Antony Thomas

{{Short description|English documentary filmmaker}} {{other people|Anthony Thomas}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Antony Thomas | image = Antony Thomas, May 2011 (cropped).jpg | caption = Thomas at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards | image_size = 200px | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1940|7|26}} | birth_place = Calcutta, British India | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Filmmaker, director, author | years_active = 1963–present }}

'''Antony Thomas''' (born 26 July 1940) is an English documentary filmmaker, director and author who has made films for, among others, Channel 4,<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/jul/15/lastnightstvthequran|title=Last night's TV: The Qu'ran|work=The Guardian|date=15 July 2008|accessdate=27 July 2016|location=London, UK|first=Sam|last=Wollaston}}</ref> the BBC and HBO.<ref>Finn, Robin. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDE1131F936A25757C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print COVER STORY; Want Pathos, Pain and Courage? Get Real], ''The New York Times''; retrieved 27 July 2016.</ref>

==Biography== Thomas was born in India. When he was six years old, he moved to South Africa. He moved again to England in 1967, where he has written, directed and produced 40 major documentaries and dramas, including ''Death of a Princess'' (1980). In 1982 Thomas and journalist David Fanning produced ''Frank Terpil: Confessions of a Dangerous Man'',<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQyggh7Ats8 ''Frank Terpil: Confessions of a Dangerous Man'', video on YouTube, 28']</ref> which won the Emmy Award for best investigative documentary.

Thomas wrote ''Rhodes'', a 1996 British television drama based on the life of Cecil Rhodes.

On 14 June 2010<ref name="guardian-secret-filming-for-Neda">{{cite news|title=How I secretly filmed the For Neda documentary|work=The Guardian|date=4 June 2010|accessdate=12 June 2010|first=Saeed|last=Kamali Dehghan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/04/neda-agha-soltan-documentary|location=London, UK}}</ref> the documentary film ''For Neda'', made by Thomas with the help of Saeed Kamali Dehghan, on the death of Iranian demonstrator Neda Agha-Soltan, was released. Kamali Dehghan secretly filmed Neda's family and obtained footage of her life and death for the HBO documentary.<ref name="guardian-for-Neda">{{cite news|title=Neda Agha-Soltan: "She is dead but regime is still afraid of her"|work=The Guardian|date=11 June 2010|accessdate=12 June 2010|first=Saeed|last=Kamali Dehghan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/11/neda-agha-soltan-iran-killing | location=London}}</ref> In late February 2014, the documentary ''Secrets of the Vatican ''directed by Thomas was aired on PBS as part of the ''Frontline ''series.

==Books== * ''The Arab Experience'', with Michael Deakin (Namara/Quartet, 1975) {{ISBN|978-0-704-32097-0}}. * ''Rhodes'' (BBC Books, 1996) {{ISBN|978-0-563-38742-8}}. * ''In the Line of Fire: Memories of Documentary Filmmaker'' (Unicorn, 2022) {{ISBN|978-1-914-41433-6}}.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://www.antonythomas.co.uk/ Official website] * {{IMDb name|0002793}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Antony}} Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:British filmmakers Category:British directors Category:Mass media people from Kolkata Category:British people in British India Category:English expatriates in South Africa Category:British documentary film directors Category:Emmy Award winners