Project Detail

Margaret Mellis a Life in Colour

Synopsis

Margaret Mellis’s career has encompassed some of the major movements of 20th Century British art. St. Ives neighbours Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo saw her talent and potential but history has relegated her to the sidelines.
 
A dedicated abstract painter and superb colourist Margaret produced a unique body of work during her later life in Suffolk. Her true legacy has yet to be fully realised.
 
Using recordings from Artists’ Lives (British Library Sound Archive) the film is told entirely in Margaret’s own words, with her writings and diary entries read by Susannah York.
 
Margaret Mellis a life in colour puts Margaret’s work centre place, a visual feast of texture, shape and colour.
 
Margaret Mellis 1914-2009

Details

Year
2010
Type of project
Features
Running time
65 mins
Format
DigiBeta
Director
Sue Giovanni
Producer
Jules Hussey
Editor
Sue Giovanni
Sound
Barnaby Templer
Composer
Andrew Lovett
Principal cast
Voice of Susannah York
Camera
John Christie, Sue Giovanni

Production Status

Production Company

40 and a half productions

PO Box 53639
London SE5 5EH
UK

F +44 (0)870 622 0345

Sales Company

Jules Hussey

info@fortyandahalf.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Immortal Muse Immortal Muse

Director: Sue Giovanni

Year: 2006

A visual documentation of emigration, love, strength, creativity and old age. Annette Eick is philosophical about her migration from Nazi Berlin, via Hampstead to Devon. At 95 years of age she is not concerned about fitting in. After the death of a partner, she lives alone. She has written a daily journal and poetry for decades. She is sustained by her muse.

A woman BFI Partner Funded Short Film

Director: Sarah Lutton

Year: 2026

BFI Partner Funded Short Film

About A Bell About A Bell

Director: Simon Callow

Year: 2026

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.