Background
Haigh was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. His father worked as a salesman for a drinks company, and his mother was a housewife.
director screenwriter film producer
Haigh was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. His father worked as a salesman for a drinks company, and his mother was a housewife.
After his parents separated, he attended a boarding school.
He read History at Newcastle University. Haigh worked as an assistant editor on films such as Gladiator and Black Hawk Down before debuting as a writer/director with the short film Oil. In 2009 he directed his first feature-length film, Greek Pete, which debuted at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
The film is set in London and centers on male prostitution, chronicling a year in the life of rent-boy Pete.
The film played in many other festivals around the world, and went on to collect many more awards including the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Narrative Feature at Los Angeles Outfest and London Film Critics" Circle award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker. Haigh"s next film 45 Years premiered as part of the main competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
lieutenant was widely released in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2015, and was screened at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September. Haigh is co-producer and occasional writer and director of the Home Box Office drama series Looking.
Cancelled after two seasons, the series is planned to finish with a two-hour television movie set to air in 2016.
Greek Pete won the Artistic Achievement Award at Outfest in 2009. Haigh"s second feature, the highly acclaimed romantic drama Weekend about a 48-hour relationship between two men (played by Tom Cullen and Chris New), premiered on 11 March 2011 at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Emerging Visions. The film won the acting prizes at the festival for both its leads, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.
