Contact: Head of Drama, Jeremy Taylor, +44 (0)1235 849002,
Mike Grigsby arriving in Texas in 2009 to embark on the research for what was to be his last film, We Went to War. Photograph by Rebekah Tolley.
It is with deep sadness that we report the death of Michael Grigsby. He died in London on March 12 after a short illness. Mike was not only the schoolboy who founded filmmaking at Abingdon in the 1950s as a member of ASPS (the Abingdon School Photographic Society), then returned in 2003 to help establish the Abingdon Film Unit and guide it through ten years of remarkable success. He was also, to use Patrick Russell’s phrase, “one of Britain’s greatest documentary filmmakers”, making more than thirty films in a career that spanned seven decades. Beyond that, Mike was a great friend, a passionate man of film and a truly lovely person. We will miss him very much. Mike’s last film, We Went to War, co-authored with Rebekah Tolley, and shot by Jonas Mortensen (both AFU tutors), receives its official release at the ICA in London later this month. There will be a screening of the film at 3pm on Sunday 24 March, followed by a Q & A with Rebekah. Tickets from: http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=36899#booktickets
