Biography

When young, he lived with his four brothers and sisters in a council house in Newcastle Upon Tyne, then, at fourteen, the family moved to Thornyburn, near Bellingham, where he made his first film, 'Redhugh'. He qualified in Newcastle as a music teacher and played in a band, 'The Gasboard' , with Brian Ferry before going to London to study music for three years. He played with The People Band, who recorded one album which was produced by Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and later made a cameo appearance in the film Stormy Monday as The Krakow Jazz Ensemble. In the early 70s, he joined an avant-garde theatre group, The People Show, as a musician, but soon found himself lured into acting and spent the next ten years touring the world, earning great success and critical acclaim. Mike left the show in 1980 to concentrate on writing and directing and formed his own theatre company, The Mike Figgis Group. He crafted multimedia productions which incorporated an extensive use of film. Among his early projects were Redhugh, Slow Fade and Animals of the City, which won awards for the innovative blend of live action with music and film. Redhugh caught the eye of Channel 4 which financed his first feature, The House. His next film was Stormy Monday which he wrote, directed and scored. He then advanced to making full length features. He made his debut in American films with Internal Affairs, which he directed and co-scored. He coaxed Kim Novak out of retirement to star in Liebestraum, which he again directed and scored. A few films down the line he wrote, directed and scored One Night Stand, which won Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival,
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Now there is no reason to prevent anybody from making a film. The technology exists, the equipment is much cheaper than it was, the post-production facilities are on a laptop computer, the entire equipment to make a film can go in a couple of cases and be carried as hand luggage on a plane. There is nothing to stop people making films.

I could write a short thesis on why there were so many men in the film industry and I'd say it was to do with the weight of the equipment. One can understand how a hierarchy of men, a film crew, has built up. In order for us to handle 100 to 150 large men who are carrying equipment almost like an army unit, then it makes sense to put a man in charge of all of that because there are gender issues about control and authority. Just like in the armed forces. The fact is that in the modern film industry those physical conditions no longer prevail; therefore there is no crude, physical reason why it should be so male-dominated.

Film is very important to our culture - it is the main story-telling medium. If it's not representational both of either the gender or race of the culture in which we live, it is an incomplete picture. So it's crucial that women are reflected in the statistics of how many directors there are. What do women bring to film-making? They bring a female perspective and, in a way, that's enough. To argue what a female perspective is not really my place, but I know it when I see it!

This is the new reality - it's virtual, man, get with it. Cinema is dead, long live cinema.