Richard Burton: Wild Genius
BBC 2 - 60’ (2025)The centrepiece of the BBC’s season celebrating the centenary of the Welsh actor’s birth, this documentary traces Burton’s epic journey from Valleys mining village to Hollywood, and from poverty and pain to riches, acclaim and - thanks to his romance with Elizabeth Taylor - unprecedented fame. Fellow actors Claire Bloom, Gabriel Byrne, Dame Sian Phillips and Michael Sheen shed light on this brilliant and complicated Welshman. Also appearing are his daughter Kate, widow Sally Burton and Matthew Rhys who reads from The Richard Burton Diaries.
A Bright Yellow Films & Yeti Media co-production for BBC Wales & BBC Arts
"This excellent documentary paints a portrait of a man caught between different worlds. The proud Welshman who trained to sound English. The self mythologising man of the people who lived a life of dazzling excess."
The Telegraph
"This fascinating documentary charts the journey of the Welsh miner's son who became one of the greatest actors of his generation."
- **** Heat
"The film doesn't shy away from his relationship with alcohol, his complicated feelings about acting and masculinity, and his plunge into celebrity's destructive glare alongside Elizabeth Taylor."
- Critics' Choice - The Times
Credits:
Director: Adrian Sibley
Executive Producer: Sian Price
Camera: Aled Jones with Joe Cooper & Sam Shinn
Editor: Jules Cornell
Chris Packham: Is it Time to Break the Law?
Channel 4 - 52’ (2023)This deeply personal film follows naturalist Chris Packham as he considers whether or not it is ethically acceptable to break the law, to protest against government policies on climate change. He meets activists who believe mass civil disobedience is necessary to force policy change, one of whom tries to persuade Chris to join them and be imprisoned to inspire others. And he meets radical environmentalist Andreas Malm, who believes that more extreme, violent action against property like blowing up oil pipelines is now necessary as well as the most famous young activist Greta Thunberg. Finally, Chris makes up his own mind about what he thinks is justified to combat the climate crisis.
A Proper Content production for Channel 4
"There is one obvious reason to hope he doesn’t get himself sent to jail: it would stop him making programmes as honest, as challenging and as urgently relevant as this... ...the bravest, most anguished TV of the year."
***** - The Guardian
"Opening with a shot of Chris Packham's face slicked with oil, this provocative but deeply thoughtful documentary follows the presenter as he wrestles with the limits of his climate activism."
- The Sunday Times (Documentary of the Week)
"...it should spark conversations and considerations among those who watch - and furore among those who inevitably refuse to do so."
- The Financial Times
Winner: Critical Award in Television, 2024
Nominated: Climate Impact Award, Edinburgh TV Festival, 2024
Nominated: Best Single Documentary, Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, 2024
Credits:
Director: Adrian Sibley
Executive Producer: David Dehaney
Camera: Joe Cooper, Hugh Campbell, Graham Smith, Lee Sutterby, Paul Wood-Walker & Matthew Gormley
Editor: Drew Hill
The Ghost Of Richard Harris
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY (2022)A candid and revealing insight into the private life and public career of Richard Harris. One of the most remarkable actors of his generation, this feature documentary explores Harris’s complex and, at times, contradictory character. Each of his three sons - Jared, Jamie and Damian - brings their own perspective to bear as they summon the ghost of their late father to the screen.
A Bright Yellow films, Samson films and Groove International production
"This beautifully crafted and remarkable film was a tribute to a one-off, presenting Harris in his glories and his faults."
***** The Times
"it was a pleasure to be reminded of Harris’s great performances...experiencing at first-hand that charisma, that lion-in-winter defiance"
**** The Guardian
Winner: Audience Award: Best Documentary Feature, Newport Beach Film Festival 2022
Winner: Best Documentary Feature, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2022
Nominated: George Morrison Feature Documentary Award, Irish Film & Television Academy Awards (IFTA).
Nominated: Best Arts Programme, The Royal Television Society Programme Awards (RTS)
Nominated: Best Factual Single Programme, RTS Ireland Television Awards
Longlist: ‘Best Documentary’ - 2023 BAFTA
Film Awards
World Premiere: Venice International Film Festival 2022
Credits:
Director: Adrian Sibley
Producers: David Collins, Adrian Sibley and George Waud
Executive Producers: David Blake-Knox, Mike Downey, Celine Haddad, Philip Edgar-Jones and Jack Oliver
Director of Photography: Eoin McLoughlin
Editor: Gretta Ohle
Chris Packham: Forever Punk
BBC4 - 60” (2020)The environmentalist reveals how, as a teenager with undiagnosed Asperger's, punk rock may have saved his life. By giving him a purpose, he was able to harness his creativity, which led to him becoming a TV presenter with a determination to champion wildlife.
Chris sets out to question both himself and other former punks who, like him, rocked against racism, fought for gay rights and caused their parents untold grief, to discover if the values they all believed in still hold true today.
"What makes the documentary fascinating is that Packham explains everything from his youthful anger to his affiliation with Extinction Rebellion — whom he sees as the true inheritors of the punk spirit — through his condition."
- The Times
"When Johnny Rotten snarled “No Future” at the close of “God Save the Queen” he can hardly have imagined its relevance for a burning planet more than four decades later… Packham firmly rebuts it: "There is a future and England needs to dream.”"
- The Financial Times (Pick Of The Week)
Credits:
Director & Producer: Adrian Sibley
Executive Producers: James Hunt & John Cassy
Directors of Photography: Doug Hartington & Sam Al-Kadhi
Editor: Steve Miller