Barry J.C. Purves

Director, animator and screenwriter nominated for the Oscar and BAFTA awards who combines, with mastery and deep knowledge, the most personal animation with stage direction for theatre.

The mastery of Purves has been recognized with numerous awards, including the prestigious Crystal of Honor at the latest edition of the Annecy Festival. He has published two books on stop motion animation technique, holds an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University and received the John Owens Prize from the University of Manchester. Cas an unavoidable reference in animation, he worked in the initial phases of two important Hollywood productions: Mars Attacks! (United States, 1996) by Tim Burton and King Kong (United States, 2005) by Peter Jackson.

His personal filmography is made up of the films Next (United Kingdom, 1989) the complete works of Shakespeare in five minutes; Screen Play (United Kingdom, 1992) the story of Willow Pattern told through Kabuki, nominated for best animated short film at the 1993 Oscars; Rigoletto (United Kingdom, 1993) a version of Verdi’s opera; Achilles (United Kingdom, 1995), a very adult portrait of the Iliad; Gilbert and Sullivan (UK, 1998) using his words and music to re-explain his stormy relationship; Hamilton Mattress (UK, 2001) a film about an antbone’s attempt to survive the corrupt world of showbiz; Plume (United Kingdom, 2010); Tchaikovsky (Moscow, 2012) an elegy using Tchaikovsky’s music and pieces from his diary and letters, and No Ordinary Joe (United Kingdom, 2021), inspired by the life of Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs, the film explores the most extraordinary and longest relationship between a daring and colorful lesbian and Toddie, the young man who was the love of her life and who turned out to be a neat little hand puppet.

In addition to his personal films, Purves has participated, mainly through the Cosgrove Hall animation studio, in the best British puppet animation series and children’s programs for television channels such as the BBC and Channel Four. These works include Rainbow (1978), Chorlton and the Wheelies (1979), The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1980), The Wind in the Willows (1981-1986), Rupert Bear (2007), Postman Pat (2005-2007), Bob the Builder (2011) and The Sound Collector (2023), either as an animator or director.