In Search of Beethoven

Phil Grabsky is an award-winning documentary film-maker. With a film career spanning 20 years, Phil and his company Seventh Art Productions make films for cinema and television.

Phil’s cinema films include The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, which has played worldwide and, to date, has won thirteen awards, including first prize at Valladolid International Film Festival, and the Gold Hugo in Chicago for Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Phil is continuing to film in Afghanistan and will release the follow up film ‘The Boy Mir’ in 2011.

In early 2006 Phil completed the first ever feature-length documentary on the life of Mozart, In Search of Mozart, which contains performances and interviews with dozens of today’s finest performers. It premiered to over 1000 people at London’s Barbican concert hall, and has now been broadcast across the world, as well as gaining cinema distribution. In Australian cinemas, within weeks, it entered the all-time top grossing documentaries. More recently, working with co-director David Bickerstaff, he has also completed Heavy Water: a Journey to Chernobyl, which uses Mario Petrucci’s poetry to explore the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The film recently won the Best Short Documentary at the Cinequest International Film Festival. In 2007 Phil completed Escape from Luanda which followed Angola’s only music school over the course of a year. Phil has now completed ‘In Search of Beethoven’ – the eagerly awaited film on the life of Beethoven. The film in currently being screened in cinemas worldwide

Phil’s TV films include one-offs for BBC strands ‘Timewatch’ and ‘Reputations’ as well as major series such as Channel 4’s ‘Spain – in the Shadow of the Sun’ and ‘The Great Commanders’, BBC’s ‘I Caesar’ and Five & Sky Arts’ ‘Tim Marlow’ arts strand. Phil has also made six award-winning history films with Monty Python’s Terry Jones. Phil has also written four history books and is regularly involved as a judge for the Emmys, Bafta, RTS and One World awards.