Vanessa Engle
{{short description|British documentary filmmaker|bot=PearBOT 5}}{{Infobox person
| name = Vanessa Engle
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|32|1994}}
| alma_mater = University of Oxford
| occupation = Documentary filmmaker
| employer =
| children = 2
}}
Vanessa Engle (born {{circa|1962}}) is a British documentary filmmaker. After spending four years working for BBC2's late night arts magazine programme, The Late Show, she began to make her own documentaries. She is known for Lefties (2006) and the Arena film The $50 Million Art Swindle (2019).
Personal life
Engle was born {{circa|1962}}.{{cite news |last1=Engle |first1=Vanessa |title=Vanessa Engle on Louise Bourgeois: No Trespassing |url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/the-show-that-shaped-me/vanessa-engle-on-louise-bourgeois-no-trespassing/5139301.article |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=Broadcast |date=14 May 2019 |language=en}} She graduated with a first class degree from the University of Oxford, then took a masters in industrial relations.{{cite news |last1=Saner |first1=Emine |title=Vanessa Engle: Why a slimming documentary doesn't have to be heavy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/aug/14/vanessa-engle-slimming-documentary |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=14 August 2013}} She taught at Manchester University then decided to work at the BBC and started to make films. She has two children.
Career
Between 1990 and 1994, Engle learnt film-making by working for BBC2's late night arts magazine programme, The Late Show. With the guidance of Anthony Wall as producer, she went on to make documentaries such as Lefties (2006) about the British radical left of the 1970s and 1980s and Jews (2008) about orthodox Jews in north London.{{cite magazine |last1=Billen |first1=Andrew |date=2006-02-13 |title=Rising damp |work=New Statesman |volume=135 |issue=4779 |page=47 |pages=}}
Engle is known for challenging people's values and belief systems, asking them direct questions. She made the Arena film The $50 Million Art Swindle in 2019, about the art dealer Michel Cohen.{{cite news |last1=Carson |first1=Sarah |title=Cohen's life is more absorbing and outrageous than any fictional heist |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-50m-art-swindle-review-bbc2-vanessa-engle-arena-michel-cohen-where-live-342325 |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=Independent |date=23 September 2019 |language=en}}
Awards and recognition
In November 2015, Engle received an Outstanding Contribution to Documentary award at the Aldeburgh Documentary Festival.{{cn|date=February 2023}} Jews (2008), and Women (2010), have both been nominated for the Grierson Awards.{{cite news|last1=Harvey|first1=Chris|title=Vanessa Engle on 'Money', interview|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8921220/Vanessa-Engle-on-Money-interview.html|accessdate=9 April 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 November 2011}}
Selected works
- Two Melons and a Stinking Fish (1996) {{cite news |title=Fertile inspiration: how the humble egg has played an enduring role in women’s art |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/29/fertile-inspiration-how-the-humble-egg-has-played-an-enduring-role-in-womens-art |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events |date=29 November 2022}}
- Lefties A three-part series (2006)
- Jews A three-part series (2008)
- Money A three-part series (2011)
- Walking with Dogs (2012) {{cite news |last1=Engle |first1=Vanessa |title="I’m amazed how honest people are about their lives" |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9605610/Vanessa-Engle-Im-amazed-how-honest-people-are-about-their-lives.html |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=Daily Telegraph |date=15 October 2012}}
- Welcome to the World of Weight Loss (2013)
- Inside Harley Street A three-part series (2015){{cite news|last1=Gentleman|first1=Amelia|title=Vanessa Engle: the fearless film-maker getting under the skin of Harley Street|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/08/vanessa-engle-inside-harley-street-tv-documentary|accessdate=9 April 2015|work=The Guardian|date=9 April 2015}}
- The $50 Million Art Swindle (2019)
References
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Category:English documentary filmmakers
Category:English women film directors