Stephen Frears (1941, Leicester, UK) is an English film and TV director most known for his approach to social and political issues through the creation of 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.
The Queen (2006), starring renowned actress Helen Mirren, gathered an Academy Award for Best Actress and the Bafta for Best Actress and Best Movie, and was raved at countless film festivals, reaping the FIPRESCI Prize in Competition at the Venice Film Festival. Frears also directed Philomena (2013), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Victoria & Abdul (2017), three films which were internationally celebrated.