Andrew Birkin

Biography

Andrew Birkin (born 1945) is an English screenwriter and film director, and the brother of actress and singer Jane Birkin. His work spans writing, directing, producing and, occasionally, acting, and he is particularly associated with literary adaptations that reached wide audiences in the 1980s and 1990s.

He left school at seventeen and started as a mail boy at 20th Century Fox's London office. After a spell travelling across America, he joined the crew of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, where he rose from runner to location scout and assistant director. He then wrote scripts for producer David Puttnam, including The Pied Piper (1972) for Jacques Demy. His BBC drama The Lost Boys (1978), about J. M. Barrie, earned him writing awards in Britain, and in 1980 his short Sredni Vashtar won a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination.

In the 1980s and 1990s he wrote The Name of the Rose (1986) and directed Burning Secret (1988) and The Cement Garden (1993), which earned him the Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin. He later worked with Luc Besson on The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) and co-wrote Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006). Alongside film work he has written books on Barrie and on his family, and he continues to write for radio and publishing.

Key films

• The Cement Garden (1993): written and directed by Birkin from Ian McEwan's novel, earning him the Silver Bear for Best Director.
• The Name of the Rose (1986): screenwriter of Jean-Jacques Annaud's film, in which he also had a small acting role.
• Burning Secret (1988): directed by Birkin from Stefan Zweig's novel, nominated for the Golden Lion in Venice.
• The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999): co-written with Luc Besson.
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006): co-writer of Tom Tykwer's adaptation of Patrick Süskind's novel.