David Caffrey gained critical acclaim with his feature directorial debut "
Divorcing Jack", released in 1998, marking his successful transition from award-winning short films. Born in Wicklow in 1969, Caffrey moved to London, at the age of 18. In 1990 he landed a place on a video production course as part of the government backed Pimlico Art and Media Scheme, aimed at training people who had been previously unemployed. Caffrey subsequently studied Film at the West Surrey College of Art and Design.
After gaining experience on film sets, Caffrey directed a short film called
"The Connivers", based on his own experiences in Ireland. He then spent some time working in Roger Corman's Concorde Anois studios in Connemara which proved to be an invaluable learning experience. Caffrey's short film output continued with "Bantams", "I Shudder" and "Bolt". "Bantams" was a winner in the UK Lloyds Bank Channel 4 film challenge, "I Shudder" received funding through the Fuji Scholarship programme and "Bolt" was produced under the RTE/ Film Board Short Cuts scheme in 1997.
Caffrey's real breakthrough came with the comic thriller "Divorcing Jack", adapted from Colin Bateman's widely acclaimed novel. Starring David Thewlis and Rachel Griffiths, "Divorcing Jack" is set in an independent Northern Ireland preparing to elect its first Prime Minister. The film was both a critical and commercial success, garnering Caffrey a Best New Director nomination at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Since "Divorcing Jack", Caffrey has directed "Aristocrats", the BBC period drama series, and is developing some feature film projects. Most recently Caffrey directed "On the Nose" (2001), and "Grand Theft Parsons" (2003) starring Johnny Knoxville, Michael Shannon and Christina Applegate.
