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'I am delighted and honoured to be joining the BFI as Chair', Minghella, 49, said in a statement. 'Most of all I want to promote a BFI whose work is better understood by the public'.
Minghella, a former drama teacher who moved to writing for Muppeteer Jim Henson and then into filmmaking, is best known for his 1996 Oscar-winning The English Patient for which he wrote the screenplay and directed.
He started feature filmmaking five years earlier with the popular romance 'Truly, Madly, Deeply' starring Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.
He also directed 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' with Gwyneth Paltrow , Matt Damon and Jude Law , and has completed principal photography on his latest epic 'Cold Mountain' with Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger.
Minghella was born in January 1954 on the Isle of Wight - just off England's south coast. He'll head the 15-seat board of governors of the BFI, a charity which was set up in 1933 to spread the word about British cinema.
Among the BFI's assets are the world's most extensive film and television archive including 275,000 feature films dating back to 1894, 210,000 television programs and seven million film stills.
The BFI also operates the renowned National Film Theatre and hosts the annual Regus London Film Festival which attracts audiences and directors from around the world.
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