MICHAEL APTED

February 10, 1941–January 07, 2021

 

The New Press was saddened to learn of the passing of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Apted. A former president of the Directors' Guild of America, Apted directed Hollywood films like A Coal Miners Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist, and Nell among others, though he may be best remembered for his lifelong documentary project Up.

 

The Up series began in 1964 and follows the lives of fourteen British childern. The children were seven years old when the television documentary Seven Up! was filmed. For more than sixty years, in nine episodes (one roughly every seven years), Apted would turn the camera on his subjects and chronicle the changes in their lives—successes and failures, fears and dreams—against the backdrop of a changing world. In 1999, to coincide with the U.S. release of the sixth installment in the docuseries, 42 Up, The New Press published 42 Up: “Give Me the Child Until He Is Seven and I Will Show You the Man” edited by Bennett Singer, an illustrated companion to the film and series that included an introduction by Michael Apted. The most recent film installment, 63 Up, released in June 2019.

 

The simple elegance that Apted's keen eye brought to his subjects, his characters, and films will speak to audiences for generations.

 

Read the obituary in the New York Times.