Stalls Of Barchester'', ''The Ash Tree'', ''Number 13'', and ''A Warning To The Curious'' — of the BBC Scotland produced series ''Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas''. Yule has worked with

, former member of the

comedy troupe A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated Employment, personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific comedic genr ...

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

, directing a series of films, ''Palin on Art'' about people in the art world whose stories have been untold. Among their topics have been ''Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse'' (2003), which highlighted the story of French painter

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

and the Cone sisters, who collected his works; ''Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershoi'' (2005), about Danish painter

Vilhelm Hammershøi Vilhelm Hammershøi (), often anglicised as Vilhelm Hammershoi (15 May 186413 February 1916), was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, subdued portraits and interiors. In 1905, Rainer Maria Rilke wrote of the artist, "Hammershøi is no ...

; ''Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson'' (2012), chronicling the life of Finnish storyteller and painter

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

; ''Michael Palin in Wyeth's World'', which focuses on the life of American painter

Andrew Wyeth Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an American visual artist and one of the best-known American artists of the middle 20th century. Though he considered himself to be an "abstractionist," Wyeth was primarily a realis ...

; and ''Quest for Artemisia'' (2015) about Italian painter,

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...

. Yule's first feature film was produced in 2004 and was inspired by her work with Palin on Hammershøi. When they had completed that film, he went to the Himalayas to work on another project and she wrote the screenplay for '' Blinded''. Set in Denmark, and with one of the main characters named for the painter she tried to capture his painting imagery in the love story, which starred

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. His credits include '' Riff-Raff'' (1991), '' Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' My Name Is Joe'' (1998), '' The Claim'' (2000), '' Neds'' ( ...

and

Jodhi May Jodhi May (born 8 May 1975) is an English actress. Starting her career as a child actress, she is the youngest recipient (age 12) of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, for '' A World Apart'' (1988). Her other credits include '' ...

. In addition to her work in film and television, Yule gives lectures and co-wrote ''The Glass Half Full: Moving Beyond Scottish Miserablism'' (2014) with David Manderson of the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

, where she was completing her PhD under his supervision. She completed her PhD in 2017 and became a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

Falmouth University Falmouth University is a specialist public university for the creative industries based in Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth and Penryn, Cornwall, Penryn, Cornwall, England. Founded as Falmouth School of Art in 1902, it was later known as Falmouth C ...

, when she is not working on films.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yule, Eleanor Scottish women film directors Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of the West of Scotland Academics of Falmouth University