Matthew
Hammett Knott

Matthew Hammett Knott is an award-winning director and screenwriter whose work has screened worldwide from London to Reykjavik, Moscow, Sydney, Berlin and Tel Aviv.

Matthew is currently writing his first book, to be published by Orion. He is also writing a number of commissions for film and TV. These include Nefertiti, a comedy pilot for Channel 4 and Big Talk, and Glamrou, a musical feature for the BFI — both co-written with drag performer Amrou Al-Kadhi. He is also writing The Country Wife, a commission of his original pitch for Ecosse.

His debut feature film Bonobo, starring James Norton, premiered at Raindance where was nominated for Best British Feature. It received its international premiere in Reykjavik where it was nominated for the festival’s main prize, the Golden Puffin. Released theatrically in the UK, it played on 24 screens including 18 Picturehouse cinemas as part of their Discover Tuesdays programme. The film received excellent reviews including from The Telegraph, Time Out and Total Film who gave Bonobo four stars and called it “smart, funny and original”. It received a limited US release in 2016.

Matthew’s last short film On This Island, starring James Norton and Michele Valley from the Oscar-nominated Dogtooth, won Best British Short at Encounters and the Golden Egg for Best Short Film in Reykjavik. It also screened in competition at the world-famous Clermont Ferrand Festival and on Channel 4’s Shooting Gallery. His first short film Ouroboros starred BAFTA Award Winner Anamaria Marinca from the Palme d’or-winning 4 Months 3 Weeks & 2 Days.

He studied film in Havana, Cuba and at Cambridge University, and cites his key influences as Pedro Almodovar, Charlie Kaufman and Muriel’s Wedding.

He is also a songwriter published by SonyATV, and co-wrote Baby, a Silver-Certified UK airplay No.1, for Clean Bandit, Marina and Luis Fonsi.