Mike Dibb
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Mike Dibb (born
Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...
, Bradford, West Yorkshire, 29 April 1940) is an English
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
maker. In almost half a century of making films mainly for television – on subjects including cinema, literature, art, jazz, sport and popular culture – "he has defined and re-defined not only the televisual art documentary genre but has been able to make moving image pieces as a form of self portraiture". Dibb has made many acclaimed films about musicians, artists and writers, including on
Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...
, C. L. R. James, Astor Piazzolla,
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
,
Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...
, Barbara Thompson, and other notable subjects. Sukhdev Sandhu wrote 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 ...
'': "In a career spanning almost five decades, it's possible Dibb has shaped more ideas and offered more ways of seeing than any other TV documentarian of his generation." Mike Dibb is the father of film director Saul Dibb.


Career

After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, with a BA (Hons) degree, Mike Dibb joined BBC TV in 1963. He worked as an Assistant Film Editor/Film Editor in the BBC Film Department until 1967, and then joined the Music and Arts Department. Between 1967 and 1971, he directed numerous films on a range of subjects for various BBC series, including ''The Movies'', ''Moviemakers at the NFT'', ''Canvas'', ''The Craftsmen'', ''New Release'', '' Omnibus''. In 1972, he produced a four-part series of 30-minute films called '' Ways of Seeing'', now regarded not only as "a landmark work of British arts broadcasting, but as a key moment in the democratisation of art education". Scripted by writer
John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...
, with whom Dibb would go on to collaborate further, ''Ways of Seeing'' won a BAFTA Award for Best Specialised Series, and was the basis of a bestselling book designed by Richard Hollis, jointly published by the BBC and
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
in 1972. In 1976, Dibb made a film based on '' Beyond a Boundary'', the classic book by C. L. R. James, and on 23 February 1979 the BBC broadcast his film based on the 1973 book '' The Country and the City'' by
Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...
. In 1983, Dibb left the staff of the BBC to work independently. He joined Third Eye Productions, a company formed by several other former members of the BBC Music and Arts department, including Barrie Gavin, Peter West and Geoff Haydon. After 1986, Dibb began to make many of his films through his own company, Dibb Directions Ltd (DD). The many notable documentaries he has made include ''The Spirit of Lorca'', about poet
Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...
(in collaboration with Lorca's biographer Ian Gibson, 1986; Gold Award NY Festival of Film and TV), and ''What’s
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
Playing At?'' (on the Afro-Spanish roots of Cuban music; BBC ''Arena'', 1985), '' Tango Maestro – The life and music of Astor Piazzolla'' (2005, BBC), and ''Keith Jarrett – The Art of Improvisation'' (2005,
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 ...
). With
Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...
, in 1994 Dibb co-directed ''Typically British'', a BFI/Channel 4 documentary on the history of British cinema. In November 2011, Dibb participated in a Masterclass in conversation with David A. Bailey as part of the International Curators Forum two-day intervention at the Arnolfini in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. His two-hour film ''The Miles Davis Story'' (DD 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 ...
Television) won the
Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
TV award and an International Emmy award for arts documentary of the year 2001. In 2011, Dibb made the film '' Barbara Thompson: Playing Against Time'', a 75-minute "musical-medico" documentary "about
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
seen through the prism of music", chronicling the celebrated saxophonist's fight to keep performing despite having developed the condition. The film was first transmitted on
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
on 19 February 2012. Dibb's first book, ''Spellwell'' (2010, Muswell Press), written in rhyming couplets and illustrated by Roddy Maude-Roxby, was a playful guide to the idiosyncrasies of
English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
spelling. A major online retrospective of Dibb's work ''A Listening Eye'' was curated by Matthew Harle and Colm McAuliffe for the Whitechapel Gallery in East London, running from January till March 2021.


Select filmography

* 1972: ''Ways of Seeing'' (with
John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...
, BBC; BAFTA Award 1972) * 1976: ''Beyond a Boundary'' (with C. L. R. James, based on his classic book of the same name about cricket; BBC '' Omnibus'') * 1976: ''Seeing Through Drawing'' (with
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...
, Jim Dine, Ralph Steadman and others; BBC) * 1979: ''The Country and the City'' (with
Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...
, based on his classic study of English literature; BBC) * 1983: ''Classically Cuban'' (on Alicia Alonso and Cuban National Ballet; BBC) * 1984: ''C. L. R. James in conversation with Stuart Hall'' (Channel 4) * 1984: ''Memories of The Future -
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
and
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
'' (Channel 4) * 1985: ''What’s Cuba Playing At?'' (BBC ''Arena'') * 1989: '' Octavio Paz'' (BBC) * 1991: ''
Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story author and screenwriter. He was, according to British journalist Anthony Lane, "hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land". His earliest no ...
’s Criminal Records'' (BBC) * 1994: ''Typically British'' (with
Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...
; Channel 4/BFI) * 1995: ''The Further Adventures of
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'' (BBC ''Bookmark'') * 1996: ''A Curious Mind - A.S. Byatt'' (BBC ''Bookmark'') * 1996: ''The Fame and Shame of Salvador Dalí'' (with
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
biographer Ian Gibson; BBC) * 1999: ''The Beginning of The End of the Affair'' (exploration of the real-life background to Graham Greene's celebrated novel; BBC) * 2001: ''The Miles Davis Story'' (Channel 4) * 2002: '' Studs Terkel'' (BBC Four profile) * 2003: ''Edward Said'' (presented by Charles Glass, BBC Four profile) * 2003: ''Steven Rose – political scientist'' (BBC Four profile) * 2004: ''
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
: The Last Interview'' (ICA Projects) * 2004: ''Tango Maestro - The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla'' (DD/BBC) * 2005: ''Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation'' (Channel 4) * 2009: ''Personally Speaking: A Long Conversation with Stuart Hall'', interviewed by Maya Jaggi * 2011: ''Barbara Thompson: Playing Against Time'' (BBC Four) * 2021: ''Painted with My Hair'' (BBC Four)


References


External links

*
Mike Dibb website.

Mike Dibb on Vimeo
*
"The Play of Ideas: A Listening Eye - The Films of Mike Dibb"
Conversation with Yasmin Gunaratnam, Whitechapel Gallery, 21 January 2021; via YouTube.
"The Arts of Improvisation: A Listening Eye - The Films of Mike Dibb"
Discussion with Geoff Dyer, Whitechapel Gallery, 18 February 2021; via YouTube. * Matthew Harle
"Ways of filming: Mike Dibb in profile"
''Sight and Sound'', BFI, 9 February 2021.
"Conversation Pieces: A Listening Eye - The Films of Mike Dibb"
Conversation with Mike Dibb and Lisa Appignanesi, 18 March 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dibb, Mike 1940 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin BBC people British documentary film directors English film directors English documentary filmmakers Film people from Yorkshire International Emmy Award winners Living people People from the City of Bradford