# Stuart Urban > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stuart_Urban > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stuart_Urban.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Urban > Source revision: 1352991197 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British screenwriter and director}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{EngvarB|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Stuart Urban | image = | caption = | birthname = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|9|11|df=y}} | birth_place = [Newport](/source/Newport%2C_Isle_of_Wight), [Isle of Wight](/source/Isle_of_Wight), UK | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | yearsactive = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | website = {{URL|stuarturban.com}} | occupation = Film director, film producer, screenwriter }} '''Stuart Urban''' (born 1958) is a British film and television director. == Early life and education == Stuart Urban, whose younger brother is the journalist [Mark Urban](/source/Mark_Urban), was educated at [Rokeby Preparatory School](/source/Rokeby_Preparatory_School), [Kingston upon Thames](/source/Kingston_upon_Thames) and [King's College School](/source/King's_College_School), Wimbledon. He later attended [Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College%2C_Oxford), graduating with a first class degree in Modern History. At the age of 13, he became the youngest director to have a film shown at the [Cannes Film Festival](/source/Cannes_Film_Festival). The 30-minute film, a short feature called ''The Virus of War'', was later shown on television in various countries.{{cite web|title=Stuart Urban|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/228345/Stuart-Urban|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104101435/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/228345/Stuart-Urban|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=2012|archive-date=4 November 2012}} == Career == Urban began writing and directing full-time in the early 1980s, working on television drama series including ''[Bergerac](/source/Bergerac_(TV_series))'' for the [BBC](/source/BBC). In 1992, his one-off television film ''[An Ungentlemanly Act](/source/An_Ungentlemanly_Act)'', a dramatisation of the first 36 hours of the [Falklands War](/source/Falklands_War) featured [Ian Richardson](/source/Ian_Richardson) and [Bob Peck](/source/Bob_Peck). The production won the [British Academy Television Award](/source/British_Academy_Television_Award) for Best Single Drama in 1993. In 1993, Urban set up his own independent production company, Cyclops Vision, which has produced the majority of his work ever since. He was also one of the directors of the acclaimed and award-winning 1996 BBC drama serial ''[Our Friends in the North](/source/Our_Friends_in_the_North)'', although he left the production early after disagreements with writer [Peter Flannery](/source/Peter_Flannery), and one of his episodes was entirely re-shot by another director, though not before being entirely re-written by Peter Flannery – a fact generally withheld from public knowledge at the time. Urban went on to write, produce and direct the feature films ''[Preaching to the Perverted](/source/Preaching_to_the_Perverted_(film))'' (1997){{cite web|author= Orndorf, Brian|website= DVD Talk|title=Preaching to the Perverted: Guinevere Turner Signature Edition|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/34455/preaching-to-the-perverted-guinevere-turner-signature-edition/?___rd=1|date= 28 August 2008|access-date = 10 October 2021}} and ''[Revelation](/source/Revelation_(2001_film))'' (2001), both produced by Cyclops Vision and released around the world. In 2015, it was listed by ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' as one of the top 10 films about [BDSM](/source/BDSM) and fetish subject matter.{{cite news|title=The 10 best BDSM movies|author= Smith, Anna|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/10/bdsm-film-top-10-fifty-shades-grey| work= [The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|date = 10 February 2015|access-date = 4 October 2020}} His documentary film work includes the first polemical film against Western interventions, ''Against the War'' (BBC, Cyclops Vision; 1999) co-written with [Harold Pinter](/source/Harold_Pinter), who also presented. In 2006, Urban completed ''[Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead](/source/Tovarisch%2C_I_Am_Not_Dead)'', his full-length documentary film about his father Garri, a Jewish physician{{cite web | url=https://film.list.co.uk/article/8531-tovarisch-i-am-not-dead/ | title=Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead (3 stars) | work=[The List](/source/The_List_(magazine)) | date=22 May 2008 | accessdate=27 May 2016 | author=Dawson, Tom}} from Ukraine{{cite web | url=http://thedfg.org/news/details/379/tovarisch-i-am-not-dead | title=Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead | publisher=Documentary Filmmakers Group | date=17 March 2010 | access-date=27 May 2016 | author=Wing-Fai, Leung | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611072138/http://thedfg.org/news/details/379/tovarisch-i-am-not-dead | archive-date=11 June 2016 }} who escaped from both the [Gulag](/source/Gulag) and [the Holocaust](/source/the_Holocaust). It was released to UK cinemas in 2008,{{cite news | url=http://www.thejc.com/arts/film/travels-my-father-spy | title=Travels with my father the 'spy' | work=[The Jewish Chronicle](/source/The_Jewish_Chronicle) | date=25 April 2008 | accessdate=27 May 2016 | author=Kasriel, Alex}}{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/may/01/periodandhistorical | title=Tovarisch, I am released | work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) | date=1 May 2008 | accessdate=27 May 2016 | author=Urban, Stuart}} earning a number of nominations and awards, including a nomination at the British Independent Film Awards and Grierson Awards. In 2011 Urban wrote, produced and directed ''[May I Kill U?](/source/May_I_Kill_U%3F)'', a [black comedy](/source/black_comedy) feature film starring [Kevin Bishop](/source/Kevin_Bishop), [Frances Barber](/source/Frances_Barber) and [Rosemary Leach](/source/Rosemary_Leach). The plot follows a [cycling](/source/cycling) [vigilante](/source/vigilantism) who starts a lethal campaign in the [2011 England riots](/source/2011_England_riots): "a psychopath on the cycle path". The film was released in 2013 after premiering at [FrightFest](/source/FrightFest_(film_festival)) in 2012. In 2014, Urban optioned Deric Henderson's non-fiction book, ''[Let This Be Our Secret](/source/Let_This_Be_Our_Secret)'', which he adapted as screenwriter and executive produced for [Hat Trick Productions](/source/Hat_Trick_Productions) and [ITV](/source/ITV_Studios). A four-hour drama, starring [James Nesbitt](/source/James_Nesbitt) as double murderer [Colin Howell](/source/Colin_Howell), it was filmed in Northern Ireland in late 2015 under the title ''[The Secret](/source/The_Secret_(TV_series))'' and began transmission on 29 April 2016. Urban was nominated for a [BAFTA](/source/BAFTA) for ''The Secret'' in the category of Best Miniseries, for the Broadcast Awards (Best Drama); it also won the [Royal Television Society](/source/Royal_Television_Society) Northern Ireland Awards as Best Drama. == Personal life == Urban is a member of [Wimbledon Synagogue](/source/Wimbledon_Synagogue). He and his wife Dana live in south-west London and have two children.{{cite news| url = https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/shooting-in-the-dark-1.438405| title = Shooting in the dark|work=[The Jewish Chronicle](/source/The_Jewish_Chronicle)|author= Reuben, Susan|date = 11 May 2017|access-date = 16 July 2023}} == References == {{Reflist}} == Sources == *[http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcast-awards-shortlist-2017/5111598.article?blocktitle=Top-Stories&contentID=2298/ ''The Secret'' nominated at Broadcast Awards 2017] *[https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/hat-tricks-the-secret-triumphs-at-rts-ni-awards/5111470.article/ ''The Secret'' Wins Best Drama N Ireland, Royal Television Society Awards] == External links == * [https://www.stuarturban.com/ Official website] *[http://www.tovarisch.net/ Official site for ''Tovarisch I Am Not Dead''] *[http://www.mayikillu.com/ Official site for ''May I Kill U?''] *{{IMDb name|0005614}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Stuart}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:British Reform Jews Category:English film directors Category:English male screenwriters Category:English television directors Category:People educated at King's College School, London Category:People from Newport, Isle of Wight --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stuart Urban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Urban) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Urban?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.