Biography

Jim Sheridan

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Following a distinguished career in the theatre between the 1960s and the 1980s, Jim Sheridan wrote and directed his first critically acclaimed feature My Left Foot in 1989. The film was nominated for two European Film Awards. He followed this in 1990 with The Field which he also wrote and directed. In the same year he wrote the screenplay Into the West which was directed in 1992 by Mike Newell. In 1993 he wrote, produced and directed In the Name Of The Father, which again was nominated for a European Film Award, and in 1995 he wrote and produced Some Mother's Son, which was directed by Terry George. In 1997 he wrote, produced and directed The Boxer and in 1999 he produced Agnes Browne, directed by and starring Anjelica Huston. He was also executive producer of Borstal Boy, On The Edge and Bloody Sunday. In America, which he produced, directed and wrote, was released in 2003. In 2005 he directed and produced Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. Brothers was released in 2009 and Dream House in 2011. His most recent feature film is The Secret Scripture. He directed the short film 11th Hour at the end of 2016 and produced the documentary Shelter Me. Jim Sheridan's films have achieved popular and critical acclaim throughout the world. His films have garnered sixteen Oscar nominations and have won two Academy Awards as well as numerous prestigious international awards.
- IMDb mini biography by: European Film Academy Official site bio

Has stated that the children's performances in In America (2002) is what he's most proud of about his career.
Spends a long time developing his projects before they go into production. His main source of income during these periods is from directing corporate videos and commercials for large corporations in Asian countries.
Was 40 years old when he directed his first feature film.
Jim Sheridan is the father of Clodagh Amira Sheridan with his partner the Moroccan film director Zahara Moufid .
Aside from directing, he also wrote the screenplay for two films: "Into the West" which featured Brendan Gleeson, and "Some Mother's Son" featuring David O'Hara. Both these Irish actors starred together in Mel Gibson's Braveheart (1995). Not only that, fellow Irishman John Kavanagh appeared in all three above films.

I find in modern cinema now...people don't like the mystic or the spiritual. It's become almost a dirty word now.
I've seen thousands of films where people are brought down, where it's "life is terrible and we all agree" and the critical audience is over here for that, and the general public is over here. And it seems that cinema has gone out, or life, has gone out a kilter.
[on his filming ideas] Give all the bad information up front and then try and make... the story, where I can elevate the spirit.
[on Daniel Day-Lewis] You know when you watch a genius at work like Daniel, and when you say 'cut'... it's like a bank vault unlocking when you see Daniel coming back to himself. So you're dealing with genius and there's a level to it where Daniel is Daniel and I don't have to do that much, you know?
[on his early years in New York] We didn't have a sense of being poor. We came from Ireland where you could literally be poor because there was about 17 percent unemployment and 15 percent interest rates and inflation, you know, and a war going on, so to come here wasn't as edgy... it seemed an easier place to live in.

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