Iconic Directors of Social Realism - Danny Boyle

Daniel 'Danny' Boyle is an English film director, producer, screenwriter and theatre director, known for his films like Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 8 of them, including the Academy Award for Best Director. Boyle was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2008 Austin Film Festival, where he also introduced that year's AFF Audience Award Winner Slumdog Millionaire.
In 2012, he was the Artistic Director for Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
His love for films began when he first watched Apocalypse Now:
"It had eviscerated my brain, completely. I was an impressionable twenty-one-year-old guy from the sticks. My brain had not been fed and watered with great culture, you know, as art is meant to do. It had been sandblasted by the power of cinema. And that’s why cinema, despite everything we try to do, it remains a young man’s medium, really, in terms of audience."
Boyle's first film was Shallow Grave, and was the most commercially successful British film of 1995, leading into the production of Trainspotting. He moved to Hollywood and sought a production deal with a major US studio, declining an offer to direct the fourth Alien film, instead making A Life Less Ordinary.
His next project was an adaptation of the cult novel The Beach. Starring Leonardo Di Caprio as the lead, this led to a feud with Ewan McGregor, star of Boyle's first three films. He later worked with author Alex Garland on 28 Days Later.
In 2004 he directed Millions. His next collaboration with Garland was the sci-fi film Sunshine, and was released in 2007. In 2008, Boyle directed Slumdog Millionare.
In 2010, he directed the film 127 Hours, starring James Franco and based on Aron Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place. It was released on the 5th November to critical acclaim. It got six nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Boyle.
His next film was Trance, with another instalment of the 28 Days Later franchise is in the developing stages.