John Maybury, Director Love Is The Devil, Maybury's feature film examination of the doomed relationship between artist Francis Bacon and his lover George Dyer, enjoyed great success at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, and played to acclaim at festivals around the world, winning various awards including the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
A painter, writer, and director, Maybury's unabashedly exotic and provocative style draws inspiration from Fassbinder, Pasolini, Cocteau, Warhol and Kenneth Anger. He began shooting films in the late 70s, in and around London 's punk scene. His collaboration with director Derek Jarman led to designing sets and costumes for Jubilee (1977), working as editor on Last of England (1987), and designing and editing the war sequences in War Requiem (1988).
In 1992, actress Tilda Swinton and the BBC approached Maybury to adapt her Manfred Karge's play Man to Man for the screen. The resulting film received the international critics' prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Maybury's film Remembrance of Things Fast won the Los Angeles Critics Circle award for the best Independent/Experimental Film of 1994, the Golden Jury Teddy Bear (Berlin Film Festival) and Best Experimental Film (Viper Film Festival Zurich).
Alongside experimental films, Maybury also directed promotional videos for major recording artists, including The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, Marc Almond, Neneh Cherry and Morrissey. He worked most prolifically with Sinead O'Connor, with the video for hit single "Nothing Compares 2 U" being nominated for a Grammy and winning three major MTV awards, including best video.
Maybury has created video installations as environments for live performance including the fashion shows of designers Rifat Ozbek and Alexander McQueen, the Glyndebourne opera, and the world tours of musicians Psychic TV, Kylie Minogue and U2.
Maybury is regarded as a pioneer in British contemporary art. Exhibitions include one-man shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art (London) and the Palazzo dell'Espezzione (Rome); as well as retrospectives in Europe, Japan and the USA. He has participated widely in group exhibitions at major galleries throughout the world, including The Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Tate Britain and Tate Modern (London).
This film is rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity.
