Kevin Brownlow (born on 2 June 1938,
Crowborough,
Sussex) is a filmmaker,
film historian,
television documentary-maker,
author, and
Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in
silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. He has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of cinema. Brownlow received an
Academy Honorary Award at the 2nd Annual
Governors Awards given by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 13, 2010.
It Happened Here and Winstanley
His interest in
World War II prompted the creation of an alternative-history film,
It Happened Here in which the
Nazis have conquered
Britain. Brownlow began work on the film at the age of 18 and began to collaborate with a friend
Andrew Mollo, who was 16. After 8 years of struggle, during which the film's content changed dramatically, it was completed in 1964 with the last-minute aid of
Tony Richardson but not released until 1966.
In 1968 Brownlow published a book,
How It Happened Here, which described the making of the film, and the reception it received. Not only does it explain how two teenage boys made a feature film, it also explores the provocative
social issues raised by the movie. Brownlow had allowed genuine......
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