Kim Longinotto

Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers working today, renowned for creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics with sensitivity and compassion. Longinotto's films have won international acclaim and dozens of premiere awards at festivals worldwide, including the World Cinema Jury Prize in Documentary at Sundance for ROUGH AUNTIES. Highlights include perhaps one of her best known works, SISTERS IN LAW (2005), winner of a 2008 Peabody Award and two Cannes awards, including the Cannes Prix art et Essai Award; THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET (2003), which won the Amnesty International DOEN Award at IDFA and Best Doc UK Spotlight at Hot Docs; the recent HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO (2007), winner of the Special Jury Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA); The BAFTA Award-winning DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE (1998); DREAM GIRLS (1993), winner of Best Documentary at Films de Femmes, Creteil; and SHINJUKU BOYS (1995), winner for Outstanding Documentary at the Sand Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Longinotto studied camera and directing at England's National Film School (NFS), where she made PRIDE OF PLACE, a critical look at her boarding school, and THEATRE GIRLS, documenting a hostel for homeless women. After the NFS she worked as the cameraperson on a variety of documentaries for TV including CROSS AND PASSION, an account of Catholic women in Belfast, and UNDERAGE, a chronicle of unemployed adolescents in Coventry.

In 1986, Longinotto formed the production company Twentieth Century Vixen with Claire Hunt. Together they made FIRERAISER, a look at Sir Arthur Bomber Harris and the bombing of Dresden during WWII; EAT THE KIMONO, about the controversial Japanese feminist performer Hanayagi Genshu; HIDDEN FACES, the internationally acclaimed, collaborative documentary with/about Egyptian women; and THE GOOD WIFE OF TOKYO about women, love and marriage in Japanese society. Throughout this time, she made a series of ten broadcast and non-broadcast videos on special needs issues, including TRAGIC BUT BRAVE for Channel 4. With Jano Williams, Longinotto directed the audience pleaser DREAM GIRLS, a BBC-produced documentary of the spectacular Japanese musical theatre company; and SHINJUKU BOYS, about three Tokyo women who live as men. Next, she made ROCK WIVES for Channel 4 about the wives and girlfriends of rock stars, followed by DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE with Ziba Mir-Hosseini, about women and divorce in Iran. She then made two short films for the BEST FRIENDS series on Channel 4: STEVE & DAVE - about two friends who work as a drag act and ROB & CHRIS about two homeless young men. Her following film, GAEA GIRLS made with Jano Williams, was about women wrestlers in Japan, and then RUNAWAY, also made with Ziba Mir-Hosseini, was set in a refuge for girls in Tehran. Her film THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET, about young girls in Kenya challenging the tradition of female circumcision premiered domestically at Sundance in 2003. More recent films include the highly acclaimed SISTERS IN LAW, about female justices in Kumba, Cameroon, and HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO, about troubled children at England’s Mulberry Bush School. (3/09)

The Day I Will Never Forget
A film by Kim Longinotto, 2002, 92 min., Color
THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET is a gripping feature documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Longinotto that examines the practice of female genital mutil...

Divorce Iranian Style
A film by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, 1998, 80 min., Color
Hilarious, tragic, stirring, this fly-on-the-wall look at several weeks in an Iranian divorce court provides a unique window into the intimate circums...

Dream Girls
A film by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, 1993, 50 min., Color
This fascinating documentary, produced for the BBC, opens a door into the spectacular world of the Takarazuka Revue, a highly successful musical theat...

Eat the Kimono
A film by Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto, 1989, 60 min., Color
EAT THE KIMONO is a brilliant documentary about Hanayagi Genshu, a Japanese feminist and avant-garde dancer and performer, who has spent her life defy...

Gaea Girls
A film by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, 2000, 106 min., Color
"This fascinating film follows the physically grueling and mentally exhausting training regimen of several young wanna-be GAEA GIRLS, a group of Japan...

The Good Wife of Tokyo
A film by Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto, 1992, 52 min., Color
“Forget those demure ladies with fragrant fans and meet the new breed of Japanese women!” — Amanda Casson, London Film Festival. Kazuko Hohki goes ba...

Hidden Faces
A film by Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto, 1990, 52 min., Color
Originally intended as a film about internationally renowned feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi, HIDDEN FACES develops into a fascinating portrayal of E...

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go
A film by Kim Longinotto, 2007, 100 min., Color
Harrowing at one moment and heartwarming the next, HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO is set at England’s Mulberry Bush School, founded by Barbara Dockar-Drysda...

Pride of Place
A film by Dorthea Gazidis and Kim Longinotto, 1976, 60 min., BW
A rarely seen classic, PRIDE OF PLACE was made as a first project while Longinotto was a student at England’s National School of Television and Film. ...

Rough Aunties
A film by Kim Longinotto, 2008, 103 min., Color
Fearless, feisty and resolute, the “Rough Aunties” are a remarkable group of women unwavering in their stand to protect and care for the abused, negle...

Runaway
A film by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, 2001, 87 min., Color
“RUNAWAY is a powerful and heart-breaking documentary about a group of young runaway girls who are taken to a women's shelter in Tehran, Iran. The fil...

Shinjuku Boys
A film by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, 1995, 53 min., Color
From the makers of DREAM GIRLS, SHINJUKU BOYS introduces three onnabes who work as hosts at the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo. Onnabes are women who live...

Sisters in Law
A film by Kim Longinotto, Co-directed by Florence Ayisi, 2005, 104 min., Color
Winner of the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival and screened to acclaim at more than 120 festivals around the world, SISTERS IN LAW is the...

Theatre Girls
A film by Kim Longinotto and Claire Pollak, 1978, 56 min., BW
In her final piece at film school, Longinotto and her partner take us into the "Theatre Girls Club" in Soho, London–a hostel for elderly and destitute...