One of the saddest pieces of news of the year came through so suddenly yesterday: renowned British film entrepreneur Jeremy Thomas (1949-2026) has passed away at the age of 77.

Just about a month ago, I sent an enquiry to Thomas’s team at Recorded Pictures. I wanted to invite him to give a Masterclass at our annual film festival, Odyssey, as we focus on the theme of #Fashion this year. Many of his films created a new fashion. His approach in the filmmaking world, also and certainly created a widely celebrated unconventaional fashion.

For those, at least among the generations before me (I am not entirely sure about the generations after me), if you are a film producer or distributor with the hope of creating classics that can travel across cultures and continents, you must know Jeremy Thomas.

I never had the honour of meeting Thomas in person. When I had the idea of hosting a Masterclass with him, I was, in some way, afraid that one day we might lose his wisdom if we didn’t capture and record it fast enough. I regret, that the email was sent too late.

Like many others, I have only heard stories about him.

For me, of course, the most fascinating story is the behind the scenes stories about the making of The Last Emperor (1987). To date, its crew remains the only international film production to have been given permission to film extensively inside the Forbidden City in China; whereas productions thereafter, including local ones, have largely relied on studio replicas elsewhere in the country. Apparently, while the film was in production, the late Queen Elizabeth II was also on a Royal Visit to Beijing. With the palace being used for filming, the late Queen missed the chance to visit it during that trip.

The making of this film has become a myth in the industry for those who work in a simlar space. Many still often ask, “how did they do it”. Thomas as the producer, I believe, played a huge part in the facilitation and negotiation.

This story stayed with me, because of the nature of this NGO and because of my similar passion for using film as a key to open doors and make connections, rather than closing them. Thomas, and the legacy he left behind, will remain a lighthouse for us. He belonged to that first generation who travelled and broke the ice with China in the 1980s, with such an extraordinary project telling such an extraordinary story.

Despite its perceived sensitivity, The Last Emperor (1987) is surprisingly available for streaming across different platforms in mainland China. It has also been recognised by generations of politicians, filmmakers, intellectuals and cinephiles as THE best film made about China by a non-Chinese team. Thomas believed in Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci and helped launching him on an international stage, continuing to work with him over the following decades. The Chinese epic was independently financed rather than funded by the Studios, with a budget of around $24 million and took over three years to bring to the screen.

The recognition was mutual internationally. The film won all nine Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, awarded to Thomas as producer. It remains the most decorated film of Thomas’s career.

Thomas did not only work as a film producer during his active years. His many hats spanned the public sector — including serving as Chair of the British Film Institute — as well as production, international sales and distribution. He founded HanWay Films, an international sales, distribution and marketing company that remains an important player in bringing independent British and international titles to China and markets around the world.

As a producer, he was well known not only for discovering, but also for believing in, young talents. He had a reputation as a force of nature: someone who would concentrate on getting a project he believed in made first, and worry about how to sell it afterwards.

It is therefore not surprising that he supported and worked with so many filmmakers who, once upon a time, were themselves independent, emerging or unconventional voices: Philippe Mora, Jerzy Skolimowski, Julien Temple, Nicolas Roeg, Nagisa Oshima, Stephen Frears, Bernardo Bertolucci, Karel Reisz, David Cronenberg, Peter Medak, Agnès Varda, Bob Rafelson, Volker Schlöndorff, Johnny Depp, Khyentse Norbu, Jonathan Glazer, Takeshi Kitano, Phillip Noyce, Claire Peploe, David Mackenzie, Terry Gilliam, Wim Wenders, Richard Linklater, Paul Mayeda Berges, Gerald McMorrow, Jon Amiel, Takashi Miike, Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Shepard, Ben Wheatley, Matteo Garrone, Bernard Rose, Amos Gitai, Agnieszka Holland, Viggo Mortensen and Stefano Mordini.

Personally, Thomas was perhaps the closest role model that I would continue to look up to. He has set the standard. He was not only a filmmaker, but an eccentric British film entrepreneur who had a vision and made things happen; who used films to keep doors open despite turbulent times with original ideas; and who demonstrated that there was another model outside Hollywood — one that connected Britain with the world.

As we enter another uncertain day in an uncertain era, we need more people like Thomas: people who are willing to safeguard that last moral frontier through cinematic encounters, and who protect the eccentricity, independence and curiosity that continue to define what that Greatness is about this country.

Jeremy Thomas was born on 26 July 1949. His films travelled around the world. More importantly, they opened doors for others to follow, like us. He was never Knighted.

Thank you Sir, for your service.

Filmography of Jeremy Thomas

As Producer

Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
The Shout (1978)
Bad Timing (1980)
Eureka (1982)
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1982)
The Hit (1984)
Insignificance (1984)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Everybody Wins (1990)
The Sheltering Sky (1990)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Little Buddha (1993)
Stealing Beauty (1995)
A Hundred and One Nights (1995)
Crash (1996)
Blood and Wine (1996)
All the Little Animals (1998) (Also director)
Sexy Beast (2000)
Brother (2000)
Young Adam (2003)
The Dreamers (2003)
Tideland (2005)
Fast Food Nation (2006)
Franklyn (2008)
Creation (2009)
Thirteen Assassins (2010)
Essential Killing (2010)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
Kon-Tiki (2012)
Dom Hemingway (2013)
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
High-Rise (2015)
Tale of Tales (2015)
Blade of the Immortal (2017)
Dogman (2018)
First Love (2019)
Samurai Marathon (2019)
Pinocchio (2019)
Traveling Light (2021)
Good Boy (2025)

As Executive Producer

The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle (1979)
Let Him Have It (1991)
Rough Magic (1995)
The Ogre (1995)
Victory (1996)
The Brave (1997)
The Cup (1999)
Gohatto (2000)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Triumph of Love (2002)
Travellers and Magicians (2003)
Promised Land Hotel (2004)
Dreaming Lhasa (2004)
Heimat 3 (2004)
Don’t Come Knocking (2004)
Glastonbury (2005)
Mister Lonely (2006)
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (2007)
Pina (2010)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020)
EO (2022)