Biography
Christine Edzard was born in Paris in 1945 to Dietz Edzard, a German-born painter, and Susanne Eisendieck, a painter from Gdansk. After earning a degree in Economics, she pursued a career in theatre, assisting Lila de Nobili and Rostislav Doboujinsky. While working on Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" in Rome, she met her future husband, producer Richard Goodwin. In 1971, after designing several productions for European opera and theatre companies, Edzard wrote the script for "Tales of Beatrix Potter" and collaborated with Doboujinsky on sets and costumes, marking the founding of Sands Films.
In 1975, Edzard and Goodwin converted two disused warehouses in Rotherhithe, South London, into a small film studio, where she wrote and directed three short films: "The Little Match Girl," "The Kitchen," and "Little Ida." These adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen's stories were released by EMI in 1979 as "Stories From a Flying Trunk." Edzard's later works include the animated film "The Nightingale" (1981) and her first feature film, "Biddy" (1982), depicting a nanny's life from 1860 to the turn of the century, both written and directed by her.
In 1983, Edzard began collaborating with Olivier Stockman on a six-hour adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit," which premiered to critical acclaim in 1987. The film earned numerous awards, including an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay Adaptation (1988), a BAFTA for Best Screenplay, the Los Angeles Critics Award for Best Film, and acting honors for Derek Jacobi (Evening Standard Award), Miriam Margolyes (Globe Award), and Sir Alec Guinness (Berlin Film Festival Award, Oscar and BAFTA nominations).
Following "Little Dorrit," Edzard wrote and directed "The Fool," an original screenplay inspired by Henry Mayhew's work, notable for its distinguished cast and detailed production design. In 1991, she directed a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's "As You Like It," featuring British actors such as James Fox, Cyril Cusack, Griff Rhys Jones, and Miriam Margolyes.
In 1992, Sands Films recreated the sets and costumes from "Tales of Beatrix Potter" for a live revival at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. As Sands Films expanded, it began offering studio space and services to external productions, gaining a strong reputation for creating 19th-century period costumes. The company has supplied costumes for acclaimed films and TV dramas, including "Amistad," "Oscar and Lucinda," "The Woman in White," "Great Expectations" (recipient of a BAFTA for Best Costumes), "Gormenghast," and "Topsy-Turvy" (which won an Oscar for Best Costumes).
In 1996, Edzard completed location filming for Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors," for which she also designed sets and costumes. The following year, she wrote, designed, and directed "The Nutcracker," a dramatized, non-ballet adaptation of Hoffmann's tale presented in IMAX 3D, marking the first entirely European Imax 3D feature production.
