Little Dorrit (1988)

Born in Paris, France, of German-born father, painter Dietz Edzard, and Gdansk-born mother, painter Susanne Eisendieck. After studying for a degree in Economics, she began a career in the theatre as an assistant to Lila de Nobili and Rostislav Doboujinsky. Whilst in Rome, working on Franco Zeffirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET (1968), she met Richard Goodwin, the producer, to whom she is married. In 1971, having designed several productions for various European Opera and Theatre companies, Christine Edzard wrote the script of TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER (1971) with Richard Goodwin and designed, with Doboujinsky, both the sets and costumes. This marked the birth of Sands Films. In 1975, Edzard and Goodwin moved into two disused warehouses in Rotherhithe, South London, where they equipped a small film studio and made three short films which Christine Edzard wrote and directed: THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, THE KITCHEN and LITTLE IDA. These films were based on stories by Hans Christian Andersen and were released by EMI in 1979 under the title: STORIES FROM A FLYING TRUNK. Edzard's subsequent films include the animated film THE NIGHTINGALE (1981) and her first feature, entitled BIDDY (1982), describing the life of a nanny between 1860 and the turn of the century; she wrote and directed both films. In 1983 Edzard began work, with Olivier Stockman, on her six-hour film adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit, which was released to enormous acclaim in 1987. The film received many awards, including: Oscar® nomination for Screenplay adaptation, 1988; BAFTA as Best Screenplay; the Los Angeles Critics Award for best film; and for the cast: Derek Jacobi received the Evening Standard Award for best actor; Miriam Margolyes received the Globe Award and Sir Alec Guinness received the Berlin Film Festival Award and had both Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Soon after, Edzard began work on THE FOOL for which she wrote an original screenplay based on the work of Henry Mayhew. In 1991 she directed a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT in contemporary setting. In 1992 Sands re-created the sets and costumes of TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER, this time, however, for the live revival of the film at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. With the making of these films, the studio grew bigger and immediately after THE FOOL Sands began to provide studio space and facilities to outside productions. In particular, Edzard built up for Sands Films a formidable reputation for the making of 19th century period costumes. The company has made and supplied costumes to many of the most prestigious period dramas made for cinema as well as TV: most recent projects include AMISTAD, OSCAR AND LUCINDA and THE WOMAN IN WHITE. In 1996 Edzard completed the location filming of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" for which she also designed the sets and costumes. 1997 saw Edzard write, design and direct THE NUTCRACKER a dramatised, non-ballet version of the Hoffmann tale, in IMAX® 3D. And, in 2001, she completed THE CHILDREN'S MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.  Nominated for Writing - Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium 1988: LITTLE DORRIT 1 nomination