About Anthony Wall
Anthony Wall initially grew up near Victoria Park in the East End. Moving to south London, he attended St Joseph’s College, a Catholic grammar school run by the De La Salle Brothers. In 1969, he joined the National Youth Theatre and performed in its most celebrated original production, Zigger Zagger, both in London and on tour in Europe. He went on to study English at King’s College Cambridge where he won the James Prize for poetry.
In 1974 he joined BBC radio as a studio manager. The same year, he became the rock critic of the Morning Star, reviewing and interviewing leading musicians, notably Bob Marley, who gave his first interview to a national newspaper to Wall and the Star.
In 1980, Wall wrote and presented a six part series for Radio 3, All Across The USA, using field recordings he’d made, on the roots music of the American South. Wall has maintained a love of radio and he recently presented a feature documentary for 6 Music about Chuck Berry based on his own interviews.
Wall moved to television in 1978 and soon joined Arena, briefly as a researcher, then as one of the core directors and then Series Editor from 1985 to 2018. Since then, he has been committed to curating the 700 Arena films at festivals and events all over the world, notably Your Local Arena with Lucy Hannah and Speaking Volumes.
He is also committed to creatively recomposing the films into new forms. His main project is Night and Day – The Arena Time Machine, a 24-hour evocation of a single day in the life of the planet, made entirely from the Arena archive. It screened at the San Francisco Film Festival in 2019 and Wall and Arena received the Mel Novikoff Award, one of the festival’s highest honours, for their ‘contribution to cinema’. Wall has personally won three BAFTAs with numerous nominations and other awards from all over the world.
In 1974 he joined BBC radio as a studio manager. The same year, he became the rock critic of the Morning Star, reviewing and interviewing leading musicians, notably Bob Marley, who gave his first interview to a national newspaper to Wall and the Star.
In 1980, Wall wrote and presented a six part series for Radio 3, All Across The USA, using field recordings he’d made, on the roots music of the American South. Wall has maintained a love of radio and he recently presented a feature documentary for 6 Music about Chuck Berry based on his own interviews.
Wall moved to television in 1978 and soon joined Arena, briefly as a researcher, then as one of the core directors and then Series Editor from 1985 to 2018. Since then, he has been committed to curating the 700 Arena films at festivals and events all over the world, notably Your Local Arena with Lucy Hannah and Speaking Volumes.
He is also committed to creatively recomposing the films into new forms. His main project is Night and Day – The Arena Time Machine, a 24-hour evocation of a single day in the life of the planet, made entirely from the Arena archive. It screened at the San Francisco Film Festival in 2019 and Wall and Arena received the Mel Novikoff Award, one of the festival’s highest honours, for their ‘contribution to cinema’. Wall has personally won three BAFTAs with numerous nominations and other awards from all over the world.