Josh Appignanesi (born 1975) is a British film director, producer, and screenwriter. Appignanesi is best known for the feature film ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

'' (2006), starring Natalie Press, which he directed, co-wrote and co-produced. The film won several awards including a special commendation for Best British Film at the

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

. Made on a tiny budget, the film is a dark study of the intense relationship between a brother and highly religious sister in London's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

community. The film had a small, arthouse UK release but received critical acclaim; ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' said it "reveals a distinctive and bold new voice in British cinema." He has written and directed several short films, most notably ''Ex Memoria'' (2006) which also stars Natalie Press as well as

Sara Kestelman Sara Kestelman (born 12 May 1944) is an English actress, who is known for her role as Lady Frances Brandon, Lady Jane Grey's mother, in the 1986 film '' Lady Jane'', as well as for providing the voice of Kreia in '' Star Wars Knights of the Ol ...

in a study of a woman with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, funded by the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

; and ''Nine 1/2 Minutes'' (2003), a romantic comedy starring

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

Life and career

In 2006, Appignanesi directed his first feature film, ''Song of Songs''. In 2010, he directed and script edited the comedy feature film '' The Infidel'', written by

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in '' The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and later for his comedy partnership w ...

and starring

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili (; born 30 September 1965) is a British comedian, actor, and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvane ...

Richard Schiff Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on ''The West Wing'', a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with ''The West Wing'', directing an ...

Archie Panjabi Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress. She has had various roles in both British and American television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007), Kalinda Sharma in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2015), Nas Kamal ...

Amit Shah Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 32nd Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Minister of Home Affairs since May 2019 and the 1st Ministry of Co-operation, Minister of Co-operat ...

and

Yigal Naor Igal Naor (; born ) is an Israeli actor, sometimes credited as Yigal Naor. Biography Naor was born in Givatayim, Israel, to Mizrahi Jewish parents from Iraq. He has appeared in the American films ''Munich'', ''Green Zone'' and '' Rendition''. ...

. Produced by Arvind David at Slingshot, the film follows the adventures of a British Muslim everyman (Djalili) who discovers he was born Jewish. The film was released internationally in Spring 2010, and in the UK with distributor Revolver Entertainment. He lives in London and studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

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 ...

, where he was a contemporary and close friend of the novelist

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

. Appignanesi is married to academic Devorah Baum. The couple have two sons together. Appignanesi co-directed 2016 documentary film ''The New Man'' with Baum about their experience as expectant parents. The film was described in ''The Observer'' as "a profoundly moving and revealing study of a life-changing event." In 2023, he and Baum produced and directed ''Husband'', a documentary about their marriage through the lens of a trip to New York City for Baum's book launch. In a positive review, ''The Guardian'' called it "a complex, subtle kind of guided reality show, like Made in Chelsea with a hint of Curb Your Enthusiasm." Appignanesi describes his mid2023 film ''My Extinction'' and the accompanying personal journey to

climate activism The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called ''climate action'') addressing the causes and Effects of climate change, impacts of climate change. Citizens and environme ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 00:02:24. He is the son of writers

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

and

Richard Appignanesi Richard Appignanesi (; December 20, 1940 – April 8, 2025) was a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated '' For Beginners'' book series (since 1991 called the '' Introducing...'' se ...

and brother of Katrina Forrester.

References

Sources

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A9267492 *http://film.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh2005/story/0,,1557812,00.html *http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/film/advice_josh.shtml *https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014243/http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=D9CD54E207b762D510gUyPBC621F 1975 births Living people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English Jews English people of Italian descent {{UK-film-bio-stub