11 Facts About Richard Leacock

Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of direct cinema and cinema verite.

Richard Leacock grew up on his father's banana plantation in the Canary Islands until being sent to boarding schools in England at the age of eight.

Richard Leacock took up photography with a glass plate camera, built a darkroom and developed his pictures, but was not satisfied.

Richard Leacock was educated at Dartington Hall School from 1934 to 1938, alongside Robert Flaherty's daughters; David Lack taught biology at the school.

Richard Leacock then spent three years as a combat photographer in Burma and China, followed by 14 months as cameraman on Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story.

Many relatively conventional jobs followed, until 1954, when Richard Leacock was asked to make a reportage on a traveling tent theater in Missouri: the first film he had written directed, photographed, and edited himself since Canary Bananas.

Richard Leacock filmed Jazz Dance for him, using hand held camera techniques.

Richard Leacock explains the problem with Louisiana Story and pre-synchronized sound filmmakers:.

Frustrated with the obtrusiveness of the process of synching footage and sound, Richard Leacock knew there had to be a way to separate the two.

In France at the Cinematheque Francaise, when Drew and Richard Leacock screened Primary and On the Pole, Henri Langlois introduced the films as "perhaps the most important documentaries since the brothers Lumiere".

Richard Leacock died on 23 March 2011 at age the age of 89 in Paris.