{{Short description|British documentary filmmaker (1907–1987)}} {{about|Edgar Anstey the documentary film-maker|Edgar Anstey the psychologist|Edgar Anstey (psychologist)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Edgar Anstey''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (16 February 1907 – 26 September 1987),<ref name="Who Was Who">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri11marq/page/7/mode/1up |title=Who Was Who in America, 1993-1996, vol. 11 |publisher=Marquis Who's Who |year=1996 |isbn=0837902258 |location=New Providence, N.J. |page=[https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri11marq/page/7 7] |chapter=Anstey, Edgar (Harold Macfarlane) |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> was a leading British documentary filmmaker.
Anstey was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in 1907,<ref name="Who Was Who" /> and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College.
He spent a few years as a civil servant before starting in 1930 at The Empire Marketing Board's film unit, under the direction of John Grierson.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Anstey, Edgar (1907-1987) Biography |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/469723/index.html |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=BFI Screenonline}}</ref>
He was the uncredited co-director of the "seminal 1935 'social problem' film" ''Housing Problems''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7p36FdLYdIC&q=housing+problems&pg=PA184|title=Nonfiction Film: A Critical History|last=Barsam|first=Richard Meran|date=1992|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253207067|location=Bloomington, IN|pages=96, 107|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1949, he joined the British Transport Films unit, which he headed until 1974.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Macnab |first=Geoffrey |date=2001-01-27 |title=That was the age of the train |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/27/books.guardianreview1 |access-date=2024-08-21 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=}}</ref> He also served on the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute.<ref>{{cite Hansard|title=Written Answers to Questions - Government Directors on Company Boards|jurisdiction=Parliament of the United Kingdom|house=House of Lords|date=13 March 1967|volume=281|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-02-08/Writtens-1.html|column_start=161|column_end=162}}</ref>
As a producer he was twice-nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1964 for ''Thirty Million Letters'' and Best Short Subject, Live Action for ''Snow'' in 1966 <ref>{{Cite web |date= 5 October 2014|title=The 36th Academy Awards {{!}} 1964 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1964 |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The 38th Academy Awards {{!}} 1966 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966/S?qt-honorees=1#block-quicktabs-honorees |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
Anstey died in London, England in 1987.
==See also== *Alberto Cavalcanti *Arthur Elton *British Transport Films *John Grierson *Humphrey Jennings *Wolfgang Suschitzky
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * Nicholas Pronay, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39921 ‘Anstey, Edgar Harold Macfarlane (1907–1987)’], rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 4 Oct 2007
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080205064435/http://www.bufvc.ac.uk/podcast/BUFVC%20Podcasting%20Site.html British Universities Film & Video Council Website featuring a Podcast Interview with Edgar Anstey.]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anstey, Edgar}} Category:1907 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Category:English documentary filmmakers Category:People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys Category:People from Watford Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
{{UK-film-bio-stub}} Category:Governors of the British Film Institute