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Terry Gilliam: A Life in Pictures

15 October 09

The Academy celebrates the career of visionary filmmaker and BAFTA fellow, Terry Gilliam.

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Watch award-winning director Terry Gilliam discuss his extraordinary life in pictures.

At BAFTA headquarters in London, Gilliam talks to film critic Mark Kermode about his career highlights - from starting out with The Monty Python team in 1969 to receiving the Academy fellowship in 2009.

With key clips from his body of work, this exclusive BAFTA webcasts explores the director’s idiosyncratic approach to film making and the obstacles he has overcome to succeed in Hollywood.

Highlights include Gilliam discussing his animation work on Monty Python, working with Johnny Depp on the set of Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas, and his infamous fight with the studios to get Brazil released.

He goes on to talk about the challenges of making The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus after the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, stating in good humour: “All the problems of the previous films were preparation for this one…”

About Terry Gilliam

BAFTA / Ed MillerBorn in Minnesota and a British citizen since the late Sixties, Gilliam started his career as a cartoonist before becoming Monty Python's resident animator. He developed his unique voice through writing, directing and co-starring with the comedy troupe, subsequently establishing his trademark cinematic vision with films such as Time Bandits, Brazil and Twelve Monkeys as well as the recent The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

As a writer and director, the singularity of Gilliam’s vision is evidenced by his infamous clashes with the Hollywood system, as well as by his dogged determination to complete the now 10-year project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. It is also this singular vision that has created some of the most iconic and darkly comic moments in modern cinema, capturing the imagination of audiences of all ages.

Gilliam’s latest offering The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, co-written by Gilliam and screenwriter Charles McKeown is their first collaboration since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.