In 1994 Corbijn directed a short film about Captain Beefheart/Don Van Vliet for the BBC called "Some Yoyo Stuff". He made his feature film debut with "Control", a film about the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. It premiered to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007. The film is based on Deborah Curtis' book "Touching from a Distance" about her late husband and the biography "Torn Apart" by Lindsay Reade (Tony Wilson's ex-wife) and Mick Middles. Although shown outside the Palme d'Or competition, "Control" was the big winner of the Director's Fortnight winning the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the "Regards Jeunes" Prize award for best first or second directed feature film and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar. It also won the Michael Powell award for best new British feature at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.