Stephen Frears (1941, Leicester, UK) is an English film and TV director most known for his approach to social and political issues through complex characters.
Among the many films he directed, one can find Gumshoe (1971), his first feature film, My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), with Daniel-Day Lewis, Prick Up Your Ears (1987), nominated for the Palme d’Or in Cannes, the successful Dangerous Liaisons (1988), subsequently earning Frears several Academy Awards, and Grifters (1990). Frears was commended on his film High Fidelity (2000), based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, and Dirty Pretty Things (2002), about immigrants in London.
With The Queen (2006), starring renowned actress Helen Mirren, Frears’ film gathered an Academy Award and was raved at countless film festivals, reaping the FIPRESCI Prize in Competition at the Venice Film Festival. More recently, Frears directed Philomena (2013), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Victoria & Abdul (2017), three films which were internationally celebrated.