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Edgar Anstey OBE (16 February 1907 – 26 September 1987), was a leading British documentary filmmaker.

Anstey was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England in 1907, and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College.

He spent a few years as a civil servant before starting in 1930 at The Empire Marketing Board's film unit, under the direction of John Grierson.

He was the uncredited co-director of the "seminal 1935 'social problem' film" Housing Problems. In 1949, he joined the British Transport Films unit, which he headed until 1974. He also served on the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute.

As a producer he was twice-nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1964 for Thirty Million Letters and Best Short Subject, Live Action for Snow in 1966

Anstey died in London, England in 1987.

See also

• Alberto Cavalcanti
• Arthur Elton
• British Transport Films
• John Grierson
• Humphrey Jennings
• Wolfgang Suschitzky

References

1. "Anstey, Edgar (Harold Macfarlane)". Who Was Who in America, 1993-1996, vol. 11. New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p. 7. ISBN 0837902258.
2. ^ "Anstey, Edgar (1907-1987) Biography". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
3. Barsam, Richard Meran (1992). Nonfiction Film: A Critical History. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. pp. 96, 107. ISBN 9780253207067.
4. Macnab, Geoffrey (27 January 2001). "That was the age of the train". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
5. "Written Answers to Questions - Government Directors on Company Boards". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 281. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. 13 March 1967. col. 161–162.
6. "The 36th Academy Awards | 1964". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
7. "The 38th Academy Awards | 1966". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2024.

Further reading

• Nicholas Pronay, ‘Anstey, Edgar Harold Macfarlane (1907–1987)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 4 Oct 2007

External links

• British Universities Film & Video Council Website featuring a Podcast Interview with Edgar Anstey.

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• 1907 births
• 1987 deaths
• Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London
• English documentary filmmakers
• People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys
• People from Watford
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• British film biography stubs
• Governors of the British Film Institute