1990s Butterfly Kiss, Winterbottom's 1995 debut feature, followed a mentally unbalanced lesbian
serial killer and her submissive lover/accomplice as they fall in love while slaughtering their way across the
motorways of Northern England. It found only a limited release. 1997's
Welcome to Sarajevo was filmed on location in the titular
city, mere months after the
Siege of Sarajevo had ended. It was based on the true story of British reporter,
Michael Nicholson, who spirited a young orphan girl out of the war zone to safety in Britain. His 1998 film
I Want You is a neo-noir sex thriller set in a decaying British seaside resort town. Starring
Rachel Weisz and
Alessandro Nivola, it was inspired by the
Elvis Costello song of the same name and shot by Polish cinematographer
Sławomir Idziak, who won an Honourable Mention award at the
48th Berlin International Film Festival for his work. He followed that with 1999's
With or Without You, a
Belfast-set comedy starring
Christopher Eccleston, about a couple trying desperately to conceive, who each have past loves re-enter their lives. That same year, he also released
Wonderland, which marked a shift in style for Winterbottom. Its handheld photography and naturalistic dialogue drew comparisons to
Robert Altman. Starring
Gina McKee,
Shirley Henderson,
Molly Parker,
John Simm,
Ian Hart and
Stuart Townsend, it is the story of three sisters and their extended family over
Guy Fawkes Day weekend in
London. It featured an orchestral score by minimalist composer
Michael Nyman, who would become a frequent collaborator with Winterbottom.
2000s Winterbottom's biggest-budgeted film up to that point, at $20 million, his 2000 film
The Claim was an adaptation of
Thomas Hardy's
The Mayor of Casterbridge set in 1860s California. Shot in the wilds of Canada, it was not a financial success and proved an ordeal to make, with Winterbottom himself getting
frostbite. Many of the production difficulties, including unsuccessful attempts to cast
Madonna, were explained to the public on the film's unusually frank official website. His 2002 film
In This World depicts the journey of two
Afghan refugees from
Pakistan, across the
Middle East and Europe to Britain, which they try to enter with the help of
people smugglers. Shot on
digital video at a cost of $2 million, it featured non-professional actors and brought Winterbottom numerous awards, including a
Golden Bear and a
BAFTA for best film not in the English language.
Code 46, released in 2003, is a sci-fi retelling of the
Oedipus myth, in a world where
cloning has created people so interrelated that strict laws (the Code 46 of the title) govern human reproduction. The romantic mystery film starred
Tim Robbins and
Samantha Morton. It was shot in
Shanghai,
Dubai and
Rajasthan, which were mixed to create a futuristic multi-ethnic culture. 2004's
9 Songs gained attention as the most sexually explicit film ever to receive a
certificate for general release in the UK. It charts a year-long relationship between two lovers, almost exclusively through their sexual interaction and various rock concerts the couple attend. The film became notorious in the UK for its candid scenes of unsimulated sex between the leads,
Kieran O'Brien and
Margo Stilley. His 2005 film
A Cock and Bull Story, released in the United States and Australia as
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, is an adaptation of the famously "unfilmable"
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, an early novel. The film is a faux documentary about the making of a film of
Tristram Shandy. Steve Coogan stars as himself and as Shandy. The film marked the end of Winterbottom's lengthy collaboration with
Frank Cottrell Boyce, who chose to be credited under the pseudonym Martin Hardy.
The Road to Guantanamo is a 2006 docu-drama about the "
Tipton Three", three British
Muslims captured by US forces in
Afghanistan who spent two years as prisoners at the
Guantanamo Bay detention camp as alleged
enemy combatants. It was shot in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran (which doubled for Cuba) in the autumn of 2005. It premiered at the Berlinale on 14 February 2006. It debuted in the UK on television, on 9 March, as it was co-financed by
Channel 4. 2007's
A Mighty Heart is based on the book by
Mariane Pearl, wife of murdered journalist
Daniel Pearl. The film stars
Angelina Jolie and focuses on the pregnant Mariane's search for her missing husband in Pakistan in 2002. Produced by Jolie's then-partner
Brad Pitt, it was shot in the autumn of 2006 in India, Pakistan and France and premiered out of competition at the
2007 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2007. In 2008, his film
Genova was released, a family drama about an Englishman, played by
Colin Firth, who moves his two American daughters to Italy following the death of his wife. Once there, the oldest girl starts exploring her sexuality, while the younger girl begins to see the ghost of her mother. It co-stars
Catherine Keener and
Hope Davis and was filmed in the titular city of
Genoa, Italy, during the summer of 2007. The film premiered at the 2009
Berlin Film Festival and aired in the UK on Channel 4's More4 documentary channel on 1 September 2009. It made its American premiere at the 2010
Sundance Film Festival, alongside Winterbottom's following film. At the festival, Klein, who had reconciled herself with the filmmakers' approach, participated in a Q&A with Winterbottom and Whitecross.
2010s Winterbottom's 2010 film
The Killer Inside Me is an adaptation of
Jim Thompson's 1952 noir
novel. Starring
Casey Affleck,
Kate Hudson and
Jessica Alba, it follows a 1950s small town
Texas sheriff (Affleck), who is also a psychotic killer, through his descent into complete madness. It premiered at the 2010
Sundance Film Festival and caused controversy for the realistic brutality of its violence toward women. This improvised six-episode 2010 comedy series
The Trip, filmed in the English
Lake District and written and directed by Winterbottom, starred
Steve Coogan and
Rob Brydon as the same semi-fictionalized versions of themselves they played in
A Cock and Bull Story. Coogan, an actor unhappy with his career, agrees to write a series of restaurant reviews for
The Observer in order to impress his girlfriend Misha (
Margo Stilley). As the series opens, she has dumped him and he invites Brydon to take her place on the holiday. Each episode of the series takes place largely over a different gourmet meal. The episodes were edited down into a feature film for the US market, which premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, while the full series aired on
BBC Two starting in November 2010. Winterbottom's 2011
Trishna is a modern retelling of ''
Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' is his third
Thomas Hardy film. It stars
Riz Ahmed and
Freida Pinto and was shot in
Jaipur and
Mumbai,
India in early 2011. It premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2011. It was released in the UK on 9 March 2012 and in the US on 13 July. 2012's
Everyday, known during its lengthy production first as
Seven Days and then as
Here and There, stars
John Simm as a man imprisoned for drug-smuggling and charts his relationship with his wife, played by
Shirley Henderson. Written by Winterbottom and Laurence Coriat, the film was shot a few weeks at a time over a five-year period from 2007 to 2012 to reflect the protagonist's time in prison and achieve an authentic aging process. and then screened at the
Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2012. The film was produced by Britain's Channel 4 and premiered in the UK on television on 15 November 2012, before being theatrically on 18 January 2013. At the
Stockholm International Film Festival in November, the film won the FIPRESCI Prize. His 2013 film
The Look of Love was originally announced as
The King of Soho, until that title had to be dropped due to a legal dispute, A biography of famed British pornographer/strip club owner/real estate entrepreneur
Paul Raymond, it reteamed Winterbottom with
Steve Coogan, who played Raymond. The film costarred
Imogen Poots,
Anna Friel and
Tamsin Egerton and was written by
Matt Greenhalgh. It was released in the UK on 26 April 2013. Winterbottom filmed a second series of the hit BBC show
The Trip To Italy in the summer of 2013 in Italy. It followed the route of the
Romantics –
Percy Bysshe Shelley,
Lord Byron and
John Keats. Like the first series, IFC Films distributed it in the US as a shorter
feature-length film, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival in January 2014. The full series aired on
BBC Two in April 2014. Hosted by comedian
Russell Brand, the 2015 documentary ''
The Emperor's New Clothes'' focuses on the
2008 financial crisis and global economic inequality. It premiered in London on 21 April 2015, followed by its international premiere on 24 April 2015 at the
Tribeca Film Festival. The 2016 film
On the Road follows the British band
Wolf Alice, focusing on two fictional members of the band's crew, played by Leah Harvey and
James McArdle, while the band is on tour. It premiered on 9 October 2016 at the
BFI London Film Festival. Winterbottom reunited with Coogan and Brydon for
The Trip to Spain in 2017, a third six-episode series in which the duo travel through Spain. As with the previous instalments, it premiered on 6 April 2017 as a six-part weekly TV series on
Sky Atlantic, and as a shorter
feature film on 22 April 2017 at the
Tribeca Film Festival. The film was released in the US on 11 August 2017. as a mysterious young British Muslim man who travels to Pakistan to kidnap a young woman (
Radhika Apte) on the eve of her arranged marriage. It was filmed in
Jaipur, India and other locations in
Rajasthan beginning in February 2018 and premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2018. 2019's
Greed is a comedy satirizing the lives of the ultra-rich, starring
Steve Coogan as a fictional retail fashion magnate,
Isla Fisher as his wife, and
David Mitchell as a journalist hired to write the billionaire's life story. The film is set at the billionaire's disastrous 60th birthday party on
Mykonos, and explores the divide between the character's wealth and the abject poverty of the workers who produce his products. The project was previously set to star
Sacha Baron Cohen. Winterbottom completed photography in December 2018. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2019.
2020s Coogan and Brydon reunited with Winterbottom for
The Trip to Greece, a fourth series of their popular programme, set in Greece and broadcast in 2020. It premiered on 3 March 2020 as a 6-part weekly TV series on
Sky One. It was again edited down into a feature film in the US, whose planned theatrical release by IFC Films in summer 2020 was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered with a digital and on demand release on 22 May 2020. 2021's documentary feature,
Isolation, originally announced under the title
Europe C-19, contains five 15-minute segments from directors across Europe, with Winterbottom handling the UK portion. Winterbottom began filming his portion of this film on 5 September 2020. The other portions were directed by
Julia von Heinz (Germany),
Fernando León de Aranoa (Spain),
Jaco Van Dormael (Belgium), and
Michele Placido (Italy). The film premiered in September 2021 at the
78th Venice International Film Festival. Winterbottom co-directed the 2022 documentary
Eleven Days in May, which focused on the deaths of over 60 Palestinian children killed during the Israeli
bombing of Gaza over an eleven day period in May 2021. Gaza-based film-maker Mohammed Sawwaf was the other director and
Kate Winslet provided the narration. It was released in the UK on 6 May 2022. 2022's 6-part TV miniseries
This England focuses on
Boris Johnson's leadership of Britain, starting with his appointment as Prime Minister and continuing through the
COVID-19 pandemic, when Johnson caught the virus and became critically ill, while his partner gave birth to their son, and Britain suffered among the worst death tolls in the world.
Kenneth Branagh stars as Johnson, with
Ophelia Lovibond as
Carrie Symonds and
Simon Paisley Day as
Dominic Cummings. Originally titled
This Sceptred Isle, Winterbottom was set to direct every episode of the miniseries, which he co-wrote with
Kieron Quirke. However, after filming began in February 2021, Winterbottom stepped down from directing in March, reportedly due to health issues. The miniseries was broadcast on
Sky on 28 September 2022. Winterbottom's 2023 political thriller
Shoshana, previously titled
Promised Land, had its world premiere at the
2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It is set in 1930s/1940s
British Mandatory Palestine and stars
Douglas Booth as Tom Wilkin and
Harry Melling as
Geoffrey J. Morton, two British police officers hunting
Zionist militant
Avraham Stern. It co-stars
Irina Starshenbaum as
Shoshana Borochov. The screenplay was written by Winterbottom, Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh. Filming began in October 2021 in the town of
Ostuni in Italy, which doubled for Tel Aviv. In February 2025, Winterbottom began production on
Gaza Year Zero. Reuniting him with his
Eleven Days in May co-director Mohammed Sawwaf, the fictional film follows a 13-year-old boy and his family struggling to survive the destruction of war. Sawwaf is directing on location in Gaza, while Winterbottom is co-directing and editing in London. In 2025, Winterbottom also filmed
The Trip to the Northern Lights, the fifth series of
The Trip, with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, in Scandinavia. It is scheduled to be broadcast in the UK by Sky in autumn 2026.
Future projects In December 2023, it was announced that Winterbottom will direct a new adaptation of
Ernest Hemingway's classic novel
A Farewell to Arms, starring
Tom Blyth. In March 2023, it was announced that Winterbottom will write and direct
Fall of the God of Cars, a 6-part miniseries in which
Tony Shalhoub is set to play Lebanese/Brazilian auto executive
Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested in Japan, eventually escaping house arrest and fleeing the country and prosecution.
Unmade projects In 2017, it was announced that Winterbottom was developing a 10-part TV series with
Annapurna Pictures about the war in Syria, focusing on the involvement of foreign journalists and
Non-governmental organizations. In May 2014, it was announced that Winterbottom would direct a feature adaptation of Richard Hammer's 1982 book
The Vatican Connection, the true story of how NYPD detective Joe Coffey uncovered connections between the Vatican and the Mafia while investigating a local New York mobster, leading to a global investigation. It was to be written by Paul Viragh, based on an earlier script by Alessandro Camon. In October 2011, it was announced that Winterbottom would direct an adaption of Richard DiLello's 1973 book,
The Longest Cocktail Party. It was to tell the story of
Apple Corps, the record company formed by
The Beatles in 1968. It was to follow the company and its staff, including DiLello and
Derek Taylor, from 1968 to its closure in 1970, when The Beatles split. The book was set to be adapted by
Jesse Armstrong and co-produced by
Andrew Eaton and
Liam Gallagher. Winterbottom was attached in May 2011 to direct
Bailout, an adaptation of author
Jess Walter's novel
The Financial Lives of the Poets, which Walter adapted for the screen. Set to star
Jack Black, the film was to follow a man who loses his job and must keep his family afloat by working as a pot dealer.
Books In 2021, Winterbottom published
Dark Matter: Independent Filmmaking in the 21st Century, a book about the workings of the British independent film industry. It is based on his own experience over his career, and includes interviews with 15 other major British directors:
Paweł Pawlikowski,
Danny Boyle,
Joanna Hogg,
Asif Kapadia,
James Marsh,
Andrew Haigh,
Carol Morley,
Edgar Wright,
Steve McQueen,
Lynne Ramsay,
Stephen Daldry,
Ben Wheatley,
Peter Strickland,
Mike Leigh and
Ken Loach. ==Personal life==