Andrea Arnold

Andrea Patricia Arnold OBE, born on 5th April 1961, is an illustrious English filmmaker and former actor. She was awarded an Academy Award for her remarkable short film, 'Wasp', in 2005. Arnold's renowned feature films encompass 'Red Road' (2006), 'Fish Tank' (2009), and 'American Honey' (2016), all of which secured the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Arnold expanded her directorial repertoire by directing four episodes of the Amazon Prime Video series 'Transparent', and all seven episodes from the second season of the HBO series 'Big Little Lies'. A testament to her continued relevance and innovation, her documentary 'Cow' was showcased at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and also played at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival.

Arnold was born in Dartford, Kent, as the eldest among four children. Her parents, just teenagers at her birth, separated when she was very young. The challenges of growing up in a working class family heavily influence her work. From writing dark stories about the human experience as a young girl to moving to the US to study film as she felt her lack of education and accent restricted her in the eyes of gatekeepers, Arnold has always been an advocate for authentic, raw storytelling. Her directorial style focuses on giving actors near-total control in creating their characters, encouraging their most pure reflections of themselves. Her films often deal with the themes of deprivation and impoverishment. While she was working in television, she continued writing, a passion which eventually led her to filmmaking.