Tony Palmer

Tony Palmer is one of the leading directors of music documentaries and historical drama films in the world. His filmography of over one hundred films ranges from early works with The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, to the famous portraits with and about Walton, Britten, Stravinsky, Maria Callas, John Osborne, Margot Fonteyn and Menuhin. His 7 hour 45 minutes film on Wagner, starring Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Vanessa Redgrave, was described by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most beautiful films ever made". Palmer has over 40 international prizes for his work amongst which are 12 Gold Medals at the New York Film & Television Festival, as well as numerous BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television) and EMMY nominations and awards. He is the only person to have won the Prix Italia twice. Amongst his most famous films are Benjamin Britten & His Festival (1967), All My Loving (1968), Maria Kalas (1987) – winner of a Golden Medal for best documentary at the New York Film & Television Festival and a BAFTA, Wagner (1983) – best feature at the New York and London film festivals and EMMY winner, Time There Was (1979) – Prix Italia and BAFTA winner, Testimony (1987) – winner of the Fellini Award, the Critics’ Award at Sao Paolo and a BAFTA. 200 Motels (1971), The Strange Case of Delphina Potocka and The Mystery of Chopin (1999) and Vangelis and the Trip to Ithaca (2009) were presented at the Sofia International Film Festival in 2010.

Tony Palmer was awarded the Sofia Municipality award for outstanding achievements in world cinema in 2010.

Follow the link for an interview with Tony Palmer.