Fish Tank

Andrea Arnold (born April 5, 1969) is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature length directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.

Arnold first came to prominence as an actress and television presenter alongside Sandi Toksvig, Nick Staverson and Neil Buchanan in the 1980s children’s television show No. 73. This Saturday morning show on ITV, in which she played Dawn Lodge, had a similar premise to that of The Kumars at No. 42 in the way that the show was part sitcom, part chat show and based at a domestic residence. In addition to these parts, the show had the usual mix of music, competitions and cartoons (such as Roger Ramjet) that was in keeping to the formula of British Saturday morning children’s TV of the 1980s.

In 1988 No. 73 had morphed into 7T3, with the set being moved from the Maidstone house (in fact in TVS studios in Kent) to that of a theme park. This revamp would only last the season, but Andrea would be seen for another two years in the same timeslot as part of the Motormouth presenting team. In 1990 she presented and wrote for the environmental awareness show for teens, A Beetle Called Derek. This also featured Benjamin Zephaniah and gave exposure to The Yes/No People of Stomp fame.

The Dartford native put her days presenting children’s TV well behind her when she won an Oscar for her gritty, live-action short film, Wasp, in 2004.
Red Road is the first instalment of Advance Party, a planned set of three conceptually-related films by different first-time directors. Set on a grim, windswept housing estate in Glasgow, the revenge-themed story centres on a CCTV (security TV cameras) operator who develops an obsession with someone she observes, for reasons that become clear through the progress of the film. The picture has won the British director comparisons with established names such as Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier. Screen International critic Allan Hunter said the film was “likely to emerge as one of the discoveries of this year’s Cannes Film Festival (2006).” It went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes that year.

Arnold won the 2007 BAFTA for Best Newcomer for directing Red Road.
Her 2009 film, Fish Tank, was selected to compete in the main competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.