User:BENTLE6491/sandbox/Bob Bentley

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Bob Bentley, (born 31 July 1946) is an English film & television director. He is also a University lecturer

and artist.

As a filmmaker he is known for Recluse which won the BAFTA Best Short Film in 1981. Other notable achievements were as director on Available Light (1990) with Tom Bell, Joely Richardson and David Morrissey. In Arts television in 1990 Bob Directed Never Again (1989) with DV8 Physical Theatre which won the The Grand Prix Video Danse Award. TV documentaries on two major opera profiles Janet Baker: Full Circle (1981) and Jessye Norman-Singer (1983). Also for the BBC were two in The Private Life of a Masterpiece series - Hokusai’s The Great Wave (2004) and Rodin’s The Kiss (2004). In the BBC Art Crime series he directed Ruben’s Robbers and Tiffany Tomb Raiders (2003).

Recently his feature documentary The Pleasure of Rope (2015), about Kinbaku/Shibari, the Japanese art of rope bondage, was positvely reviewed. His latest film Bali Visions (2020) is edited from footage shot in 2015, combined with visual artwork.

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Life and career

Bob Bentley was born Robert Oliver Bentley on 31st July 1946 to Constance Emma Bentley and Leonard James Bentley. The family, which included sister Catherine Louise Bentley, soon moved from London to Bideford in North Devon where Bob grew up.

Bob attended Bideford Grammar School and then Bideford Art School where his creative life began - in 1962. He gained a place at Brighton College of Art where he was awarded a Dip AD in Fine Art. He went on to the Royal College of Art Film & TV School where he graduated with a MA(RCA) in 1970.

Soon afterwards Bob made a BFI film Having a Lovely Time (1971) with long time collaborator Paddy Fletcher. The film went to numerous film festivals but did not launch Bob as a professional director. Instead he learnt his film making craft on numerous TV documentaries and feature films with some notable directors - Bruce Beresford, Asst Director on The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972), Mike Leigh, as sound engineer on Bleak Moments (1971), Ken Loach, sound engineer on Auditions (1980), James Ivory, also on Autobiography of a Princess (1975) and Hullabaloo over Georgie and Bonnie’s pictures (1978).

In 1978 Bob got his break to get back to producing/directing with Recluse (released1980) which he co-wrote with Paddy Fletcher. It was the winner of the 1981 BAFTA Best Short Film award. After many attempts at a feature film with Film on Four, Bob was hired to direct Available Light (1990). This was a one-hour television drama for BBC2 written by Robert Smith, starring Tom Bell, Joely Richardson and David Morrissey.

Literary programmes with drama included Adrian Noble’s Measure for Measure (1995), a Bard on the Box with the Royal Shakespeare Company for BBC2. Then Fun with Wigs (1996) was an exploration of restoration eroticism with David Baddiel for Channel 4.

Music programmes for the BBC included profiles of opera singers – Janet Baker: Full Circle (1981) andJessye Norman - Singer (1984). He directed a number of short documentaries for a BBC classical music series The Score (1995). One item was The Young Ones, about musical prodigies was with violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Maxim Vengerov.

Contemporary dance films included Never Again (1989) with DV8 Physical Theatre for Channel 4 - Never Again won European awards including the Grand Prix Video Danse in 1990. Beethoven in Love (1993) with Divas Dance Company casting a performer with Down’s Syndrome (citation needed) in the main role. To a Woman’s Heart (2001) was a contemporary dance film with Dutch choreographer Karin Post, produced as a Dance for the Camera for the BBC and NPS (Holland).

Bob directed many other documentaries  including films with architect Daniel Libeskind,(citation needed) Richard Dawkins, and many others. Returing to the subject of Art, he directed two drama/docs in the series Art Crime, for the BBC and Bravo (USA). They were Rubens Unwrapped (2002) and Tiffany Tomb Raiders (2002) which was reviewed enthusiastically in the Guardian.(citation needed)

Throughout his time working in film & TV Bob ( a gifted teacher of film) has also taught - mostly at the University of Westminster but also the National Film school, the Documentary Filmmakers Group, Brunel University, and for the Universities of Portsmouth and Falmouth.

Bob lives in London with his cat and continues to work in the field of visual art - which has long inspired his career as a film maker.

External link

 * https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216147/
 * https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba01dc757