Marc Isaacs Explained

Marc Isaacs is a British documentary filmmaker, living in London. His short film Lift (2001), which showed people using a lift in a tower block,[1] was nominated for a BAFTA.[2]

"Many of his 14 films to date have explored the divisions within the so-called 'United' Kingdom. He has probed multicultural life in London, traditionalist seaside backwaters, asylum-seekers and ex-pats in Calais, while venturing to Barking to gather white residents' attitudes towards their immigrant neighbours."[3] Mike McCahill, in The Guardian, described Isaacs as a "people person, locating strangeness, melancholy and joy in the urban landscape, and those who inhabit it."[4]

Early life and education

Isaacs was born in the East End of London[5] [6] and grew up there in Redbridge. He studied at the University of East London.[7]

Filmmaking

Some of his early work included assisting on Paweł Pawlikowski's films Twockers (1998) and Last Resort (2000).[5]

For his film Lift (2001), Isaacs spent "weeks filming people getting in and out of a lift" in a tower block.[1] [4]

Calais: The Last Border (2003) "weaves portraits of various individuals [. . .] into a moving and melancholy overview of a port defined more than ever by the island it gazes at across the Channel."[8]

All White in Barking (2007) is an exploration of disparate attitudes on race in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.[7] it was included in the BBC documentary series White.[9]

For Outside the Court (2011), "Isaacs spent three months buttonholing smokers outside Highbury magistrates court, often interrupting them over their last fag before they went to meet their juridical fates."[10]

The Road: A Story of Life & Death (2012) is a "documentary about immigrants living at the London end of the A5".[11]

Outsiders (2014) is "set in a single location—the inside of a burger truck—this story unfolds as passersby answer Marc's questions while they slurp tea and eat bacon sandwiches. The result is an illuminating blend of anxiety and insecurity as attitudes towards outsiders begin to shine a light on why England is going through such politically turbulent times."[12]

The Men Who Sleep in Trucks (2016) depicts isolation and loneliness in Britain's truck drivers "sleeping in their own trucks in lay-by car parks and service stations".[13]

The Filmmaker's House (2020) is a docufiction[14] that "tackles Brexit and the future of a multicultural Britain head-on. [. . .] set over a day in Isaacs's comfortable family terraced home in Walthamstow, northeast London. It gathers strangers from various backgrounds who all live in its orbit".[3]

This Blessed Plot (2023), also a docufiction, blurs "factual observation and playful fabrication, history and folklore, past and present".[15] It premiered at the 2023 Doclisboa documentary film festival.[16]

Reception

Mike McCahill, film critic in The Guardian, described Isaacs as a "people person, locating strangeness, melancholy and joy in the urban landscape, and those who inhabit it."[4]

In an article for the British Film Institute, Isabel Stevens wrote that

"many of his 14 films to date have explored the divisions within the so-called 'United' Kingdom. He has probed multicultural life in London, traditionalist seaside backwaters, asylum-seekers and ex-pats in Calais, while venturing to Barking to gather white residents' attitudes towards their immigrant neighbours."[3]

Corin Douieb, writing in Aesthetica in 2012 about the films All White in Barking, Men of the City and The Road, described Isaacs as having "continued to cast his eye over the maligned and tell their bleak stories".[17]

Filmography

Awards

Publications with contributions by Isaacs

DVD and Blu-ray releases

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: David. Chater. 2021-07-07. Monday's TV: Outside The Court. The Times.
  2. Web site: 2021-07-06. BAFTA Awards. awards.bafta.org.
  3. Web site: 2021-07-06. In the filmmaker's house with Marc Isaacs. BFI.
  4. Web site: Mike. McCahill. 2021-07-06. The Road: A Story of Life and Death – review. 21 February 2013. The Guardian.
  5. Web site: 2021-07-06. Documentary-maker Marc Isaacs: 'I like to provoke, but not to be seen'. 10 June 2021. The Guardian.
  6. Web site: 2021-07-06. Lift by Marc Isaacs @ Brooklyn Film Festival. Brooklyn Film Festival.
  7. Web site: 2021-07-06. All White in Barking. www.vice.com.
  8. Web site: 2021-07-07. Calais. Time Out.
  9. Web site: John. Lloyd. 1 March 2008. 2023-06-12. White men unburdened. Financial Times.
  10. Web site: 2021-07-07. TV review: Horizon: The Secret World of Pain, Outside the Court, Episodes. 1 February 2011. The Guardian.
  11. Web site: Philip. French. 2021-07-06. The Road: A Story of Life and Death – review. 24 February 2013. The Guardian.
  12. Web site: 2021-07-06. Munchies Presents: Outsiders - A Film by Marc Isaacs. www.vice.com.
  13. Web site: 2021-07-06. BBC Three - The Men Who Sleep in Trucks. BBC.
  14. Web site: The Filmmaker’s House review – Pat liberalism at its most cringe-making . 2023-11-19 . . en.
  15. Web site: This Blessed Plot . 2023-11-19 . Doclisboa - 21st International Film Festival . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2023-11-09 . This Blessed Plot - The Film Verdict . 2023-11-19 . en-US.
  17. Web site: Corin. Douieb. The Last Skeptik. 2021-07-07. Aesthetica Magazine - In Search of Belonging. Aesthetica Magazine.
  18. News: Sarah. Vine. 2021-07-07. Last Night's TV: Outside the Court. The Times.
  19. Web site: 2021-07-06. Film review: The Road: A Story of Life and Death (PG). 21 February 2013. The Independent.
  20. Web site: Fionnuala. Halligan. 2021-07-07. The Road: A Story Of Life And Death. Screen.
  21. Web site: Charles. Gant. 2021-07-07. The Road: A Story of Life and Death. 24 October 2012. Variety.
  22. Web site: 2021-07-09. Meeting the men who sleep in their trucks. 25 November 2016. ABC Radio National.
  23. Web site: Steve. Rose. 2021-07-06. The Filmmaker's House review – a microcosm of British society pops round for tea. 23 June 2021. The Guardian.
  24. Web site: 2021-07-06. 'The Filmmaker's House': Sheffield Doc/Fest Review. Screen.
  25. A transcript of the interview is here within Isaacs' site.

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