Andrea Arnold facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Andrea Arnold OBE
Arnold at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Born	(1961-04-05) 5 April 1961 (age 64) Dartford, Kent, England
Education	AFI Conservatory
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1982–present
Children	1

Andrea Patricia Arnold OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actress. She is known for directing powerful and realistic films. She won an Oscar for her short film Wasp in 2005.

Her feature films include Red Road (2006), Fish Tank (2009), and American Honey (2016). All three of these films have won the Jury Prize at the famous Cannes Film Festival. Arnold has also directed episodes for popular TV shows like Big Little Lies and Transparent. Her documentary Cow was shown at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Early Life and Early Career

Andrea Arnold was born in Dartford, Kent, England. She was the oldest of four children. Her parents separated when she was very young, and her mother raised all four children alone. This experience later inspired her short film Wasp.

Even as a young girl, Andrea loved writing dark stories. When she was 10, she wrote a play about the slave trade. Later, she created a dance performance based on quotes from The Diary of Anne Frank. She left school at 16, wanting to become an actor.

When she was 18, Andrea started working as a host and actor on a children's TV show called No. 73. She worked in TV for about 10 years. During this time, she kept writing her own stories. She realized she wanted to turn these stories into films. To learn more, she moved to Los Angeles to study at the American Film Institute. She felt that her background might hold her back in Britain, so she sought education in the U.S. After her studies, she returned to Britain, had her daughter, Coral, and began making short films.

Directing Films

After her TV career, Andrea Arnold focused on directing. She studied at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. Her early short films included Milk (1998) and Dog (2001). In 2004, she won an Oscar for her short film Wasp.

Wasp

Wasp was a 26-minute short film released in 2003. Andrea Arnold wrote and directed it. The film is about a single mother with four young children who tries to start a relationship with an old friend. The story is set in Andrea's hometown of Dartford. The film won the Sundance Short Film Prize and an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Red Road

Red Road was Andrea Arnold's first feature film, released in 2006. It is part of a series where different directors use the same characters. The film is about a security camera operator in Glasgow who becomes obsessed with a man she sees on her monitors. The story is set around the tall Red Road flats in Glasgow.

Andrea often used first-time actors in her films. She believed this made the film's world feel more real. Red Road was made for about $1 million and filmed in six weeks. It won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. She also won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for the film in 2007.

Fish Tank

Her 2009 film Fish Tank also premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It won the Jury Prize, just like Red Road. The film is about a teenage girl living in a poor area of England.

Andrea filmed Fish Tank in the order the story happened. This helped the new actress, Katie Jarvis, understand her character's journey day by day. Andrea only gave her a small part of the script at a time. The film cost about $2 million to make. Fish Tank won many awards, including the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2010.

Wuthering Heights

Andrea Arnold's third film was an adaptation of Emily Brontë's famous 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights. This was the first film she directed that she didn't write herself, though she did help with the screenplay. The film was made in 18 months. It won Best Cinematography at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, praised for its beautiful visuals.

American Honey

Arnold's fourth film, American Honey, came out in 2016. It follows a group of young adults who travel across the United States selling magazine subscriptions. The film shows their journey as they talk, joke, and dance in their van.

American Honey premiered and competed at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It won Andrea her third Jury Prize. Many of the young actors in the film were not professional actors. Andrea found them in places like construction sites and beaches. The lead actress, Sasha Lane, was spotted by Andrea on a beach during spring break. Andrea filmed the movie in chronological order and didn't tell the actors what would happen next.

Cow

In 2021, Andrea Arnold released her documentary film called Cow. This film shows the life of a dairy farm cow.

Bird

In June 2023, Andrea Arnold started filming her new movie, Bird, in Kent. The film stars Barry Keoghan in a main role.

Styles and Themes

Andrea Arnold is known for letting her actors have a lot of freedom in creating their characters. She supports her actors to help them show their true selves. For example, Sasha Lane from American Honey said Andrea told her to "be who I was."

Her films often explore themes of hardship and poverty. For instance, both Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights feature teenagers living in difficult conditions in England.

Personal Life

Andrea Arnold lives in Greenwich, London, with her daughter. In 2012, she took a road trip across the United States. This trip partly inspired her film American Honey.

Filmography

Short film

Feature film

Documentary

• Cow (2021)

Television

Selected Awards and Honors

• 2005 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film – Wasp
• 2006 Jury Prize at Cannes – Red Road
• 2007 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – Red Road
• 2009 British Independent Film Award for Best Director of a British Independent Film – Fish Tank
• 2009 Jury Prize at Cannes – Fish Tank
• 2010 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film – Fish Tank
• 2011 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
• 2012 FIPRESCI Prize at International Istanbul Film Festival – Wuthering Heights
• 2016 Jury Prize at Cannes – American Honey

See Also

In Spanish: Andrea Arnold para niños

• List of British film directors
• List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
• List of film and television directors
• List of female film and television directors
• Women's cinema