Bend It Like Beckham : About The Filmmakers


GURINDER CHADHA (Director/Producer/Co-Screenwriter)
Gurinder Chadha began her career as a BBC news reporter. She went on to direct award-winning documentaries for the British Film Institute, BBC and Channel 4.
Her first feature, BHAJI ON THE BEACH, won numerous International awards
including jury prizes at Locarno and several audience favorite film awards. It received a BAFTA Nomination for "Best British Film of 1994" and Chadha won the Evening Standard British Film Award for "Best Newcomer to British Cinema".
In 1995 she directed RICH DECEIVER, a two-part drama for the BBC watched
by 11 million viewers.
Shadha's WHAT'S COOKING?, the Opening Night film of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, was the first British script to be invited to the Sundance Institute's Writer's Lab. The award-winning film - starring Alfre Woodard, Mercedes Ruehl, Julianna Margulies, Kyra Sedgwick and Joan Chen - was voted joint audience award winner in the New York Film Critics' 2000 season (tied with Billy Elliot). Chadha won the award for Best British Director in the
London Film Critics' Circle 2001 Awards.

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM was released in the UK on 480 prints on April 12, 2002, and earned over 11 million pounds at the UK box-office, the most ever for a British financed, British distributed film. The film topped the box-office charts in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, won audience favorite film awards at the Locarno, Sydney and Toronto film festivals, and received a European Film Academy Nomination for Best Film in the 2002
European Film Awards.
Chadha's next film is a contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen's classic PRIDE AND PREJUDICE into a Bollywood musical.

GULJIT BINDRA (Co-Screenwriter)
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is London-based writer Guljit Bindra's first screenplay project. A former student of the London College of Printing, Bindra worked as a journalist on a variety of publications, including "Asian Herald," where she was the newspaper's Arts Editor. In the mid-90s Bindra began developing movie ideas and teamed up with Gurinder Chadha after sending her the script that would eventually evolve into BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Bindra has also conducted a filmmaking workshop for schoolchildren with the BBC and is currently working on new screenplay ideas.

PAUL MAYEDA BERGES (Co-Screenwriter/Second Unit Director)
Paul Mayeda Berges was born and brought up in Los Angeles. He studied film at the University of Santa Cruz and is the former Director of the San Francisco International Asian American Festival. BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is Berges' second feature collaboration with Chadha, having previously co-written WHAT'S COOKING?.

DEEPAK NAYAR (Producer)
Deepak Nayar began his career producing films with the Merchant Ivory group in his native India on such films as HEAT AND DUST and THE DECEIVERS. After moving to Hollywood, he collaborated with director David Lynch on LOST HIGHWAY and with Wim Wenders on THE END OF VIOLENCE, THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL and BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, which was nominated for an Oscar in 1999. His latest feature, MGM/UA's CITY OF GHOSTS, is actor Matt Dillon's directorial debut and will be released in the US this spring. Currently, he has partnered with Pathé Pictures and is in development on Gurinder Chadha's next film, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: A BOLLYWOOD MUSICAL.

JONG LIN (Director of Photography)
Director of Photography Jong Lin has shot three of Ang Lee's award-winning films, which include PUSHING HANDS, the Oscar-nominated THE WEDDING BANQUET and EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, which received Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Film, an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Cinematography and won Best Film at the Pan Pacific Film Festival. Lin's other film credits include Gurinder Chadha's WHAT'S COOKIN'?, TO SEE IS LOVE, MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, SHADOW OF A DREAM, A DOG TO KILL, MY RICE NOODLE SHOP and ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI.

JUSTIN KRISH (Editor)
Justin Krish has previously worked on AL'S LADS; Alex Jovy's SORTED, starring Matthew Rhys and Sienna Guillory; the romantic comedy GREENFINGERS, starring Helen Mirren and Clive Owen; BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE; THE LIFE OF STUFF; and SILENT SCREAM, a psychological thriller directed by David Hayman, for which he won the Best Editor Award at the Atlantic Film Festival. Justin was Associate Editor on Shekhar Kapur's ELIZABETH.

PAUL RITCHIE (Line Producer)
Paul Ritchie recently worked on Sandra Goldbacher's ME WITHOUT YOU, starring Anna Friel, Michelle Williams and Kyle MacLachlan and the Summer Phoenix starrer SUZIE GOLD. Previously he has worked on Justin Edgar's LARGE and was Associate Producer on DEAD BABIES, starring Paul Bettany and Olivia Williams.

RALPH HOLES (Costume Designer)
Ralph Holes' film credits include LARGE, DEAD BABIES, Michel Blanc's THE ESCORT starring Daniel Auteuil, and STAGGERED directed by Martin Clunes. Ralph's TV credits include "Messiah" starring Ken Stott and Jamie Draven, "The Green Eyed Monster," "Pretending to be Judith" starring Marc Warren and Nathaniel Parker, and "My Summer with Des" directed by Simon Curtis, starring Neil Morrissey and Rachel Weiss.

NICK ELLIS (Production Designer)
Nick Ellis has numerous commercial credits to his name including the award-winning advertisement for "Pretty Polly," for which he won Production Designer of the Year, Virgin Airlines and Adidas with David Beckham. He has also worked as Production Designer on the Oscar-nominated short "Killing Joe," directed by Mehdi Norowzian.

CRAIG PRUESS (Composer)
Craig Pruess is an American composer, arranger, gold and platinum producer, musician and sound designer who has been living in Britain since 1973. He previously collaborated with Chadha on BHAJI ON THE BEACH and WHAT'S COOKING?. Other film credits include A LITTLE PRINCESS, GOLDEN EYE, HEAR MY SONG and FUNNY BONES. Pruess also founded his own publishing, record and production company, "Heaven and Earth Music. " He has contributed to albums from such artists as Joe Cocker, Cliff Richard, Petula Clark, Manic Street Preachers, Def Leppard, Cutting Crew, Dire Straits and Elton John. As a songwriter, Pruess penned the number one hit U. K. single for Cliff Richard, "Millennium Prayer".

LIZ GALLACHER (Music Supervisor)
Liz Gallacher's work on projects such as THE FULL MONTY (winner of a Brit Award for Best Soundtrack) and RESIDENT EVIL (Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance) has garnered praise from producers, directors and the press. 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE was shortlisted for Film Music at this year's NME Awards.
Based in the UK, Gallacher began her professional music career in television, working on a number of music magazine shows. She then moved out of production to become an independent Music Supervisor and built up a substantial list of credits including television drama and comedy series, documentaries, award shows and videos.
Gallacher has worked with such acclaimed directors as Paul Anderson, Simon West, Michael Winterbottom and Nigel Cole. In addition to BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, her film credits also include the Oscar Award-winning documentary ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER and Golden Globe winner A LONELY WAR. She is currently supervising the films CALENDAR GIRLS for Buena Vista, DOT THE I for Summit Entertainment, and MEEK (about legendary Music Producer Joe Meek) for Scala Films.