Joe Stephenson
Joe Stephenson is a director and producer originally from Sheffield, UK. Joe's debut feature film, CHICKEN, premiered at Edinburgh Int'l Film Festival and went on to win awards across the festival circuit, screening at festivals such as Busan, Giffoni, Tallinn Black Nights, Gijon, Dublin and many more. On its theatrical release in the UK (2016) it received critical acclaim, praised as 'the kind of British indie which restores faith in cinema' and compared to Ken Loach's KES by the BBC. It went on to be picked up by MUBI UK and FILM4, and is now taught nationwide on the UK's Media Studies curriculum. Joe's second film, MCKELLEN: PLAYING THE PART, premiered at Rome Int'l Film Festival. The feature doc on the life and work of Ian McKellen was praised by The Hollywood Reporter as a film that "should join the small circle of high-level docs about the acting profession able to inspire newcomers." The film received universal praise on theatrical releases worldwide and, like CHICKEN before it, has maintained a rare 100% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.