Geoff Andrew (born 1954) is a British writer, lecturer, teacher, film programmer and occasional broadcaster.
Born in Northampton, he studied at
Northampton Grammar School and went on to gain a First in Classics at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
. Andrew was for some years manager and programmer at London's
Electric Cinema in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
, and later became the long-serving editor and chief critic of the film section of ''
Time Out'' magazine. In 1999, he was appointed Programmer of London's National Film Theatre (later renamed BFI Southbank); in 2016 he became consultant Programmer-at-large to the venue, remaining part of the programming team until August 2024. In recent years he has also frequently taught as a visiting tutor at the London Film School.
Andrew is a regular contributor to ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' and has contributed essays and articles to many books and journals. He is the author of a number of books on the cinema, including BFI Classics volumes on
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including s ...
(''10'') and
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...
’s
Three Colours Trilogy
The ''Three Colours'' trilogy (, ) is the collective title of three psychological drama films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski: '' Three Colours: Blue'' (1993), '' Three Colours: White'' (1994), and '' Three Colours: Red'' (1994), represented ...
; ''The Films of Nicholas Ray'', ''Stranger Than Paradise: Maverick Film-makers in Recent American Cinema'', ''The Film Handbook'' and ''Film Directors A-Z – The Art of the World’s Greatest Film-makers''.
Andrew edited ''Film: The Critics' Choice'', and five anthologies of ''Sight & Sound'' reviews and features devoted to Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and the 'New Hollywood' of the late 1960s and 70s; he was also consultant editor on all 19 editions of the annual ''Time Out Film Guide''. He has contributed filmed introductions, commentaries and essays to numerous DVD and BluRay releases, and hosted on-stage interviews with a great many major directors, actors, producers and critics, not only for the BFI Southbank and London Film Festival but for film festivals in Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Morelia, Marrakech and Sarajevo.
In 2003, Andrew served on the Un Certain Regard jury at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
; he has also served on juries in Venice, Cluj, Turin, Istanbul, Sarajevo, Morelia, Krakow, Brussels and London.
Among many other areas of film, Andrew has shown particular interest in French cinema.
In 2009, the French government made him a Chevalier de l'
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
for his contribution to French cinema''.
''
In the
2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, Andrew listed his ten favourite films as follows: ''
L'Atalante
''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon.
After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...
'', ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'', ''
The General'', ''
His Girl Friday
''His Girl Friday'' is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper ...
'', ''La Morte Rouge'' (a 2006 short by
Víctor Erice), ''
My Night with Maud'', ''
Ordet
''Ordet'' (, meaning " The Word" and originally released as ''The Word'' in English) is a 1955 Danish drama film, written and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is based on a play by Kaj Munk, a Danish Lutheran priest, first performed in 1932. ...
'', ''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
'', ''
Ten'', and ''
Tokyo Story
is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children.
Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...
''.
Andrew currently writes on film, music and the arts at his website at geoffandrew.com.
References
External links
GeoffAndrew.comGeoff Andrewat
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
Geoff Andrew 1954 births
Living people
British film critics
British Film Institute
British film historians
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
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