Nicholas D. Knowland

Movies

Stardust
Director of Photography
David Bowie went to America for the first time to promote his third album, The Man Who Sold the World. There, he embarked on a coast-to-coast publicity tour. During this tour, Bowie came up with the idea of his iconic Ziggy Stardust character, inspired by artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
England Is Mine
Director of Photography
A portrait of Steven Patrick Morrissey and his early life in 1970s Manchester before he went on to become lead singer of seminal 1980s band The Smiths.
Narrated By
Director of Photography
A young man is forced to confront an uninvited and ever-present narrator.
Dekh Magar Pyaar Say
Director of Photography
Annie, who lives a life of make-believe, meets Billa, an ambitious and quick-witted rickshaw driver, and an unforgettable journey begins.
The Duke of Burgundy
Director of Photography
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.
Berberian Sound Studio
Director of Photography
In the 1970s, a British sound technician is brought to Italy to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film. His nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche, driving him to confront his own past.
Eurydice: She, So Beloved
Director of Photography
Commissioned by Opera North, the Brothers Quay created the installation and film 'She, So Beloved' inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem ‘Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes.’ The Orfeo myth is re-told through a combination of art forms; film, dance, music and visual art contained within a contemporary staged installation to provide an intimate sensory experience.
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
Director of Photography
Dark fairytale about a demonic doctor who abducts a beautiful opera singer with designs on transforming her into a mechanical nightingale.
Concert for George
Camera Operator
As a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his passing, The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 . Organized by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne. A benefit for Harrison's Material World Charitable Foundation, the all-star concert took place on the day of the first anniversary of his death. Proceeds from the film also went to the Material World Charitable Foundation. The film was shot using discreet cameras from over twelve locations.
Simon Magus
Director of Photography
Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community because he claims that the devil talks to him and he has the ability to put curses on crops. When Dovid asks the 'Squire' to sell him some land so he can build a railway station, a ruthless businessman from the neighbouring gentile community uses Simon to find out who wants to buy the land so he can 'persuade' him otherwise
Jinnah
Director of Photography
Biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of modern Pakistan is told through flashbacks as his soul tries to find eternal rest. The flashbacks start in 1947 as Jinnah pleads for a separate nation for the Muslim regime, infuriating Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten then tries to enlist Gandhi & Nehru to persuade Jinnah to stop his efforts. Gandhi sides with Jinnah, which upsets Nehru. However, Jinnah turns down the offer to become prime minister and the film takes another slide back to 1916, which reveals all of the political implications that have occurred.
Cats
Director of Photography
Cats is a pop-cultural phenomenon that has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, resulting in more than two billion dollars in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided it until now.
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Director of Photography
Jakob arrives at the Institute Benjamenta (run by brother and sister Johannes and Lisa Benjamenta) to learn to become a servant. With seven other men, he studies under Lisa: absurd lessons of movement, drawing circles, and servility. He asks for a better room. No other students arrive and none leave for employment. Johannes is unhappy, imperious, and detached from the school's operation. Lisa is beautiful, at first tightly controlled, then on the verge of breakdown. There's a whiff of incest. Jakob is drawn to Lisa, and perhaps she to him. As winter sets in, she becomes catatonic. Things get worse; Johannes notes that all this has happened since Jakob came. Is there any cause and effect?
England, My England
Director of Photography
The story of Henry Purcell.
Day of Reckoning
Director of Photography
Action-adventure following a onetime Special Forces Captain in Vietnam turned tour guide in remote parts of Asia, who, while on a trek with two researchers in the Burmese jungle, meets up with a wartime enemy intent on settling an old score.
Wild West
Director of Photography
A young Pakistani, living in England thinks that he is a cowboy and dreams of leading his country music band to success in Nashville. He meets a young woman who leaves her abusive husband and joins their group as a singer, but when they get a break with a record company, the company is only interested in her. Taking the proceeds of the sale of their family home, they finally set out to achieve their dream in Nashville. There are several comic sub-plots as well, the main one revolving around a biker gang out to get the family.
Complex of Fear
Director of Photography
Condominium residents are terrified when they learn that two of their neighbors have been brutally raped and that the culprit may be living in their midst. A police manhunt ensues. One officer, who actually lives in the complex, is particularly troubled, for not only do the incidents cause his wife to admit that she was a victim of date rape, he is also the one who had a chance to kill the rapist and didn't.
Immaculate Conception
Director of Photography
A childless British couple visit a fertility shrine of Gulab Shah in Karachi run by eunuchs and set off a huge culture clash.
The Children
Director of Photography
Rose Sellars is a middle-aged woman who falls in love with a widower. However, his children believe that their father is too old to start a new relationship.
Testimony
Director of Photography
The story of the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his life and career during the rule of Stalin.
Ping Pong
Director of Photography
After restaurateur Sam Wong dies in a telephone booth after making a call, law clerk Elaine Choi is tasked with executing his will. In order for the will to be valid, it needs to be signed by its recipients, but Choi finds that each of them are reluctant to do so.
Playing Away
Director of Photography
To mark the conclusion of their "Third World Week" celebration, a cricket team in a small English village invites a black cricket team from South London to a charity game with comical results.
Last Day of Summer
Director of Photography
A young woman moves into a hippy commune and spends an idyllic summer with the young brother of one of the residents.
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Director of Photography
A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by him in order to make "a million pounds."
Death of a Princess
Director of Photography
A journalist investigates a newspaper story of the execution of an Arab princess.
Benjamin Britten: A Time There Was…
Director of Photography
A portrait of one of England's greatest composers. Winner of the Prix Italia.
The Making of an Epic: Mohammad, Messenger of God
Camera Operator
Documentary on the making of "Mohammad, Messenger of God" (1976).
The Alf Garnett Saga
Director of Photography
Alf and his family have been moved from their East End home into a high-rise council estate. Alf is not only having trouble coping with his new 'home', but also with the long commute to work, the long walk to the corner pub, his long-suffering wife, rebellious daughter and her philandering, constantly unemployed husband.
Reggae
Director of Photography
BBC documentary focusing on a reggae concert held at Wembley Stadium in 1970 featuring the Pyramids, Pioneers, Black Faith, Millie, the Maytals, and Desmond Dekker. Includes interviews with DJ Mike Raven and producer Graham Goodall, who review the history and development of reggae.
Secrets
Director of Photography
A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.
Double Pisces, Scorpio Rising
Director of Photography
One of the human trio is Dick Fontaine, the director, a thin, long-haired youth who has put together this highly personal exercise on something or other that runs, mercifully, for 58 minutes and comes from an English group of movie folk called the Tattooists. The second visitor to the animal abattoir is a pretty girl. The third is a porky, middle-aged man addicted to the expression, "Ya know?" The two men carry on a running argument about whether they should make a picture about pigs. "Are we making a movie, ya know?" says Fatso. "Where is it, ya know?" Then a bit later: "I'm making a movie about pigs, ya know?"
A Horse Called Nijinsky
Director of Photography
Documentary, narrated by Orson Welles, about the legendary race horse Nijinsky, one of the greatest and most successful race horses in history and after his retirement from the racetrack in 1970 an important sire of thoroughbred horses.
London Rock
Camera Operator
Documentary covering the counter-culture in London in 1970. Featuring Marc Bolan, Linda Lewis, The Faces, Matthews Southern Comfort and Fairport Convention.
Rape
Director of Photography
This film is from the point of view of a cameraman following a young woman through the streets of a city. He chases her down an alley and knocks her over, in a symbolic form of video assault. No dialogue.
Rape
Himself (voice)
This film is from the point of view of a cameraman following a young woman through the streets of a city. He chases her down an alley and knocks her over, in a symbolic form of video assault. No dialogue.
The Stones in the Park
Camera Operator
There has never been a concert like it. There never could be again. It was July 5th 1969, two days after the death of guitarist Brian Jones, when half a million people gathered in Hyde Park to pay homage to the British group described as the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world. They were The Rolling Stones. The Stones in the Park is a vivid record of this momentous occasion. .. Play List: 1. Midnight Rambler 2. Satisfaction 3. I'm Free 4. I'm Yours She's Mine 5. Jumping Jack Flash 6. Honky Tonk Woman 7. Love In Vain 8. Sympathy For The Devil
Bed Peace
Editor
John and Yoko in the presidential suite at the Hilton Amsterdam, which they had decorated with hand-drawn signs above their bed reading "Bed Peace." They invited the global press into their room to discuss peace for 12 hours every day.