My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is a 1989 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jim Sheridan adapted by Sheridan and Shane Connaughton from the 1954 memoir by Christy Brown. A co-production of Ireland and the United Kingdom, it stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Brown, an Irish man born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. Brown grew up in a poor working-class family, and became a writer and artist. Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Hugh O'Conor, Fiona Shaw, and Cyril Cusack are featured in supporting roles.
Sir Michael John Gambon was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.
Brenda Fricker is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, earning the award for Best Supporting Actress for the biopic My Left Foot (1989). She also appeared in films such as The Field (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Angels in the Outfield (1994), A Time to Kill (1996), Veronica Guerin (2003), Inside I'm Dancing (2004) and Albert Nobbs (2011).
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne was a French neurologist who revived Luigi Galvani's research and greatly advanced the science of electrophysiology. The era of modern neurology developed from Duchenne's understanding of neural pathways and his diagnostic innovations including deep tissue biopsy, nerve conduction tests (NCS), and clinical photography. This extraordinary range of activities was achieved against the background of a troubled personal life and a generally indifferent medical and scientific establishment.
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights is a 2004 American dance musical romance film directed by Guy Ferland and starring Diego Luna, Romola Garai, Sela Ward, John Slattery, Jonathan Jackson, January Jones, and Mika Boorem. The film is a standalone prequel of the 1987 blockbuster Dirty Dancing, and serves as the second feature film in the titular franchise. While the movie follows a similar plot structure, the story takes place in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. Patrick Swayze, star of the original film, appears as a dance instructor.
Romola Sadie Garai is a Hong Kong-born British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen, she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include Nicholas Nickleby (2002), I Capture the Castle (2003), Inside I'm Dancing (2004), and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004). She has gained prominence for her performances in the critically acclaimed costume dramas such as Vanity Fair (2004), As You Like It (2006), Amazing Grace (2007), Atonement (2007), Glorious 39 (2009), and Suffragette (2015).
Steven Robertson is a Scottish actor who stars as Detective Sandy Wilson in the BBC One adaptation of Ann Cleeves's Shetland, filmed near where Robertson was born and brought up. He portrayed Michael Connelly, a young man with cerebral palsy, in Inside I'm Dancing, and played Dominic Rook in the popular BBC Three comedy-drama series Being Human. He has had roles in numerous television programs including Luther and The Bletchley Circle.
Shake Hands with the Devil is a 1959 British-Irish film produced and directed by Michael Anderson and starring James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns and Michael Redgrave. The film was written by Marian Spitzer based on the 1933 novel of the same title by Rearden Conner, the son of a Royal Irish Constabulary policeman.
The 25th London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2004, were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on 9 February 2005.
Atonement is a 2007 romantic war drama film directed by Joe Wright and starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on the 2001 novel by Ian McEwan. The film chronicles a crime and its consequences over six decades, beginning in the 1930s. It was produced for StudioCanal and filmed in England. Distributed in most of the world by Universal Studios, it was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2007 and in North America exactly three months later on 7 December 2007.
The 7th British Independent Film Awards, held on November 30, 2004 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2004.
Darius Goes West: The Roll of his Life is a documentary film by Logan Smalley about Darius Weems, a teenager living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In the middle of 2005 Weems embarked on a 7,000 mile road trip across the United States from his hometown in Georgia to MTV Headquarters in Los Angeles to ask them to customize his wheelchair on Pimp My Ride, as well to promote awareness of the fatal disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and to raise money for research into a cure.
Angel, also known as the Real Life of Angel Deverell, is a 2007 British romantic drama film directed by François Ozon. It is based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Elizabeth Taylor, about the short life of a passionate young woman in Edwardian England for whom the fake world of the pulpy novels she writes replaces reality. The protagonist was portrayed by Romola Garai; other characters were played by Sam Neill, Michael Fassbender and Charlotte Rampling.
James McAvoy is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in The Near Room (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work includes the thriller State of Play (2003), the science fiction miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003), and the drama series Shameless (2004–2005).
Glorious 39 is a 2009 British war thriller film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, starring Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, David Tennant, Jenny Agutter and Eddie Redmayne. The film was released on 20 November 2009.
Emma is a four-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. The episodes were written by Sandy Welch, writer of previous BBC costume dramas Jane Eyre and North & South, and directed by Jim O'Hanlon. The serial stars Romola Garai as the titular heroine Emma Woodhouse, Jonny Lee Miller as her loyal lifelong friend Mr. Knightley, and Michael Gambon as Emma's father, Mr. Woodhouse. The serial originally ran weekly on Sunday nights on BBC One from 4 to 25 October 2009.
The Crimson Petal and the White is a 2011 four part television serial, adapted from Michel Faber's 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White. Starring Romola Garai as Sugar and Chris O'Dowd as William Rackham, the drama aired in the UK during April 2011 on BBC Two. The supporting cast includes Shirley Henderson, Richard E. Grant and Gillian Anderson. Critical reviews of the drama were mixed but generally positive.
Legacy is a British thriller television film that broadcast on BBC Two on 28 November 2013. It is an adaptation of Alan Judd's 2001 spy novel of the same name.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving is a 2012 novel by American author Jonathan Evison, published in 2012. The novel's plot revolves around the relationship between the titular caregiver, Ben Benjamin, and his teenage charge, Trevor Conklin, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The two take a road trip together and encounter a variety of characters and roadside attractions along their way to their ultimate destination, Trevor's father Bob. Evison dedicated the book to one of his patients, Case Levenson, a man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, citing their experience together as a major inspiration for the novel. Evison also credits a family tragedy with inspiring the road trip sequence. A film based on the book was released in June 2016.
The Critic is a 2023 British period thriller film directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn. The film stars Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.
