Want to learn more about the creative process of an internationally renowned woman director with decades of experience? You’re in luck. Gurinder Chadha has donated her entire working archive to the British Film Institute’s National Archive, The Hollywood Reporter writes.
The writer and director is best known for the 2002 box office smash success “Bend It Like Beckham,” a female-led sports movie that marked Keira Knightley’s breakout. The film centers on a gifted athlete (Parminder Nagra, “The Blacklist”) born to London-based Punjabi Sikhs who disapprove of her passion for soccer. “Bend It Like Beckham” grossed more than $76 million worldwide.
Chadha’s most recent film, “Viceroy’s House,” recently had its world premiere at the Berlinale. The historical drama stars Hugh Bonneville (“Downton Abbey”) and Gillian Anderson (“The Fall”) and is set during the 1947 Partition — when India’s independence led to the bloody division of its territory.
Among Chadha’s other credits are “Bhaji on the Beach,” “Bride and Prejudice,” and “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife”
With a career that spans nearly 30 years, it’s unsurprising that Chadha’s archive is sizable. According to THR, it “contains 37 boxes of paper and digital material, including script drafts and shooting scripts, story development notes, budgets, correspondence, on-set photographs, and other production paperwork as well as extensive material relating to publicity, marketing, and press.”
“When people see women directors, stories from a woman’s perspective or from people of color, people have to shift into their head space and a lot of people aren’t used to doing that because the whole world is geared towards the way blokes think,” Chadha has observed. Hopefully these donated materials will help serve as a useful and inspiring example for other underrepresented voices who are trying to launch careers in the industry.
“I am overjoyed that the BFI will be the home to my working archive,” said Chadha. “For 28 years, I have kept a record of all my research, notes, scripts, photos, etc. for all of my films. I realized that this archive comprises an important history of British Asian cinema, and I am very pleased that the BFI will now preserve and share it with future generations of filmmakers and film enthusiasts.”
“Viceroy’s House” is now playing in theaters in the UK. No word on a U.S. release date yet. Up next for Chadha is “Song for a Spy,” a WWII-set film that centers on a female Indian spy.
