Alex Bescoby

Born in Manchester, Bescoby attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys in Greater Manchester from 1999 to 2006. In 2010, he graduated from Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University, where he specialised in the history of Myanmar (Burma).

In 2013, he moved to Myanmar to work with the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business headed by former British Ambassador Vicky Bowman, and to research a book on Myanmar's colonial experience. One episode that gripped his imagination was the last few days of the reign of King Thibaw, the last King of Burma, whose rule was ended in 1885 by the British annexation of Burma.{{cite web |title=Alex Bescoby: Burma's lost royals |url=https://prospectburma.org/prospect-blog/alex-bescoby-burmas-lost-royals/ |website=Prospect Burma}}

He tracked down Thibaw's living descendants still living in Myanmar - Prince Taw Phaya, Princess Hteik Su Phaya Gyi, U Soe Win and Daw Devi Thant Cin - and their story became his first documentary: We Were Kings.{{cite news |date=2 December 2017 |title=Myanmar's living royals reclaim their past |work=Nikkei Asian Review |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Myanmar-s-living-royals-reclaim-their-past}}{{cite news |date=6 November 2017 |title=Documentary About Forgotten Myanmar Royalty Premieres in Mandalay |work=The Irrawaddy |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/culture/arts/documentary-forgotten-myanmar-royalty-premieres-mandalay.html}}{{Citation |last=Bescoby |first=Alex |title=We Were Kings (Burma's Lost Royals) |date=2017-12-22 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11860690/ |type=Documentary |access-date=2023-11-01 |others=Alex Bescoby |publisher=Grammar Productions}}{{Cite news |date=2016-12-24 |title=Myanmar's lost royals |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38385489 |access-date=2023-11-01}} At the 2016 Sheffield DocFest, the film won the Whicker's World Foundation's inaugural TV Funding Award in 2016,{{cite news |title=Hale man who "only picked up a camera two years ago" wins £80,000 documentary prize |url=http://altrincham.today/2016/06/15/news/arts-and-culture/hale-man-picked-camera-two-years-ago-wins-80000-documentary-prize/ |work=Altrincham Today |date=15 June 2016 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Slow |first1=Oliver |date=17 June 2016 |title=Filmmaker wins award for Myanmar royalty documentary |language=en |work=Frontier Myanmar |url=https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/news/filmmaker-awarded-myanmar-royalty-movie}} a documentary grant funded from the estate of the British journalist and broadcaster Alan Whicker. It later premiered at the British Library in 2017, and was broadcast internationally the same year on History. In 2017, alongside U Soe Win - the heir to Thibaw's throne - he made a short film for BBC News - Who Stole Burma's Royal Ruby? It tells the story of what happened to Thibaw's famed Nga Mauk ruby the night he was taken into exile.

In 2017, while still living in Myanmar, Bescoby began work on his second documentary, Forgotten Allies.{{Citation |last=Bescoby |first=Alex |title=Forgotten Allies: The Search for Burma's Lost Heroes |date=2019-09-27 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11860798/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_forgotten%2520allies |type=History |access-date=2023-11-01 |others=Sally Mclean, Peter Mitchell, Duncan Gilmour |publisher=Grammar Productions |last2=Jones |first2=Maxwell}} It told the story of a small British charity - Help for Forgotten Allies - and their efforts to locate the last surviving Myanmar veterans of the Second World War who had volunteered to fight for Britain and its allies against the Imperial Japanese.{{Cite news |date=2018-06-24 |title=Searching for Burma's forgotten World War Two heroes |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-44582731 |access-date=2023-11-01}} The film was supported by Dame Joanna Lumley, Dame Vera Lynn, Griff Rhys Jones, the Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and the Burma Star Association, and premiered in 2019 at the National Army Museum in London.{{Cite web |title=Forgotten Allies {{!}} National Army Museum |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/whats-on/forgotten-allies |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=www.nam.ac.uk |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Bridge |first=Mark |date=2023-11-01 |title=Salute to Britain’s Burmese soldiers |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/salute-to-britain-s-burmese-soldiers-0hvbbsj52 |access-date=2023-11-01 |issn=0140-0460}}

In 2019, Bescoby began work on his first Channel 4 (UK) documentary series - The Last Overland: Singapore to London.{{Cite web |title=Watch The Last Overland {{!}} Stream free on Channel 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-last-overland |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=www.channel4.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-03-24 |title=The Last Overland |url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/international/the-last-overland/5168976.article |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Broadcast |language=en}} It tells the story of his recreation of the 1955 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition in the same Series One Land Rover, alongside original crew member Tim Slessor.{{Cite web |last=Barker |first=Christian |title=Historic Overland Journey From 1955 Gets Resurrected |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianbarker/2019/10/16/historic-overland-journey-from-1955-gets-resurrected/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Citation |title=87-year-old to drive overland from Singapore to London |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_fMtgeuAeE |access-date=2023-11-01 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Cundy |first=Antonia |date=2019-06-14 |title=An epic overland expedition — at the age of 87 |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a01c64c6-8b7e-11e9-a1c1-51bf8f989972 |access-date=2023-11-01}}{{Cite news |last=Bescoby |first=Alex |date=2020-02-14 |title=Retracing an epic 1955 road trip from London to Singapore |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activity-and-adventure/the-last-overland-singapore-london/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |last=Bescoby |first=Alex |date=2022-09-28 |title=It took one Land Rover and 13,000 miles for me to prove David Attenborough wrong |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/28/the-last-overland-how-one-man-proved-david-attenborough-wrong-17461930/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Metro |language=en}} In 2022, Bescoby released his book about the expedition - also called The Last Overland{{Cite web |title=Michael O’Mara takes to the road in Land Rover expedition with Bescoby |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/michael-omara-takes-to-the-road-in-land-rover-expedition-with-bescoby |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}{{Cite web |title=The Last Overland: Singapore to London: The Return Jour… |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60686802-the-last-overland |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Goodreads |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Noble |first=Barnes & |title=The Last Overland: Singapore to London: The Return Journey of the Iconic Land Rover Expedition (with a foreword by Tim Slessor){{!}}Paperback |url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-overland-alex-bescoby/1141690494 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Barnes & Noble |language=en}} - which was later shortlisted for the 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award{{Cite web |last=World |first=Travel Writing |date=2022-12-09 |title=Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2023 |url=https://www.travelwritingworld.com/edward-stanford-travel-writing-awards-2023-shortlists-winners/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Travel Writing World |language=en-US}} and the 2023 Royal Automobile Club Book of the Year.{{Cite web |title=Motoring Book of the Year Awards |url=https://www.royalautomobileclub.co.uk/news/motoring-book-of-the-year-awards/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Royal Automobile Club |language=en-GB}}

{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bescoby, Alex}}

Category:English documentary filmmakers

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

{{UK-film-bio-stub}}