{{Short description|British documentary filmmaker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Molly Dineen | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | alma_mater = National Film and Television School | occupation = Documentary Filmmaker | known_for = The Lie of the Land (2007), Geri (1999), The Ark (1993), Home from the Hill (1985) | children = 3 }} '''Molly Dineen''' is a British documentary film director, cinematographer, and producer. One of Britain's most acclaimed documentary filmmakers, Dineen is known for her intimate and probing portraits of British individuals and institutions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Molly Dineen|url=https://www.cromartyfilmfestival.org/molly-dineen|access-date=2021-01-21|website=www.cromartyfilmfestival.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2023}} Her work includes ''The Lie of the Land'' (2007), examining the decline of the countryside and British farming; ''The Ark'' (1993) about London Zoo during Thatcherism; and the ''Lords' Tale'' (2002), which examined the removal of hereditary peers.
== Early life == Dineen was born in Canada and brought up in Birmingham, England.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/jun/01/hay2007.guardianhayfestival|title='I've always been a nosy git'|last=Barton|first=Laura|date= 1 June 2007|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date= 13 March 2018}}</ref> She attended the Bournville School of Art and then studied Photography, Film and Television at the London College of Printing.<ref name="indy">{{cite web|last1=Walsh|first1=John|title=Molly Dineen: Notes from the underground|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/molly-dineen-notes-from-the-underground-2275040.html|website=The Independent|access-date=21 March 2018|date=26 April 2011}}</ref> ''Sound Business'' (1981), featuring sound producer Lloyd Coxsone and record store owner Blacker Dread (Steve Burnett-Martin) was her final degree project.<ref name="new statesman">{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/node/158313|title=I am a camera|first=Molly|last=Dineen|date=8 September 2003|work=New Statesman|access-date=13 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Paul|author-link=Paul Bradshaw (journalist)|title='BEING BLACKER': A radical encounter between BAFTA Winning film-maker Molly Dineen and Brixton's Blacker Dread|url=https://ancienttofuture.com/2018/02/25/being-blacker-a-radical-encounter-between-bafta-winning-film-maker-molly-dineen-and-brixtons-blacker-dread/|website=Ancient to Future|access-date=21 March 2018|date=25 February 2018}}</ref> She then worked for two years for a documentary camera crew, becoming a member of the ACTT Union. She went on to the National Film and Television School,<ref name="indy" /> where she studied documentary under Herb Di Gioia and Colin Young, achieving recognition for her 1987 debut ''Home from the Hill''.<ref name="pop">{{cite web|last1=Malcolm|first1=Gabrielle|title=The Birthplace of Reality TV Celebrities: 'The Molly Dineen Collection'|url=https://www.popmatters.com/140259-the-molly-dineen-collection-volume-one-2496042330.html|website=popmatters.com|access-date=21 March 2018|date=28 April 2011}}</ref> This film, which dealt with the themes of colonialism, international development, and the end of the British Empire, was picked up by BBC Two for Eddie Mirzoeff's 40 Minutes series, nominated for a BAFTA and shown in 22 other countries.
== Career in documentary == Dineen makes observational documentaries and has a "tone of her own".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-22|title=TELEVISION / An original of the species: Mark Lawson praises Molly|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/television-an-original-of-the-species-mark-lawson-praises-molly-dineen-s-documentary-series-the-ark-and-appeals-on-behalf-of-an-endangered-species-1472093.html|access-date=2021-01-21|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> She has been described as a "leading film-maker of her generation".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gentleman|first=Amelia|date=2016-04-25|title=Selling Serco: documentary-maker Molly Dineen on why she shot a corporate promo|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/25/molly-dineen-serco-corporate-documentary-interview-rupert-soames|access-date=2023-05-26|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Her style is unique, creating close personal portraits of issues and institutions. She has been described as exemplary, "standing-ovation television...Dineen is our box Byron".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Television: AA Gill: What's the recipe today, Jamie?|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/television-aa-gill-whats-the-recipe-today-jamie-0zdf5trgm7s|access-date=2021-01-21|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> In 1997, she made the party election broadcast for Tony Blair. In 2011, the British Film Institute<ref name="indy" /><ref name="pop" /> released a three volume box set of her work. "Her camera watches faces, conversations and behaviour patterns with a seemingly incurious objectivity, allowing her subjects to unveil their secret fears and frustrations".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-23|title=Molly Dineen: Notes from the underground|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/molly-dineen-notes-underground-2275040.html|access-date=2021-01-21|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>
== Awards and nominations == {{BLP unreferenced section|date=May 2023}}
* Winner of BAFTA Best Single Documentary * Winner of BAFTA Best Factual Series * Winner of Grierson Award for Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue * Winner of Grand Jury Prize at Visions du Reel, Neon * Winner of Royal Television Society Documentary Award * Winner of Royal Television Society Prize * Winner of First Prize at Anthropos Documentary Festival, Los Angeles * Winner of Women in Film and Television - Broadcaster's Contribution to the Medium Award * Winner of Prix des Bibliothèques at Lyon Biennale Europeane de Cinema * Winner of TV Suisse Rommande Prize, Nyon Documentary Festival * Winner of Voice of Viewers and Listeners Best Television Programme * Winner of Uppsala Film Festival Documentary Prize * Winner of Indies Documentaries and Features Awards * Winner of BFI Kodak Newcomers of the Year Award
== Filmography == * ''Home from the Hill'' – 1985 BBC Two documentary about Lieutenant-Colonel Hilary Hook's return to the UK after living abroad.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="indy" /><ref name="pop" /> Won Royal Television Society Prize. First Prize at Anthropos Documentary Festival, Los Angeles. TV Suisse Rommande Prize. * ''My African Farm'' (BBC Two, 1988) – Dineen returns to Kenya and to the home of Sylvia Richardson, a stalwart of British colonialism.<ref name="indy" /><ref name="pop" /> * ''Operation Raleigh, The Mountain, The Village'' (BBC Two, 1988) – Operation Raleigh was founded by the Prince of Wales to give young people the benefit of war time in peace. Two 30-minute films about an expedition to Southern Chile. * ''Heart of the Angel'' (BBC Two, 1989) – Capturing life in Angel Tube Station, one of the busiest on the London Underground.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="indy" /><ref name="pop" /> Won Royal Television Society Documentary Award.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} * ''The Pick, the Shovel and the Open Road'' (Channel 4, 1990) – A 60-minute film about the Irish roadwork company McNicholas. * ''The Ark'' (BBC Two, 1993) – Four films about London Zoo.<ref name=":0" /> Won the BAFTA for Best Factual Series, a Special Commendation at the Prix Europa, won Voice of Viewers and Listeners Best Television Programme and Indies Documentaries and Features Award. * ''In the Company of Men'' (BBC Two, 1995) – A three-part series which joins Major Crispin Black and his men in The Prince of Wales Company of the Welsh Guards during a final tour of duty in pre-ceasefire Northern Ireland.<ref name="pop" /> Won Women in Film and Television - Broadcaster's Contribution to the Medium Award. * ''Tony Blair'', a short profile of the Prime Minister produced as a party political broadcast and screened on all four channels for the general election campaign in 1997.<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|last1=Lawson|first1=Mark|title=Molly Dineen in Conversation|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4fc75e8378be5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322015203/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4fc75e8378be5|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2018|website=bfi.org.uk|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> * ''Geri'' (Channel 4, 1999) – about Geri Halliwell, one of the Spice Girls.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="bfi" /> * ''The Lord's Tale'' (Channel 4, 2002) – About the hereditary lords losing their seats in the Lords due to the House of Lords Act 1999.<ref name=":0" /> *''The Lie of the Land'' (Channel 4, 2007) – On the eve of the fox hunting ban, Dineen explores life in the British countryside, where farmers struggle to survive under the weight of government legislation and national indifference towards rural communities.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="indy" /> Won the BAFTA for Best Single Documentary, Grand Jury Prize at Visions du Reel in Nyon, Grierson Award for Best Single Documentary on a Contemporary Issue. *''Being Blacker'' (BBC Two, 2018) – Following three years of Blacker Dread's life.
== Personal life == Dineen has been married to William Sieghart since 1996. They have three children.<ref name="indy" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=2121940}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180322022538/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba452408e Molly Dineen at the British Film Institute] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xuObz5d6BI Sound Business 1981 Reggae Documentary]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dineen, Molly}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Alumni of the London College of Printing Category:Alumni of the National Film and Television School Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:English documentary filmmakers Category:Living people Category:Mass media people from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Canadian emigrants to England Category:Film directors from Toronto Category:Canadian expatriates in England Category:Canadian women television producers Category:Canadian women film directors