Sally Potter: Naked Cinema

The tutored and passionate eye of the director holds the space, which otherwise would be without boundary, indiscriminate and endless.

Since making her first film at the age of 14, Sally Potter has established herself as one of Britain's leading directors – of dance and theatre as well as of cinema. In her new book, Naked Cinema (Faber),she strips bare the art of directing actors for the camera. Potter has always been noted for her extraordinary rapport with performers, and for her ability to coax extraordinary performances out of them. Here she leads the reader through the film-making process, from casting to screening, always placing the actor at the heart of her account. Concrete examples are provided by a series of revealing interviews with actors she has worked with, including Julie Christie, with whom she worked on her first feature film The Gold Diggers, Annette Bening (Ginger and Rosa) and Jude Law who dragged up for her in Rage.

Sally spoke about her book and her career with Gareth Evans, The Whitechapel Gallery's curator of film.