Esther May Campbell (born 27 May 1972 in London) is a British filmmaker, director, photographer and writer. In 2008 she received a

BAFTA Award for Best Short Film The BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film is a film award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the annual British Academy Film Awards. BAFTA is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, ...

for her film ''September''. Campbell's debut feature film ''Light Years'' premiered in the International Critics’ Week section at the 72nd edition of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Career

A self-taught visual artist, Campbell's early work was directing low-fi music videos and short films. She directed several episodes of the

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 ...

soap series ''Doctors'' and 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 ...

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, she wrote and directed the short film ''September'' funded by the UKFC, which won the BAFTA award for short film, as well as many other international awards. In 2010, Campbell directed

drama ''Skins'' and in 2012, she went on to direct a feature-length episode of BBC1's ''Wallander'' starring

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...

. In 2015, her first feature film ''Light Years'', starring

Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall ...

and Muhammet Uzuner, premiered at Venice Critics Week. Besides her work in TV and cinema, Campbell is a prolific stills photographer. Throughout the years Campbell continued to make music videos and record sleeves for artists such as Nancy Elizabeth,

Kath Bloom Katherine Bloom is an American folk songwriter based in Litchfield, Connecticut. Biography The daughter of oboist Robert Bloom, Bloom grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied the cello as a child and started playing the guitar wh ...

, Joe Volk and James Blackshaw. She is also involved in a project for displaced children, born of the Cube Cinema in Bristol .

References

External links

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Esther May Campbell
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
September
' on

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Interview with Esther May Campbell
at Encounters Film Festival, November 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Esther May British film directors Photographers from London British women film directors British women screenwriters 1972 births Living people