English filmmaker Andrew Haigh was BOTD in 1973. Born in Harrogate in Yorkshire, he grew up in Croydon in South London, and studied history at Newcastle University. He worked briefly as an assistant for filmmaker Ismail Merchant, and became a trainee editor on films including Notting Hill, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Rejected by the National Film & Television School, he moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to study filmmaking. His 2009 docu-drama Greek Pete, following a year in the life of London-based escort Peter Pittaros, was a success on the LGBTQ festival circuit. He won international acclaim for his 2011 film Weekend, a wistful 48-hour romance between two gay men who meet in a nightclub. Lured back to Hollywood, he spent two years as the co-writer and director of the TV series Looking, a portrait of gay life in contemporary San Francisco starring Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett and Russell Tovey. Critically acclaimed, the series attracted a loyal fanbase but was cancelled after its second season. His sophomore film 45 Years, a portrait of a childless couple confronting their 45th wedding anniversary, starred Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling. A critical and commercial success, it won numerous industry awards, including an Oscar nomination for Rampling. His next projects Lean on Pete, a coming-of-age story about a boy in rural Oregon, and the historical TV drama series The North Water, were critically admired but struggled to find audiences. Haigh made a stunning return to form with 2023’s All Of Us Strangers, a romantic drama starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal as lovers who meet in a deserted London tower block. Praised for its swooning romanticism and exploration of gay shame, it became one of the year’s most garlanded films, winning Best British Independent Film. Scenes where Scott’s character meets the ghosts of his dead parents were filmed in Haigh’s childhood home in Croydon. In 2024, he directed a music video for the Pet Shop Boys, starring Tovey and the artist Tracey Emin. He is married to long-term partner Andy Morwood, with whom he has two daughters. His next directorial project will be a TV series about the life of artist-activist Keith Haring.