Nigel Finch


Nigel Lucius Graeme Finch was an English film director and filmmaker whose career influenced the growth of British gay cinema.

Biography

Nigel Finch was born in Tenterden, Kent, the son of Graham and Tibby Finch, and raised in Bromley, south east London. He studied art history at the University of Sussex.
Finch began working as co-editor for the BBC television documentary series Arena in the early 1970s. He produced and directed many notable programs including My Way, and The Private Life of the Ford Cortina. He rose to prominence with the documentary Chelsea Hotel, which profiled the famed New York hotel and its legacy of famous gay guests, including Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, William S. Burroughs, Quentin Crisp and Andy Warhol. His documentary subjects include artist Robert Mapplethorpe, filmmaker Kenneth Anger, and artist Louise Bourgeois. Finch went on to direct films such as the BAFTA-nominated drama The Lost Language of Cranes, and the musical soap opera The Vampyr.
Finch's longterm partner was the writer Rupert Haselden. Haselden died of AIDS-related complications on 8 May 1994, aged 36.
Finch died from AIDS-related illness in London in 1995 during post-production of his first full-length feature film Stonewall, a docudrama loosely based on events leading up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.

Filmography

Film
  • The Errand
  • The Caravaggio Conspiracy
  • Stonewall
TV movies
  • Ligmalion: A Musical for the 80s
  • Raspberry Ripple
  • The Lost Language of Cranes
TV series
YearTitleNotes
1986Screen TwoEpisode "Shergar"
1988BergeracEpisode "Whatever Lola Wants"
1992–1993The Vampyr: A Soap OperaMiniseries

Documentary works

TV movies
TV series
YearTitleEpisode
1978Omnibus"Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision"
1978ArenaMy Way
1981ArenaDid You Miss Me?
1981ArenaChelsea Hotel
1982ArenaThe Private Life of the Ford Cortina
1983ArenaKurt Vonnegut, Jr: "Deadeye Dick"
1988ArenaRobert Mapplethorpe
1991ArenaKenneth Anger
1993ArenaTales of Rock 'N' Roll: Peggy Sue
1993ArenaPirates
1994ArenaLouise Bourgeois: No Trespassing

Executive producer
  • ''Paris Is Burning''

    Accolades

Nigel Finch's death was commemorated in the ending title of the opera-film "Dido and Aeneas" directed by Peter Maniura.