Directing

Nigel Finch

Born — Died

1949-08-01 — 1995-02-14

Place of birth

Tenterden, England, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

20 titles

Nigel Lucius Graeme Finch was an English film director and filmmaker whose career influenced the growth of British gay cinema. 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 (1978), and The Private Life of the Ford Cortina (1982). He rose to prominence with the documentary Chelsea Hotel (1981), 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 (1988), filmmaker Kenneth Anger (1991), and artist L…

Known for

The Lost Language of Cranes poster
5.9

When a young gay man comes out of the closet, his friends support him, but when he comes out to his parents, he stirs up a wealth of hidden feelings and secrets in their relationship.

The Lost Language of Cranes

1992

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood poster
7.0

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood, also known as Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision, is a documentary film produced by BBC in 1978 on the subject of Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Nigel Finch. The road trip/film pairs Thompson with Finch's fellow Briton the illustrator Ralph Steadman. The party travel to Hollywood via Death Valley and Barstow from Las Vegas, scene of the pair's 1971 collaboration. It contains interviews with Thompson and Steadman, as well as some short excerpts from some of his work.

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood

1978

Stonewall poster
5.8

A group of gay friends try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.

Stonewall

1995

The Rolling Stones: 25x5 - The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones poster
7.5

The Rolling Stones emerged in the summer of 1963 as the so-called "bad boys" antidote to the Beatles, a characterization that became one of the foundations of modern rock 'n' roll. In the 25 years that followed, the Stones have succeeded in outraging, mystifying, confusing yet always inspiring their fans. 25 X 5: The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones is the first time that the Stones have gone on camera to tell their own story. Over two hours of devastatingly frank narratives by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Ron Wood are underscored by rare interview segments with Brian Jones and Mick Taylor, and rare and never-before-seen archival film, video, and newsreel footage.

The Rolling Stones: 25x5 - The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones

1993

My Way poster
NR

Arena documentary investigating the history and influence of iconic song 'My Way'

My Way

1979

Ligmalion: Or How to Help Yourself in Self-Help Britain poster
9.0

Drama documentary which takes the form of an up-dated version of Pygmalion. With a special music score by jazz group Working Week, with real "society" characters and locations from 1984.

Ligmalion: Or How to Help Yourself in Self-Help Britain

1985

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Lost Language of Cranes poster
5.9

When a young gay man comes out of the closet, his friends support him, but when he comes out to his parents, he stirs up a wealth of hidden feelings and secrets in their relationship.

The Lost Language of Cranes

1992

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood poster
7.0

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood, also known as Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision, is a documentary film produced by BBC in 1978 on the subject of Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Nigel Finch. The road trip/film pairs Thompson with Finch's fellow Briton the illustrator Ralph Steadman. The party travel to Hollywood via Death Valley and Barstow from Las Vegas, scene of the pair's 1971 collaboration. It contains interviews with Thompson and Steadman, as well as some short excerpts from some of his work.

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood

1978

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood poster
7.0

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood, also known as Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision, is a documentary film produced by BBC in 1978 on the subject of Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Nigel Finch. The road trip/film pairs Thompson with Finch's fellow Briton the illustrator Ralph Steadman. The party travel to Hollywood via Death Valley and Barstow from Las Vegas, scene of the pair's 1971 collaboration. It contains interviews with Thompson and Steadman, as well as some short excerpts from some of his work.

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood

1978

Stonewall poster
5.8

A group of gay friends try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.

Stonewall

1995

The Rolling Stones: 25x5 - The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones poster
7.5

The Rolling Stones emerged in the summer of 1963 as the so-called "bad boys" antidote to the Beatles, a characterization that became one of the foundations of modern rock 'n' roll. In the 25 years that followed, the Stones have succeeded in outraging, mystifying, confusing yet always inspiring their fans. 25 X 5: The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones is the first time that the Stones have gone on camera to tell their own story. Over two hours of devastatingly frank narratives by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Ron Wood are underscored by rare interview segments with Brian Jones and Mick Taylor, and rare and never-before-seen archival film, video, and newsreel footage.

The Rolling Stones: 25x5 - The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones

1993

My Way poster
NR

Arena documentary investigating the history and influence of iconic song 'My Way'

My Way

1979

Ligmalion: Or How to Help Yourself in Self-Help Britain poster
9.0

Drama documentary which takes the form of an up-dated version of Pygmalion. With a special music score by jazz group Working Week, with real "society" characters and locations from 1984.

Ligmalion: Or How to Help Yourself in Self-Help Britain

1985

The Private Life of the Ford Cortina poster
NR

A ski run in Italy, a supermarket manager in Luton, a sandwich bar in London EC2, Arena opens the bonnet of the Ford Cortina, Britain's most popular, most stolen, and most misunderstood car. 'Dagenham dustbin'? 'Poor man's Rolls-Royce'? In the year that may well see the end of a legend, some of the motoring public, including Sir John Betjeman, Tom Robinson, Alexei Sayle, Sir Terence Beckett and Magnus Magnusson take apart the Ford Cortina: Life and Works 1962-1982.

The Private Life of the Ford Cortina

1982

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Children of the Gods

1978

Arena: Dire Straits poster
8.0

Arena cameras were on hand to film the return of Dire Straits from their triumphant 1980 Brothers in Arms world tour. The film features a superb concert they played at The Rainbow, and band members talk about their music and the pressures and the consequences of success.

Arena: Dire Straits

1980

Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon poster
7.0

Reenactments of passages from the controversial Kenneth Anger collection of tawdry gossip about the golden age of Hollywood.

Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon

1991

Lene Lovich: Sleeping Beauty poster
NR

A journey to Berlin with rock musician Lene Lovich and Les Chappell.

Lene Lovich: Sleeping Beauty

1980

No artwork available
6.8

Ripley, the vampire, was frozen in the late eighteenth century, but has revived in modern times and becomes a successful businessman. At a ceremony to invoke Satan, Ripley learns that his revival has come with a price: in the next three days, he must kill three women in order to gain another year of life. Miranda's father, Davenant, arrives and tells her that she must marry the Earl of Marsden to secure a business deal.

The Vampyr: A Soap Opera

1992

No artwork available
7.7

This TV documentary shows some of the colourful residents of and people connected with the New York Chelsea Hotel. Some highlights include Andy Warhol and William Burroughs having dinner; Quentin Crisp pontificating in a blue rinse hairdo on his balcony and Nico forgetting what she is talking about halfway through a dour rendition of "Chelsea Girls". A number of lesser-known characters also appear, linked together by a tour guide walking around the building and some sub-Shining sequences of a child cycling round the landings on a rickety tricycle.

Chelsea Hotel

1981

Kurt Vonnegut: So It Goes poster
9.0

A documentary featured on BBC's Arena series in 1983. The author discusses his life, his work and his thoughts and opinions.

Kurt Vonnegut: So It Goes

1983

The Errand poster
7.0

A soldier at an elite military institution is sent on a strange and increasingly nightmarish errand in this full-on fever-dream thriller from long-time Pete Walker collaborator David McGillivray (House of Whipcord).

The Errand

1980

Blackpool Wakes poster
NR

From political conferences to the George Formby Society's annual bash, and Pleasure Beach to the weather, an Arena documentary on the seaside town of Blackpool and its history.

Blackpool Wakes

1989

Robert Mapplethorpe poster
5.7

The Robert Mapplethorpe documentary, from 1988--one year before he died--is an excellent examination of one of the most controversial of American photographers. British documentarian Nigel Finch does an outstanding job fusing interviews with Mr. Mapplethorpe himself, with critic and author Edmund White, and with several of Mapplethorpe's subjects as well, with numerous shots of the man's work. Mapplethorpe, gay, did not hesitate to photograph what he wanted to without fear of reprisal or censorship. Indeed, a good number of his pieces were not shown in the documentary at its original airing on PBS with the comment, "Considered Unsuitable for Viewing On This Transmission." His openly sexual work can at times be more than shocking, but it is always powerful and direct; as critic Lynn Davies says in the documentary, he did not pose people but photographed them doing what they would normally do in the course of their lives.

Robert Mapplethorpe

1988

The Ring - A South London Tale poster
NR

For centuries, bare-knuckle boxing has been going on behind closed doors. Nigel Finch's unusual film investigates this illegal activity by following one hopeful, Paul Lynch, as he prepares for a fight against the "Cyclone", the Northern Ireland bare-knuckle boxing champion

The Ring - A South London Tale

1994