Steve McQueen (director) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Steve McQueen CBE
McQueen at DIFF 2024
Born	(1969-10-09) 9 October 1969 (age 55) London, England, UK
Alma mater	Goldsmiths, University of London (BFA)
Occupation	Film director film producer screenwriter video artist
Years active	1993–present
Style	Neo-noir experimental social realism
Spouse(s)	Bianca Stigter
Children	2
Awards	Full list

Sir Steve Rodney McQueen (born 9 October 1969) is a British film director, producer, screenwriter, and video artist. He is known for making movies about serious topics. He has won many awards, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2016, he received the BFI Fellowship. Queen Elizabeth II made him a knight in 2020 for his work in art and film. In 2014, Time magazine named him one of the "most influential people in the world."

McQueen first studied painting in London. Later, he learned about film at Goldsmiths College and briefly at New York University. He was inspired by famous directors like Jean Vigo and artists like Andy Warhol. McQueen started by making short films. In 1999, he won the Turner Prize for his art, which was praised for its "emotional intensity."

His first full-length movie was Hunger (2008). It was a historical drama about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. After that, he directed Shame (2011). He won an Academy Award for Best Picture for directing 12 Years a Slave (2013). This film was a historical drama about slavery. He also directed the crime thriller Widows (2018) and the World War II drama Blitz (2024).

For television, he created Small Axe (2020). This was a collection of five films about the West Indian community in London from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. He also directed the BBC documentary series Uprising (2021) and the documentary film Occupied City (2023).

Early Life and Education

Steve McQueen was born in London. His mother was from Grenada, and his father was from Trinidad. Both of his parents moved to England. He grew up in Ealing, West London, and went to Drayton Manor High School. In an interview in 2014, McQueen said he had a difficult time in school. He was placed in a class for students who were expected to do "manual labour," like plumbing or building. McQueen later said that the school's new head believed there had been institutional racism at the time. He also shared that he is dyslexic and had a lazy eye, which might have caused him to be "put to one side very quickly."

He loved playing football and played for the St. George's Colts team. He studied art at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College and then at Chelsea College of Arts. He later studied fine art at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he first became interested in film. He briefly studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the United States. However, he found their teaching style too strict. He said, "they wouldn't let you throw the camera up in the air." He was inspired by artists and filmmakers like Andy Warhol, Sergei Eisenstein, and Buster Keaton.

Career Highlights

Early Art and Short Films (1990–2007)

McQueen has said Andy Warhol influenced his work.

McQueen's early films as an artist were often shown in art galleries. They were usually projected onto walls in a dark room. Many were in black-and-white and had a very simple style. He was influenced by the nouvelle vague (New Wave) film movement and the films of Andy Warhol. McQueen often appeared in his own films. In 1995, he met art curator Okwui Enwezor, who became a friend and mentor.

His first important work was Bear (1993). Another film, Deadpan (1997), recreated a famous stunt by Buster Keaton. In this film, a house falls around McQueen, but he is safe because he stands where a window is missing. Both Bear and Deadpan were silent and in black-and-white.

McQueen's first film with sound was Drumroll (1998). This film also used multiple images. He made it by attaching three cameras to an oil drum and rolling it through the streets of Manhattan. The resulting films are shown on three walls in a room. McQueen has also created sculptures and photographs.

He won the Turner Prize in 1999, a major award for British artists. In 2006, he went to Iraq as an official war artist. The next year, he created Queen and Country. This artwork honored British soldiers killed in the Iraq War by showing their portraits on sheets of stamps. However, the Royal Mail did not approve the stamps for circulation.

His 2007 short film Gravesend showed how coltan (a metal used in electronics) is processed.

Becoming a Feature Filmmaker (2008–2018)

McQueen and Michael Fassbender (pictured in 2013) have worked together on many films, starting with Hunger (2008).

In 2008, McQueen released his first full-length film, Hunger. It was about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. McQueen won the Caméra d'Or award for best first-time director at Cannes. He was the first British director to win this award. The film also won awards at the Sydney Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

McQueen represented Britain at the 2009 Venice Biennale, a major art exhibition. In 2011, his second big film, Shame, was released. It was shown at the Venice Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and Toronto Film Festival.

McQueen at a Q&A for his film Shame at the TIFF in 2011.

McQueen's next film was 12 Years a Slave (2013). It was based on a true story from 1853 by Solomon Northup. The film tells about a free black man who is kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. He works on plantations in Louisiana for twelve years before he is finally freed. In March 2014, the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This made McQueen the first black director or producer to win this top award. The film also won an Oscar for supporting actress Lupita Nyong'o. Actor and producer Brad Pitt said that McQueen was the first to ask, "Why have there not been more films on the American history of slavery?"

McQueen holding his Academy Award for Best Picture in March 2014.

In 2015, McQueen directed the music video for Kanye West's song "All Day." In 2018, McQueen directed Widows. He co-wrote it with Gillian Flynn. The movie is about four armed robbers who are killed during a failed heist. Their widows then decide to finish the job.

Recent Projects (2019–present)

McQueen at the Middleburg Film Festival in 2024.

In 2019, it was announced that Small Axe, a series of five films created and directed by McQueen, would be released. The series focuses on "five stories set within London's West Indian community from the late 1960s to the early '80s." This project was very personal for McQueen. He said these were films he felt should have been made "35 years ago, 25 years ago, but they weren't."

The Small Axe films received many awards and were praised by critics. Two of the films, Mangrove and Lovers Rock, were chosen for the Cannes Film Festival in 2020. If the festival hadn't been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McQueen would have been the first director to have two films competing at Cannes in the same year.

McQueen directed a World War II documentary called Occupied City. It is about the occupation of Amsterdam by German forces from 1940 to 1945. It premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. He also returned to making feature films with Blitz. This movie is about Londoners during "The Blitz" of World War II. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2024.

Experimental and Short Films

• Bear (1993) was McQueen's first major film. It was in black-and-white and shot on 16-millimetre film.
• Five Easy Pieces (1995) is a short film about a woman walking on a tightrope. McQueen said a tightrope walker is "the perfect image of a combination of vulnerability and strength."
• Just Above My Head (1996) is a short film where a man's head appears at the bottom of the screen, moving up and down as he walks.
• Deadpan (1997) is a four-minute black-and-white film. It shows McQueen recreating a stunt from Buster Keaton's movie Steamboat Bill, Jr..
• Exodus (1997) is a 65-second color video. It shows two black men carrying potted palms down a London street, then getting on a bus.
• Caribs' Leap/Western Deep (2002) are two short films. Carib's Leap explores a historical event in Grenada. Western Deep shows the experience of working in the TauTona Gold Mine in South Africa.
• Pursuit (Version 2) (2005) is a 14-minute film with sound and video. The images are hard to see in the chaotic, low-light setting.
• Running Thunder (2007) is an 11-minute short film showing a dead horse in a meadow.

Personal Life

McQueen is married to Bianca Stigter, a Dutch writer and critic. They have a daughter and a son, Alex and Dexter. Since 1997, the McQueens have had homes in both Amsterdam and London. He was honored by the British Empire multiple times. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2002 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2011. He was made a knight in 2020 for his contributions to film. McQueen has been listed twice in the Powerlist Top 10, which names the most influential Black Britons.

McQueen used to be a fan of the English football club Tottenham Hotspur. However, he said in 2014, "I gave up football. It affected my day too much. It's just stupid."

Views on Film and Diversity

In 2014, McQueen spoke out about the film industry. He said it ignored American slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. He pointed out that World War II lasted five years and has "hundreds and hundreds of films," but slavery lasted 400 years and has "less than 20 films."

In June 2020, McQueen said the film and television industry in the United Kingdom had racism and lacked racial diversity. He wrote an article for the Guardian newspaper about the "blatant racism" in the British film industry. He said, "I visited a TV-film set in London. It felt like I had walked out of one environment, the London I was surrounded by, into another, a place that was alien to me. I could not believe the whiteness of the set." He felt there were not enough chances for black actors in the UK film industry.

In October 2020, he stated that he experienced racism "every day." He also supported the George Floyd protests.

Filmography

Short films

• Bear (1993)
• Five Easy Pieces (1995)
• Just Above My Head (1996)
• Stage (1996)
• Exodus (1997)
• Deadpan (1997)
• Girls, Tricky (2001)
• Illuminer (2002)
• Western Deep (2002)
• Charlotte (2004)
• Gravesend (2007)
• Giardini (2009)
• Static (2009)
• Grenfell (2023)

Feature Films

Documentary Films

Television Projects

Awards and Honors

For 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the BAFTA Award for Best Film, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. He is the first black filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He is also the first person to win both an Academy Award and the Turner Prize (an art award). McQueen received the Award for Cinematic Production from the Royal Photographic Society. He was also given the Cologne Film Prize for his life's work. Queen Elizabeth II made him a knight in 2020, and he received his knighthood at Windsor Castle in March 2022. In 2024, he was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize.