---
name: "Karel Reisz"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/karel-reisz"
fi1m_id: "karel-reisz"
imdb_id: "nm0718554"
tmdb_id: 72709
wikidata_id: "Q167023"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "21 July 1926"
died: "25 November 2002"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T09:09:37.292118+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Karel Reisz

## Identity

Karel Reisz

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/karel-reisz
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** karel-reisz
- **IMDb ID:** nm0718554
- **TMDB ID:** 72709
- **Wikidata ID:** Q167023
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Reisz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q167023, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718554/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/72709

Director. Born 21 July 1926 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. Died 25 November 2002.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 21 July 1926, Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
- **Died:** 25 November 2002
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Reisz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q167023, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718554/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/72709

## Biography

Karel Reisz (1926–2002) was a Czech-born British film director. He arrived in Britain in 1938 as a refugee, served in the RAF, and studied natural sciences at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He began working in film as a critic, co-editing the magazine *Sequence* and publishing the textbook *The Technique of Film Editing* in 1953.

Reisz was a founder of the Free Cinema documentary movement. He co-directed *Momma Don't Allow* (1955) with Tony Richardson and directed *We Are the Lambeth Boys* (1959). His first feature, *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning* (1960), was a landmark of the British New Wave. Later films include *The Gambler* (1974), *Who'll Stop the Rain* (1978), *The French Lieutenant's Woman* (1981) and *Sweet Dreams* (1985).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, screenonline.org.uk.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning* (1960), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/saturday-night-and-sunday-morning.md)

## Complete filmography (17)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Act Without Words I* (2001), Director
- *The Deep Blue Sea* (1994), Director
- *Performance* (1991), series, Director
- *Everybody Wins* (1990), Director
- *Sweet Dreams* (1985), Director
- *The French Lieutenant's Woman* (1981), Director
- *Who'll Stop the Rain* (1978), Director
- *The Gambler* (1974), Director
- *Isadora* (1968), Director
- *Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment* (1966), Director
- *Night Must Fall* (1964), Director, Producer
- *This Sporting Life* (1963), Producer
- *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning* (1960), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/saturday-night-and-sunday-morning.md)
- *We Are the Lambeth Boys* (1959), Director
- *March to Aldermaston* (1959), Director
- *Every Day Except Christmas* (1957), Producer
- *Momma Don't Allow* (1956), Director, Writer

## Gallery

- ![Karel Reisz](https://film.one/media/person/3877191/gallery-c7bc883f92a5.jpg) Karel Reisz — Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Aankomst_en_vertrek%2C_cineasten%2C_actrises%2C_Blair%2C_Betsy%2C_Bestanddeelnr_919-6997_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Aankomst op Schiphol van de Tsjechisch-Britse regisseur Karel Reisz met zijn vrouw de Amerikaanse actrice Betsy Blair (1966)](https://film.one/media/person/3877191/gallery-fe7f9b6b28b2.jpg) Aankomst op Schiphol van de Tsjechisch-Britse regisseur Karel Reisz met zijn vrouw de Amerikaanse actrice Betsy Blair (1966) — Evers, Joost / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Betsy_Blair_and_Karel_Reisz_1966.jpg/1280px-Betsy_Blair_and_Karel_Reisz_1966.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won

- 1961: Best Film (won), for *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/karel-reisz