Biography
Anthony Fabian is an acclaimed director known for his work on feature films, documentaries, commercials, and shorts.
Born in San Francisco, California, he was raised in Mexico City, Paris, and London before graduating from UCLA's Film & Television School in 1986. He later made London his home.
His most recent feature, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, adapted from Paul Gallico’s beloved novella, stars Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Lambert Wilson, Rose Williams, Lucas Bravo, Alba Baptista, Christian McKay, and Anna Chancellor. The film is set for worldwide release by Focus Features in early 2022.
In 2020, he released Good Hope, a feature documentary examining South Africa’s social and political climate through the perspectives of its post-apartheid generation.
Fabian’s debut feature, Skin, was filmed around Johannesburg from September to November 2007, co-produced with Margaret Matheson (Bard Entertainments, UK) and Genevieve Hofmeyr (Moonlighting Films, RSA). The cast includes Sophie Okonedo (Oscar nominee for Hotel Rwanda, Golden Globe nominee for Tsunami: The Aftermath), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano), Alice Krige (Chariots of Fire, Star Trek), Tony Kgoroge (Hotel Rwanda, Hijack Stories), and newcomer Ella Ramangwane. Skin was a People's Choice Award finalist at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival and garnered 22 international awards, including Audience and Jury Awards at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival, the AFI Dallas Film Festival Audience Award, Jury Award for Best Film at Palm Beach Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at Bordeaux Cinema Science Film Festival, the United Nations Time For Peace Award, Amnesty International Humanitarian Award (Italy), Griffon Environmental Award (Giffoni Film Festival, Italy), and the Orange Film Prize at the Ability Media International Awards. It also received nominations for a British Independent Film Award (Best Actress), an Ivor Novello Award (Best Score), and an NAACP Award (Best Foreign Film).
His second feature, Louder Than Words, filmed in Connecticut in 2012 and based on true events, stars David Duchovny, Hope Davis, and Timothy Hutton. The film tells the moving story of John and Brenda Fareri, grieving parents who, following the death of their young daughter, create a world-class children's hospital. It premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival in October 2013 and was released in 2014.
Fabian's promotional work for the British Tourist Board features prominent figures such as Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Twiggy, Rupert Everett, Luke Evans, Colin Montgomerie, Boris Becker, Lennox Lewis, Jamie Oliver, and Matt Smith. He also produced and directed an eight-part interview series titled British Legends of Stage and Screen (2012), narrated by Sue MacGregor. The series features Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Michael Gambon, Diana Rigg, Michael York, Glenda Jackson, Christopher Lee, and Ian McKellen, co-produced with John Dunworth and executive produced by Sandy Lieberson. It aired on Sky Arts HD in the UK.
In 1994, Fabian directed Bach & Variations, a half-hour drama that won a British Council Travel Award and led to invitations to speak and attend festivals worldwide. His first 35mm short, Candy (1998), starring Lone Madsen, Brooke Kinsella, Oliver Tobias, and Miriam Margolyes, was showcased at festivals globally, aired on FilmFour in the UK, and is represented internationally by AtomFilms. Jean, starring Susannah York, Gyuri Sarossy, and Nicholas Clay, won both Audience and Jury Prizes at the Planet Out Short Movie Awards at the Director's Guild of America in Los Angeles in 2000, and Best Short Film at the Barcelona International Film Festival in 2001. The film earned multiple British Council Travel Awards and screened at over thirty festivals worldwide. His latest short, Prick (6 minutes, 2006), features Mark Gillis, Rachel Pickup, Mark Wakeling, and Susannah York.
Fabian’s first documentary, Township Opera (2001), showcased emerging South African talent. It was the first solo program transmitted on BBC 4 and was shortlisted for a One World Media Award. His second hour-long BBC 4 documentary, Harmony in Hanoi, offers a fresh perspective on contemporary Vietnam through its musicians. It premiered at BAFTA and aired in March 2003. In 2004, he produced and directed While the Music Lasts, a documentary about Batignano, a unique festival in southern Tuscany that has launched the careers of several leading British opera artists. He also created Embracing the Tiger for Majestic Media and Sky Television, a documentary exploring the history, philosophy, practice, and popularity of Tai Chi—the first film dedicated solely to this martial art.
Fabian's career also includes work as a Music Supervisor on feature films such as Restoration, Goldeneye, Schubert, and Hilary and Jackie. His filmography features profiles of renowned performers including Luciano Pavarotti, Cecilia Bartoli, Joshua Bell, Angela Gheorghiu, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Renée Fleming, Christophe Rousset, Olli Mustonen, Richard Egarr, and composer John Tavener.
10 wins and 1 nominations
