Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway was born in Wales and educated in London. He is trained as a painter for four years, and started making his own films in 1966. He has continued to make cinema in a great variety of ways, which has also formed his making of installations for the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, the Joan Miro Gallery in Barcelona, the Boymans -van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Hoffburg in Vienna, the Brera in Milan and the Armory in New York. He has collaborated with the composers John Cage, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Louis Andriessen, Goran Brekovic, Giovanni Sollima and David Lang, and toured the world with his Tulse Luper Suitcases VJ Show. He has regularly been nominated for the Film Festival Competitions of Cannes, Venice and Berlin. He had published fictions, film-scrips and catalogues, written for the theatre and opera, held numerous painting shows and participated in many installations.

His first feature film, The Draughtsman’s Contract, completed in 1982, received much critical acclaim and established him internationally as one of the most original and important film makers of our times, a reputation consolidated by the films, The cook, the Thief, his Wife & her Lover and The Pillow-book and more recently by and Goltzius & The Pelican Company and Eisenstein in Guanajuato. His current projects include multimedia installations involving the original paintings of Rembrandt's Night Watch in Amsterdam, da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan, and the Veronese Marriage at Cana in Venice. Peter is also known as a VJ, he creates live cinema by combining different film scenes with the music of a live DJ.

The 2013 feature film Goltzius & the Pelican Company had its international première at the Rome Film Festival November 2012 and the French distribution première in the Louvre, Paris.  The short 3D film Just in time commissioned for the Guimaraes European Cultural Capital Fund was premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The most recent feature-film project Eisenstein in Guanajuato had its première in competition in the 2015 Berlinale.
Films currently in production are Walking to Paris, Lucca Mortis, Marriage of Christ and the second film in the Eisenstein trilogy Eisenstein Abroad.

Greenaway has honorary degrees amongst others from the Universities of Staffordshire, Edinburgh, Gdansk, Bucharest, Southampton and Utrecht, and was awarded a CBE in 1990 and a BAFTA in 2014 for services to cine

• 1999 8½ Women, 120 mins. A Co-Production between Woodline Productions Ltd., Movie Masters, Delux Productions s.a. & Continent Film Gmbh, with the support of Eurimages, Dutch Film 120 mins. Starring John Standing and Matthew Delamere. In competition Cannes Film Festival

• 1996 The Pillow Book, 120 mins. A co-production between Kasander & Wigman Productions, Woodline Films & Alpha Films in association with Channel FourFilms, Studio Canal Plus and Delux Productions. Starring VivianWu, Ken Ogata, Yoshi Oida, Hideko Yoshida, Ewan McGregor and Judy Ongg. Prizes: Le Distinction Glace Gervais (Cannes), Best Film & Best Cinematographer Sitges, Spain

• 1994 Stairs 1 Geneva, 100 min. Apsara Production. Music Patrick Mimran. Film of PG¹s installation exhibition The Stairs, Geneva

• 1993 The Baby of Mâcon, 120 mins. An Allarts Production in Co-Production with UGC-La Sept and in association with Cine Electra II, Channel Four, Filmstiftung Nordrhein Westfalen, Canal +. Starring: Julia Ormond, Ralph Fiennes, Philip Stone, Jonathan Lacey, Don Henderson, Jeff Nuttall, Kathryn Hunter, Gabriel Reidy, Jessica Stevenson

• 1991 Prospero's Books - 123 mins. Allarts, Cinea, Camera One, Penta Film Co-production in association with Elsevier Vendex Film, Film Four International, VPRO, Canal Plus & NHK. Film Festivals: Venice, New York, Sao Paalo. Starring John Gielgud, Isabelle Pasco, Michael Clark, Michel Blanc, Jim van der Woude, Gerard Thoolen, Pierre Bokma, Michael Romeyn

• 1989 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - 120 min. An Allarts Cook Ltd, Erato Films Inc Co-Production. Film Festivals: Cannes, Edinburgh, Rio. Starring: Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard.

• 1988 Drowning by Numbers, 108 mins. A Film Four International and Elsevier Vendex Film Presentation of an Allarts Production, 108 min. Film Festivals: Cannes, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Rio, New Delhi, Toronto. Starring: Bernard Hill, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson. Prizes: Best Artistic Contribution (Cannes for Peter Greenaway)

• 1987 The Belly of an Architect, 105 mins. a Callender Company, Film Four International, British Screen, Sacis, Hemdale Co-production. A Callender Company, Film Four International, British Screen, Sacis, Hemdale Co-production. Film Festivals: Cannes, Edinburgh, New York, Montreal, Chicago. Prize: Chicago Best Actor - Brian Dennehy

• 1985 A Zed & Two Noughts, 112 mins, BFI, Film Four International, Allarts Enterprises, Artificial Eye Production. Film Festivals: London, Rotterdam, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Starring Andrea Ferreol, Frances Barber, Joss Ackland

• 1982 The Draughtsman's Contract, 108 mins. BFI in association with Channel Four Television. Film Festivals: Edinburgh, Venice, London, New York, Berlin, Rotterdam, Sydney, Mebourne. Stararing Anthony Higgings, Janet Suzman & Anne Louise Lambert. French Title: Meurtre dans un jardin Anglais

• The Falls, 1980, 185 mins. BFI, Film Festivals: London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Chicago, Melbourne, Sydney. Prizes: BFI Award, L'Age d'Or Brussels

Installations & Exhibitions 

• 2017 Mortality Vitali, Casa del Manzoni, Milan, Design and Art Direction By Peter Greenaway

• 2017 H is for Horse, H is for Hope, Festival Dei Due Mondi, Spoleto, Script and Statues By Peter Greenaway

• 2016 Chtchoukine, Matisse, la Danse et la Musique, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Script By Peter Greenaway

• 2015 Gehorsam / Obedience, the Jewish Museum Berlin By Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway

• 2015 In the beginning was the image, Venice Biennale 2015 Italian Pavilion

• 2014 The Black Square, The Golden Age of Russian Avant-Garde, Moscow By Saskia Boddeke and text by Peter Greenaway

• 2013 Sex & The Sea, Maritiem Museum, Rotterdam By Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway

• 2013 The Towers/Lucca Hubris, Lucca by Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway

• 2013 The Dance of Death an installation by Peter Greenaway at Basle by Peter Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke

• 2011 A Day in a Life of the Castle, Castle Amerongen By Saskia Boddeke, libretto by Peter Greenaway

• 2010 The Last Supper - at the Armory, Park Avenue, New York. A multi-screen extravagance featuring the da Vinci Last Supper from Milan and the Veronese Wedding at Cana from Venice

• 2010 Italy of the Cities – multiscreen installation at the Shanghai Expo Italian pavilion

• 2010 The Big Bang, at the Copernicus Museum of Science in Warsaw By Saskia Boddeke, Text: Peter Greenaway

• 2009 Medellin Colombia Installation with video and photographs by Luciano Romano

• 2009 Installation on the Veronese Wedding at Cana at the Convent of San Giorgio in Venice

• 2008 Installation on the da Vinci painting of THE LAST SUPPER in Milan at the Santa Maria delle Gracia Refectory and the Palazzo Duomo

• 2008 The Blue Planet, closure performance of the expo in Spain at Zaragoza By Saskia Boddeke, Text: Peter Greenaway

• 2006 Fort Asperen Ark. Asperen. June-October. Exhibition/Installation onNoah and Flood Warning in Holland

• 2006 Nightwatching. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. June-August. Installationon the Rembrandt painting of The Nightwatch

• 2006 The Children of Uranium, Naples Palazzo delle Arti Napoli

• 2005 The Children of Uranium, The Museum of Modern Art/ Villa Groce, Genova. Direction: Saskia Boddeke, Text: Peter Greenaway

• 2004 Wash & Travel, at the Eglise Sainte-Marie Madeleine Lille, Lille Cultural Capital Festival 2004. Installation/Performance at Lille Cultural Capital Festival. Direction: Saskia Boddeke, Text: Peter Greenaway

• 2004 Luper at Compton Verney. Warwickshire. An exhibition of Luper¹s 92 Suitcases. Summer and Autumn

• 2001 Via Dokwerd. Exhibition-installation on North Netherlands Landscape, May-September, Groningen

• 2001 Hell and Heaven. Exhibition-installation of Mediaeval Northern Netherlands, April-Sept. Groninger Museum, Groningen.

• 2001 A Map to Paradise: The Second Map. Parma Stables, ITALY, Oct-Nov

• 2000 Flyga över vatten/Flying over water, Malmö Konsthall

• A Map to Paradise. The First Map - Ljubliana Castle, SLOVENIA, Sep-Nov

• 2000 Wash & Travel. Rotonda Della Besana, Milan, ITALY, April 2000 Bologna Towers 2000, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, June-July

• 1997 Flying Over Water. Miro Foundation, Barcelona, March-May

• 1996 Cosmology at the Piazza del Popolo. A history of the Piazza from Nero to Fellini using light and sound. Rome, 23-30th June1996 In the Dark - Spellbound: Art & Film.

• Hayward Gallery, LONDON, February 1996 with contributors from Damien Hirst, Ridley Scott, Paula Rego, Terry Gilliam, Eduardo Paolozzi, Douglas Gordon, Boyd Webb and Steve McQueen

• 1995 The Stairs, Munich, Projection. Munich October

• 1994 The Stairs, Geneva, The location. Geneva April

• 1993 The Audience of Macon, Foto Gallery, Cardiff, October

• 1993 Some Organising Principles.Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, October

• 1993 Watching Water, Palazzo Fortuni, Venice, June

• 1992 Les Bruits des Nuages, Flying Out of this World, Louvre, Paris

• 1990 The Physical Self, Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Opera and music theatre performances

• 2016 Giovanna d’Arco, Giuseppe Verdi, Drawings for Projections By Peter Greenaway

• 2005 Democracy. Performance/ Installation Athens

• 2001 Gold, 92 Bars in a Crashed Car, Music-theatre on the subject of holocaust gold. Text:Peter Greenaway. Direction: Saskia Boddeke. Premiered Frankfurt Schauspielhaus, November 2nd 2001

• 1999 Writing To Vermeer. An opera in 6 scenes, 105 mins. Libretto: Peter Greenaway. Direction: Saskia Boddeke, Music: Louis Andriessen. Premiered: Muziektheater, Amsterdam. 11 performances (toured to Adelaide Festival, Australia - March 2000 and to Lincoln Centre, New York - July 2000)

• 1998 Christopher Colombus, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin Direction Saskia Boddeke, dramturg Peter Greenaway.

  Music: Darius Milhaud, Libretto: Paul Claudel. Premiered: Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin. 5 performances

• 1997 100 Objects to represent the World - A Prop Opera: 70 mins. Libretto: Peter Greenaway. Direction: Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway. Music: Jean-Baptiste Barriere. Premiered: Zeitfluss Festival, Salzburg. Performances in: Naples; Palermo; Paris; Munich; Stockholm; Rio de Janeiro; Sao Paulo; Thessaloniki; Copenhagen; La Coruna; Guanajuato; and Mexico City

• 1994 Rosa, a Horse Drama, 80 mins. Opera in 12 scenes. Libretto: Peter Greenaway. Direction: Saskia Boddeke, Music: LouisAndriessen. Premiered: Muziektheater, Amsterdam

Peter GREENaWAY Shorts

• 2013 Just in Time - 15 mins. 3D film for Guimaraes European Cultural Capital. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival

• 2011 Castle Amerongen – 37 mins.

• 2004 European Showerbath - segment of Visions of Europe – 5 mins, 30 seconds. Produced by Kees Kasander, Short Film for Danish TV on the European Community.

• 2001 The Reitdiep Journeys, 56 mins. Made in association with the exhibition of The Grand Terp in Groningen - for AVRO TV Holland.

• 2001 The Man in the Bath – 7 mins.

• 1997 The Bridge Celebration – 11 mins. A Kasander & Wigman Production (Rotterdam Film Festival). Rotterdam celebrates a new bridge connecting the old city and the new.

• 1995 Segment of Lumière and Company – 55 sec

• 1992 Rosa, La monnaie de munt – 15 mins. La Monnaie de Munt, Rosas Production. Choreography by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in collaboration with Jean-Luc Ducourt. Starring: Fumiyo Ikeda and Nordine Benchorf. Music Bela Bartok. Prize: Dance Screen

• 1989 Hubert Bals Handshake - 5 mins. An Allarts Production for the Rotterdam Film Festival

• 1986 Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms- 26 min Channel Four

• 1984 Making a Splash – 24 mins. Channel Four, Media Software

• 1978 Vertical Features Remake – 45 mins. Arts Council of Great Britain, Film Festivals: Edinburgh,New Directors New York, Chicago

• 1978 Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist – 41 mins. Film Festivals: London, Edinburgh, New Directors New York, Melbourne, Hong Kong Price: Chicago, Hugo Award

• 1978 1–100 - 4 mins.

• 1977 Dear Phone – 17 mins.

• 1976 Goole by Numbers – 40 mins.

• 1975 Windows – 4 mins.

• 1975 Water Wrackets – 12 mins.

• 1975 Water – 5 mins

• 1973 H Is for House – 10 mins.

• 1971 Erosion – 27 mins.

• 1969 Intervals – 7 mins.

• 1967 5 Postcards from Capital Cities – 35 mins.

• 1967 Revolution – 8 mins

• 1966 Tree – 16 mins.

• 1966 Train – 5 mins.

• 1961 Death of Sentiment - 8 mins.

Peter greenaway Documentaries

• 2017 Luther the Legacy

• 2011 Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth - 12 mins. Film Award from Rio de Janeiro “Uranium” Film Festival.

• 2009 The Marriage, 27 mins. A documentary onthe Veronese Painting of The Marriage of Cana – premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

• 2008 Rembrandt's J'Accuse - 86 mins.

• 2001 The Reitdiep Journeys - 56 mins. Made in association with the exhition of The Grand Terp in Groningen.

• 1988 Fear of Drowning - 26 mins. Channel Four

• 1983 The Coastline - 26 mins.

• 1983 Four American Composers - 55 mins. Channel Four Television. Documentaries on John Cage, Robert Ashley, Philip Glass & Mededith Monk

• 1981 Terence Conran - 15 mins.

• 1980 Lacock Village - 5 mins.

• 1980 Country Diary - 5 mins.

• 1979 Zandra Rhodes - 15 mins. G.B. Documentary, COI FIlm Festivals: Chicago Prize: Chicago Hugo Award, Section 1981

• 1979 Women Artists - 5 mins.

• 1979 Leeds Castle - 5 mins.

• 1978 Eddie Kid - 5 mins.

• 1978 Cut Above the Rest - 5 mins.

Peter greenaway Television

• 1999 The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama - 90 mins. Film of the opera, made in Amsterdam in 1994/1998. Co-production NPS Dutch Television and The Netherlands Opera.

• 1993 Darwin, French TV - 52 mins. A Telemax Les Editions Audiovisuelles, Allarts Co-Production in association with Antennae 2, Channel 4, RAI 2, Telepool, Time Warner.

• 1992 A Walk Through Prospero's Library - 23 mins.

• 1991 M Is for Man, Music, Mozart - 29 mins. A BBC, AVRO television, Artifax Co-production. 29 min. Music by Louis Andriessen. Starring Ben Craft.

• 1989 A TV Dante, mini-series - KGP Productions in association with Channel Four Elsevier Vendex, VPRO. Made in collaboration with the painter Tom Phillips. Starring: John Gielgud, Bob Peck & Joanne Whalley-Kilmer - 8 episodes each 10 mins.

• 1988 Death in the Seine, French TV - 44 mins. Erato Films, Allarts TV Productions, Mikros Image, La Sept. Starring: Jim van der Woude & Jean-Michel Dagory.

• 1981 Act of God - Thames TV, 25 mins. Film Festivals: Edinburgh, Melbourne, Sydney, Chicago, New York. Prizes: Melbourne Short Films: Sydney Short Film.