Snowcast

CAROL MORLEY: the detective filmmaker shining a light on forgotten women

Listen on

Episode notes

Carol Morley is an acclaimed filmmaker, whose work includes short film, documentary and drama.

She was born in Stockport, and spent her teens enjoying the Manchester music scene, before moving to London - where she studied Fine Art, Film and Video, at Saint Martins College.

Her 2000 documentary, The Alcohol Years, showed a fearlessness and an early interest in identity. Carol’s since been described as "part-psychoanalyst, part-detective, part-social historian". And her films involve a lot of passion, research, tenacity and experimentation with form.

Her latest release is called Typist, Artist, Pirate, King. It stars Monica Dolan as Audrey Amiss, an artist Carol believes should be widely known. And who she brings vividly to life, in a fictional road trip to Sunderland (accompanied by a psychiatric nurse played by Kelly MacDonald).

In this interview, Carol reflects on her childhood, processing the loss of her father to suicide, her path into filmmaking, a brilliant teacher - and a few of her creations, including Dreams of a Life.