Film distributor who through Artificial Eye brought the riches of world cinema to UK audiences
Pamela Engel, who has died aged 82, is owed a huge debt by film-makers from all over the world and by those of us who enjoy their work. As co-owner of the film distributors Artificial Eye, with her first husband, Andi Engel, and latterly New Wave Films, in which she was partnered by her second husband, Robert Beeson, she brought to London arthouse riches few others would have dared to contemplate. Some made money, some did not. But for Pam that was a minor detail.
For several decades Pam influenced critics and customers alike. Her taste was fiercely strict but, when she admired a film, famously enthusiastic. As critic for the Guardian during much of her halcyon days, I seldom disagreed with her. Which was just as well, since I got severely ticked off when I did.
Pamela Engel, who has died aged 82, is owed a huge debt by film-makers from all over the world and by those of us who enjoy their work. As co-owner of the film distributors Artificial Eye, with her first husband, Andi Engel, and latterly New Wave Films, in which she was partnered by her second husband, Robert Beeson, she brought to London arthouse riches few others would have dared to contemplate. Some made money, some did not. But for Pam that was a minor detail.
For several decades Pam influenced critics and customers alike. Her taste was fiercely strict but, when she admired a film, famously enthusiastic. As critic for the Guardian during much of her halcyon days, I seldom disagreed with her. Which was just as well, since I got severely ticked off when I did.
- 7/31/2017
- by Derek Malcolm
- The Guardian - Film News
Engel also co-founded UK distributor New Wave Films.
Art-house “trailblazer” Pamela Engel, known for co-founding distributor Artificial Eye and programming London cinemas including the Lumiere, Chelsea Cinema, Camden Plaza and the Renoir, has died aged 82.
A huge figure in the UK’s independent film business, Engel’s death has sparked messages of praise across the distribution and exhibition sectors.
Born Pamela Balfry in 1934, the UK executive started out in the late 1950s as a secretary for then Sight and Sound editor Penelope Houston.
She would go on to work as an assistant to Richard Roud at the London and New York Film Festivals before joining Derek Hill’s art-house venue Essential Cinema in the late 1960s.
Odyssey
Balfry and first husband Andi Engel established distributor Artificial Eye in 1976, thus “beginning an odyssey of distribution and exhibition unlikely ever to be surpassed,” in the words of former London Film Festival director Sheila Whitaker.
Despite separating...
Art-house “trailblazer” Pamela Engel, known for co-founding distributor Artificial Eye and programming London cinemas including the Lumiere, Chelsea Cinema, Camden Plaza and the Renoir, has died aged 82.
A huge figure in the UK’s independent film business, Engel’s death has sparked messages of praise across the distribution and exhibition sectors.
Born Pamela Balfry in 1934, the UK executive started out in the late 1950s as a secretary for then Sight and Sound editor Penelope Houston.
She would go on to work as an assistant to Richard Roud at the London and New York Film Festivals before joining Derek Hill’s art-house venue Essential Cinema in the late 1960s.
Odyssey
Balfry and first husband Andi Engel established distributor Artificial Eye in 1976, thus “beginning an odyssey of distribution and exhibition unlikely ever to be surpassed,” in the words of former London Film Festival director Sheila Whitaker.
Despite separating...
- 7/17/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
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