My friend Jenny Wilkes, who has died aged 76, won an Oscar for directing the best foreign student film in 1984 with her drama, Mother’s Wedding. Four years later, she was nominated for a second Academy award, this time for Making Waves, a short film with Sheila Hancock. In 1997, her drama documentary Beyond Fear was shown on the opening night of Channel 5.
Jenny grew up in Manchester, where her parents, Arnold Wilkes and his wife, Edith (nee Robinson), ran a chip shop. She left Sale grammar school at 16 and worked as a typist for a couple of years, after which she studied for A-levels on her own initiative and read sociology at the London School of Economics. In early 1965, while still a student, she interviewed Malcolm X, founder of the Nation of Islam, then visiting Britain. A few days after returning to the Us he was assassinated and Jenny’s piece rose to prominence.
Jenny grew up in Manchester, where her parents, Arnold Wilkes and his wife, Edith (nee Robinson), ran a chip shop. She left Sale grammar school at 16 and worked as a typist for a couple of years, after which she studied for A-levels on her own initiative and read sociology at the London School of Economics. In early 1965, while still a student, she interviewed Malcolm X, founder of the Nation of Islam, then visiting Britain. A few days after returning to the Us he was assassinated and Jenny’s piece rose to prominence.
- 11/27/2017
- by Susan Joekes
- The Guardian - Film News
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