About Us

Phil Grabsky is an award-winning documentary film-maker. With a film career spanning 25 years, Phil and his company Seventh Art Productions make films for cinema, television and DVD.

Phil’s cinema films include Muhammad Ali – Through the Eyes of the World, The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, In Search of Mozart, Escape from Luanda, In Search of Beethoven and, most recently, The Boy Mir – 10 Years in Afghanistan. These films have played in festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards for Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Screenwriting, Best Editing, Best Music.

In cinemas, Phil’s films have been a great success: in Australia, for example, both In Search of Mozart and In Search of Beethoven have entered the all-time top grossing documentaries. Among Phil’s many other films are 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’s ‘Tim Marlow’ arts strand. Phil has also made six award-winning history films with Monty Python’s Terry Jones. Working with co-director David Bickerstaff, he has also completed the Oscar-longlisted short documentary Heavy Water: a Journey to Chernobyl, which uses Mario Petrucci’s poetry to explore the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Two more co-directed films with David Bickerstaff are Making War Horse – a film following the production of the smash theatre hit War Horse and The Making of Swallows and Amazons – Bristol Old Vic Sets Sail. Both films featured in Channel 4s new arts strand. Currently in production are In Search of Haydn and Piano Notes – A History of the Piano with Ronald Brautigam. Phil and Ben Harding also recently made the world’s first 3d visual arts film: Tim Marlow on British Sculpture at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Phil has also written four history books, including the best-seller The Great Commanders, and is regularly involved as a judge for the Emmys, Bafta, Grierson and One World awards. He has been himself awarded numerous personal awards including an RTS for ‘Services to Television’ and a Voice of the Listener and Viewer Award for ‘Services to Education’.

Please also visit Phil’s blog.