Director Michael Apted ("Nell") began documenting the lives of 14 children in 1964 and has returned to them every seven years since. The first film, "7UP", produced for British television, began as an examination of the class system. These kids were from both upper and lower income families; they were either spoon fed or forced to struggle day by day just to survive. The thesis was originally to discover what kind of benefit or hindrance this class system would inspire in their development as ad...

Tuesday, November 28---Director Michael Apted swung into Amsterdam for a brief junket, mainly to introduce the screening of his latest film MARRIED IN AMERICA 2, the second entry in his ambitious series about being married in america. The film had its world premiere at IDFA on Sunday evening. Following the same methodology that he has used in his very successful 7 UP series (which has been following the same group of people every seven years since they were seven), MARRIED IN AMERICA 2 follow...

Friday, November 24---Among the more than 2000 international guests expected at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA), which opened last evening, are veteran directors Michael Apted and Jennifer Fox, both of whom have new film projects making their debuts at the event. Michael Apted, whose career has embraced both narrative and documentary features, will be giving a Press Conference on Monday, November 27 at the Salon de Balie, IDFA's headquarters. Apted will be represen...

Thursday, October 5----Certainly one of the most unique film series of all time has been the "UP" series of documentaries that have chronicled the lives of 12 protagonists at age 7 through to their current age of 49. The series, which began with the landmark television documentary 7 UP, made by Granada Television in 1964, and continues with the newest entry 49 UP, has been the on-going obsession of UK director Michael Apted. He worked on the first film as a researcher, but starting with 7 PLU...

Stephen Frears Friday, September 29---One of the more popular recent additions to the venerable New York Film Festival, which opens its 44th edition this evening, has been the Directors Dialogues series, sponsored again this year by HBO Films. Cinephiles have the rare opportunity to hear from some of the most celebrated directors on the planet in the intimate atmosphere of the Kaplan Penthouse, atop the Lincoln Center arts complex. This year, three directors, with films premiering at the Festi...

Wednesday, June 7---Inspired by the seminal 7 UP films of British director Michael Apted, which followed the same group of youngsters at ages 7, 14 and 21, the SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival will present the premiere of 21 UP AMERICA, directed by Christopher Quinn. The film is the third installment in a series that has recorded the same subjects at ages 7 and 14, and now turns its focus on what it is like to be 21 in America today. The film provides a provocative case s...