MICHAEL Winterbottom left his native Blackburn to become an acclaimed film director.

Jenny Scott spoke to him about his career...

HAVING crossed the north-south divide to pursue his career as a film director, Michael Winterbottom is well-placed to comment on outsiders.

For as a young apprentice working in the cutting rooms of London's impervious film industry, he got a taste of what it's like to live as a stranger in a "foreign" land.

He explained: "I was forced to emigrate from Blackburn to London to get a job.

"Whether you're someone just growing up or a refugee, everyone has some sense of what it's like to leave home and of the things you lose and gain. You build your own life and make your own choices."

The reference to refugees is pertinent because that's the subject of Michael's latest film In This World, which is released on DVD next month.

The award-winning film charts the arduous journey of two Afghan economic migrants, teenager Jamal and twenty-something Enhatullah, as they make their way from a Pakistan refugee camp to England in search of a new life. On the way the pair endure suffocating conditions in the back of lorries and are alternatively exploited and alienated by a world keen to make a fast buck from those who see emigration as a means to a better life.

Michael is well aware his work has rousing implications all over Britain, including his hometown.

"It's relevant to Blackburn, but immigration is an issue everywhere," he said.

"In the film you spend 90 minutes on these people's journey as they travel around the world. I hope it will persuade audiences that whatever the rights and wrongs of the law, if two people take those risks and are lucky enough to be successful we should try to welcome them with decency."

The subject is just one of many difficult topics Michael has grappled with since he made his first film in 1995.

He has gained a reputation as a prolific film maker, but he claims his output is merely a consequence of finding a job he loves.

"Most people, whether they're teachers or doctors or writers, work continuously," he said. "It's very rare to find anyone taking a couple of years off. But for some reason, in Britain, film makers have got the idea they should work one year and then leave it a couple of years before they work again. I feel there's nothing different about this job from anyone else's, so I work whenever I can."

Now 42, Michael's passion for film making was born when, as a 14-year-old, he visited a showing of German films at Blackburn Library.

He said: "Blackburn Film Society was showing a season of German new wave cinema on a 16mm projector.

"I remember that between each reel they had to stop and have a break. I saw films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, which I thought were brilliant. In particular, it was watching those films that made me decide what I wanted to do."

Having attended Lammack Primary School and Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, Michael studied English at Oxford. Together with producer Andrew Eaton he started his own company, Revolution Films, in 1996.

Since then he has worked with actors of the calibre of Kate Winslet, Robert Carlyle, Jimmy Nesbit and Steve Coogan and made films as varied as Jude, The Claim, Welcome to Sarajevo and 24 Hour Party People.

However, he still retains his links with his home town, paying regular visits to his parents and to Ewood Park, where he indulges another passion -- football.

"If Rovers got into the Champions League again, I'd consider moving back up to Blackburn," he enthused. "I don't get to see them as much as I'd like, but my dad's got a season ticket so he keeps me up to date with it all. Unfortunately, where I live is quite near Highbury, so I have to put up with a lot of Arsenal fans."

Michael's ideas come from a huge variety of sources, from conversations with friends to scripts that are sent to him. He said: "The idea for 24 Hour Party People stemmed from a conversation about Factory Records Andrew Eaton and I had one night in a bar.

"But each film is different. If we have an idea we try to get it made."

Part of the allure of making In This World for Michael lay in the fact the film's stars were two non-professional Afghan actors who were living in a Pakistan refugee camp before the film was made.

"They were fantastic people to work with," said Michael. "In This World was the best experience I've had in film making. I wanted audiences to experience these lives they wouldn't normally get a chance to see. All the way along the route we met refugees who were really making this journey. We were aware how lucky we were as a film crew. We had things easy, but there were these thousands of people who were risking their lives."

One of the film's actors, 16-year-old Jamal, is now living in London although he's been told he must return to Afghanistan on his 18th birthday.

Michael said: "Jamal actually gave us the film's title. He was watching the end of the film, where he has to inform Enhatullah's family of his friend's death, and our subtitle said: 'I'm sorry he's dead.' Jamal told us: 'I didn't say that. I said he was not in this world'."

Michael has just finished yet another film, Code 46, set in Shanghai and Dubai and starring Tim Robbins. It will be shown at the Venice Film Festival in September, where Michael hopes it will be a success.

"Otherwise," he said. "I could be moving back to Blackburn a lot sooner than you'd think!"