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
Don McCullin: Looking For England
BBC4 - 60’ (2019)Don McCullin: Looking For England follows the inimitable photographer, now 83, documenting his country from inner cities to seaside towns, on a journey in search of his own nation. Sixty years after starting out as a photographer Don returns to his old haunts in London's East End, Bradford, Consett, Eastbourne and Scarborough. Along the way he encounters an array of English characters at The Glyndebourne Festival and Goodwood Revival and photographs a hunt with sabateurs aiming to disrupt them. Don's journey is punctuated by scenes in his darkroom, where he allowed filming for the first time.
A Bright Yellow Films / Oxford Films production for the BBC
"Now, in a real treasure of a film, the 83-year-old visits old haunts and tries to 'discover what makes him tick and this country tick’... This journey is often concerned with the darker corners of our green and eccentric land... Yet this is never po-faced or worthy - it's often enchanting."
- The Times
"A delightful waltz of a watch, it deserved a series."
- The Observer
"Following his riveting journey to Palmyra... a powerful portrait both of a nation divided and of a great artist reckoning with his past."
- The Telegraph
Credits:
Director & Producer: Adrian Sibley
Executive Producers: Nicolas Kent & Sam Hobkinson
Director of Photography: Eoin McLoughlin
Additional photography: Rob Goldie, Steve Foote
Editor: Hugo Fowler
Read the feature, “What Lies Behind The Real Don McCullin” at The Standard.