Andrew Haigh

Early life

Haigh was born in Harrogate on 7 March 1973 and grew up in Croydon. He studied history at Newcastle University.

Career

Haigh worked as an assistant editor on films such as Gladiator and Black Hawk Down before debuting as a writer/director with the short film Oil. In 2009 he directed his first feature-length film, Greek Pete, which debuted at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. The film is set in London and centers on male prostitution, chronicling a year in the life of rent-boy Pete. Greek Pete won the Artistic Achievement Award at Outfest in 2009.

Haigh's second feature, the romantic drama Weekend about a 48-hour relationship between two men (played by Tom Cullen and Chris New), premiered on 11 March 2011 at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Emerging Visions. The film played in many other festivals around the world, and went on to collect many more awards including the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest and London Film Critics' Circle award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker.

Haigh's next film 45 Years (2015) premiered as part of the main competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. It won the top acting prizes at the festival for both its leads, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. The film screened at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September 2015. The film later received an Academy Award nomination for Charlotte Rampling. Upon release, it received positive reviews, holding a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail wrote: "45 Years exposes the paradoxical balance of the successful marriage, one that requires a sentimental suspension of disbelief on the one hand and a hard-headed ability to deal with the everyday on the other."

Haigh co-created, co-produced and occasionally wrote and directed the HBO drama series Looking (2014–2016), about a group of gay men in San Francisco, which struggled to attract audiences despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics. Cancelled after two seasons, the series finished with a two-hour TV movie in 2016. Haigh's next film, Lean on Pete, based on the Willy Vlautin novel about a teenage boy in Oregon, premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017. It was released in cinemas and on VOD in April–May 2018 and received critical acclaim. In October 2016, Haigh was announced as the writer-director of The North Water, a mini-series based on the novel of the same name by Ian McGuire. Filming began in summer 2018. After some filming delays in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released between 15 July and 12 August on BBC Two in 2021.

In 2023, Haigh returned to film directing the romance drama All of Us Strangers starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. The film is an adaptation of the Taichi Yamada novel Strangers (1988). The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim and was distributed by Searchlight Pictures. The film also screened across the UK as a part of the BFI London Film Festival and is set to appear at the New York Film Festival on Peter Debruge of Variety praised the film writing, "Haigh brings a sense of intimacy to this movie, presenting us with characters who are willing to be vulnerable to partners they barely know. It’s sexy, of course, but also quite moving, as this kind of exposed honesty feels like the foundation for any relationship".

In 2024, Haigh directed a music video for the Pet Shop Boys song "A New Bohemia". Filmed in Margate, the video features Tracey Emin and Russell Tovey.

Influences

Haigh participated in the 2022 Sight and Sound poll, which is held once every 10 years for contemporary filmmakers to select their 10 favourite films in no particular order; he chose Black Narcissus (1947), Some Like It Hot (1959), L'avventura (1960), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Cries and Whispers (1972), Don't Look Now (1973), Watership Down (1978), Ratcatcher (1999), Uzak (2002), and The Holy Girl (2004).

Personal life

Haigh is gay. He is married to Andy Morwood,

Filmography

Film

Short film

** Editor / Miscellaneous**

• 1996: The Proprietor - Production assistant (London)
• 2000: Small Time Obsession - Second assistant director
• 2000: Gladiator - Apprentice editor
• 2000: Born Romantic - Assistant editor
• 2000: Breathtaking - Assistant editor
• 2001: Black Hawk Down - Assistant editor
• 2002: The Count of Monte Cristo - Assistant editor
• 2002: The Four Feathers - Assistant editor
• 2003: Shanghai Knights - Assistant editor
• 2003: Mona Lisa Smile - Assistant editor
• 2004: Fits - Short film; unit production manager
• 2004: Fragments - Short film; first assistant director
• 2005: Kingdom of Heaven - Assistant editor
• 2007: The Good Night - Assistant editor (dailies)
• 2007: Hannibal Rising - Assistant editor
• 2007: Mister Lonely - First assistant editor
• 2008: A Matador's Mistress - First assistant editor
• 2008: Crack Willow - Editor

Television

Critical reception

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Murphy, Mekado. (31 December 2015). "Andrew Haigh Narrates a Scene From '45 Years'". [[The New York Times]].
2. Hughes, Sarah. (19 January 2014). "Gay life in all its ordinariness: Director Andrew Haigh discusses his new HBO series". [[The Independent]].
3. "Five Miles Out". [[Berlin Film Festival]].
4. Needham, Alex. (29 December 2023). "'A generation of queer people are grieving for the childhood they never had': Andrew Haigh on All of Us Strangers".
5. (9 August 2015). "Andrew Haigh: 'It takes a kind of insane self-belief to go on'". The Guardian.
6. (9 July 2009). "London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on Tour". The List.
7. (7 July 2011). "Outfest 2011: Highlights of this year's festival". Reuters.
8. "Weekend (2011)".
9. (21 March 2011). "SXSW 2011: Andrew Haigh is an emerging talent destined to become the main event". The Guardian.
10. (18 July 2011). ""Weekend," "Habana Muda" Among Top Outfest Winners". indieWire.
11. (20 January 2012). "ANDREW HAIGH NABS BREAKTHROUGH FILM-MAKER AT LONDON CRITIC'S CIRCLE AWARDS". TheFanCarpet.com.
12. [http://www.wisconsingazette.com/interview/gay-director-andrew-haigh-talks-about-his-memorable-weekend.html "Gay director Andrew Haigh talks about his memorable 'Weekend'"] {{webarchive. link. (12 April 2013 . ''Wisconsin Gazette'', 29 September 2011.)
13. "Berlinale 2015: Malick, Dresen, Greenaway and German in Competition". Berlinale.
14. "45 Years". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
15. Brennan, Matt. (10 March 2014). "How HBO's ''Looking'' Went from Boring to Brilliant". [[IndieWire]].
16. (9 March 2015). "HBO should renew ''Looking'', even though nobody watches".
17. "Synopsis {{!}} ''Looking: The Movie''".
18. Carney, Brian T.. (28 January 2016). "''Looking'' ahead". [[Washington Blade]].
19. "''Lean on Pete'' (2018)". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
20. "''Lean on Pete'' Reviews". [[Metacritic]].
21. Mitchell, Robert. (17 October 2016). "Andrew Haigh Dives Into ''The North Water''".
22. (4 October 2017). "BBC Two announces Andrew Haigh to write and direct ''The North Water''". BBC.
23. Mangan, Lucy. (2021-09-10). "The North Water review – a riveting voyage of blood, sweat and beards". The Guardian.
24. (September 2023). "''All of Us Strangers'' Review: A Lonely Gay Man Explores Missed Connections in Andrew Haigh's Latest Heartbreaker".
25. (4 June 2024). "Pet Shop Boys: A New Bohemia".
26. "Andrew Haigh {{!}} BFI".
27. Edalatpour, Jeffrey. (27 January 2016). "Chatting with Andrew Haigh".
28. (1 June 2015). "The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast - ANDREW HAIGH - 6/1/15". Podcast one.
29. Brennan, Matt. (20 December 2023). "My journey to the heart of Andrew Haigh, the director behind the year's best film". LA Times.
30. "Greek Pete | Rotten Tomatoes".
31. "Greek Pete | Rotten Tomatoes".
32. "Weekend | Rotten Tomatoes".
33. "Weekend | Rotten Tomatoes".
34. "Weekend".
35. "45 Years | Rotten Tomatoes".
36. "45 Years | Rotten Tomatoes".
37. "45 Years".
38. "Lean on Pete | Rotten Tomatoes".
39. "Lean on Pete | Rotten Tomatoes".
40. "Lean on Pete".
41. [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/all_of_us_strangers All of Us Strangers] rottentomatoes.com
42. "All of Us Strangers | Rotten Tomatoes".
43. "All of Us Strangers".
44. (2024-01-18). "BAFTA Film Awards Nominations: ''Oppenheimer'' and ''Poor Things'' Lead as ''Barbie'' Falls Short".