Nick Broomfield

Nicholas Broomfield (born January 30, 1948, in London, England) is a British documentary filmmaker. His father, Maurice, is a photographer. He films with the absolute minimum of crew: just himself and one or two cameramen. This gives his documentaries a distinctive style, Broomfield himself often in shot holding the sound boom.

Style of work

Early on, Broomfield's documentary style was very conventional Cinéma vérité, the juxtaposition of observed scenes. The filmmaker would not provide much explanation by way of voice-over or text, rather letting the film talk for itself.

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It was not until Driving Me Crazy (1988) that Broomfield, already very much a known character in filmmaking, would appear on-screen for the first time. After several arguments regarding the budget and nature of the film, the filmmaker decided that he would only make the documentary if he was able to conduct a sort of experiment by filming the process of making the film - that is, the arguments, the failed interviews and the dead-ends.

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It is for this reflexive filmmaking style - that is to say, a film being about the making of itself as much as about its subject - that Broomfield is most known. His influence on documentary is clear - Michael Moore, Louis Theroux and Morgan Spurlock have all adopted a similar style for their recent box-office hits. Filmmakers who use this style have been referred to as Les Nouvelles Egotistes.

Related Topics:
Michael Moore - Louis Theroux - Morgan Spurlock - Les Nouvelles Egotistes

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He wrote the documentary Kurt and Courtney with Joan Churchill.

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