John Irvin

John Irvin (b. 1940, Newcastle-upon-Tyne) started out in the 1960s making television documentaries with his own company Mikras Films. A number of his films during this period received awards, notably the documentary Mafia No! (a Silver Lion at the Venice Festival in 1967). In the 1970s he worked for the ITV television company and the BBC – for example on the series The Nearly Man (1974), Hard Times (1977), and the series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), based on the novel by John Le Carré. For cinema his work includes the Vietnam drama Hamburger Hill (1987), the black comedy Widow's Peak, (1994), the love story A Month by the Lake (1995) and the boxing drama Shiner (2000). His film The Boys from County Clare (2003) was screened at the 2004 Karlovy Vary Festival. He is currently finishing the film The Moon and the Stars (2006) with Jonathan Pryce and Catherine McCormack in the leading roles.

MFF Karlovy Vary