Kevin MacDonald (director)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish director, best known for his films One Day in September
, State of Play
, The Last King of Scotland
and Touching the Void
.
, Scotland, the grandson of actress Wendy Orme and Hungarian-born English filmmaker Emeric Pressburger
, and educated at Glenalmond College
. His brother Andrew
is a film producer. Macdonald is a second cousin of comedian Norm Macdonald
.
In 1999, he married Tatiana Lund, with whom he has three sons and lives in North London
.
After making a series of biographical documentaries, Macdonald directed One Day in September
(1999), about the murder of Israeli athletes
at the 1972 Munich Olympics
. Possibly the most striking feature of this film was the lengthy interview with Jamal Al-Gashey
, the last known survivor of the Munich terrorists
(it has been suggested recently in Aaron Klein's book Striking Back that another, Mohammed Safady, might also still be alive). Macdonald found Al-Gashey through intermediaries, and was able to convince him that the film would only be truly authentic if Al-Gashey gave his side of the story. Since the former terrorist was convinced that Israel
i authorities were still hunting him (he had been in hiding ever since being ransomed for a hijacked airplane less than two months after the Munich massacre
), Al-Gashey agreed to the interview only on condition that he would be disguised, his face would be shown only in shadow or blurred out, and that the interview would be conducted by a person and in a place of Al-Gashey's choosing (which turned out to be Amman
, Jordan), although Al-Gashey agreed that Macdonald could be present. Since the interview was conducted entirely in Arabic (even though Al-Gashey was known to be fluent in English, having been interviewed in the language in 1972), and Al-Gashey (through paranoia or annoyance) frequently stormed out of the interview room, Macdonald didn't know if he had anything usable until he returned to London and hired an Arabic translator. The results spoke for themselves – the film won an Oscar
for Best Documentary.
His next film was Touching the Void
, which told the story of two climbers' disastrous attempt to scale the Siula Grande
in the Andes
in 1985. The film won the Alexander Korda
Award for Best British Film at the 2003–04 BAFTA Awards
– coincidentally, it was Korda who had given Macdonald's grandfather his first job when he had arrived in England in 1935.
He has also directed a number television commercials with Rogue Films who represent him for all his TV commercial work worldwide.
Macdonald directed the film adaptation
of hit BBC
television drama State of Play, starring Russell Crowe
. He then directed The Eagle (2011 film), an adaptation of the book The Eagle of the Ninth
, about a Roman Legion in 2nd Century A.D. in Scotland
. Bobby Fischer Goes to War, his next project, is a film about the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland, in which Bobby Fischer
took on the entire Soviet chess establishment. In March 2010 was announced he is set to direct the psychological thriller Murder Mystery for Tower Hill Entertainment.
Macdonald made a film called Life in a Day with producer Ridley Scott
. The footage had been filmed by millions of people all around the word about their life in one day and posted onto the world's largest video website YouTube
. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to a global live audience, on January 27 8pm EST.
One Day in September
One Day in September is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany...
, State of Play
State of Play (film)
State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
, The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland (film)
The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
and Touching the Void
Touching the Void (film)
Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb the 6,344 metre Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.-Outline:...
.
Personal life
Macdonald was born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, the grandson of actress Wendy Orme and Hungarian-born English filmmaker Emeric Pressburger
Emeric Pressburger
Emeric Pressburger was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a multiple-award-winning partnership known as The Archers and produced a series of classic British films, notably 49th Parallel , The...
, and educated at Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. The school's motto is Floreat Glenalmond...
. His brother Andrew
Andrew Macdonald (producer)
Andrew Macdonald is a Scottish film producer, best known for his collaborations with screenwriter John Hodge and director Danny Boyle, including Shallow Grave , Trainspotting and 28 Days Later ....
is a film producer. Macdonald is a second cousin of comedian Norm Macdonald
Norm MacDonald
Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
.
In 1999, he married Tatiana Lund, with whom he has three sons and lives in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
.
Career
He began his career with a biography of his grandfather, The Life and Death of a Screenwriter (1994), which he turned into the documentary The Making of an Englishman (1995).After making a series of biographical documentaries, Macdonald directed One Day in September
One Day in September
One Day in September is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany...
(1999), about the murder of Israeli athletes
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
at the 1972 Munich Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
. Possibly the most striking feature of this film was the lengthy interview with Jamal Al-Gashey
Jamal Al-Gashey
Jamal Al-Gashey was a member of the Black September offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization and is believed to be the last surviving member of the group of eight terrorists who carried out the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. He is visible several...
, the last known survivor of the Munich terrorists
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
(it has been suggested recently in Aaron Klein's book Striking Back that another, Mohammed Safady, might also still be alive). Macdonald found Al-Gashey through intermediaries, and was able to convince him that the film would only be truly authentic if Al-Gashey gave his side of the story. Since the former terrorist was convinced that Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i authorities were still hunting him (he had been in hiding ever since being ransomed for a hijacked airplane less than two months after the Munich massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
), Al-Gashey agreed to the interview only on condition that he would be disguised, his face would be shown only in shadow or blurred out, and that the interview would be conducted by a person and in a place of Al-Gashey's choosing (which turned out to be Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan), although Al-Gashey agreed that Macdonald could be present. Since the interview was conducted entirely in Arabic (even though Al-Gashey was known to be fluent in English, having been interviewed in the language in 1972), and Al-Gashey (through paranoia or annoyance) frequently stormed out of the interview room, Macdonald didn't know if he had anything usable until he returned to London and hired an Arabic translator. The results spoke for themselves – the film won an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Documentary.
His next film was Touching the Void
Touching the Void (film)
Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb the 6,344 metre Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.-Outline:...
, which told the story of two climbers' disastrous attempt to scale the Siula Grande
Siula Grande
Siula Grande is a mountain in the Cordillera Huayhuash, in the Peruvian Andes. It is 6344 m high and has a subpeak, Siula Chico, 6260 m high.-Touching the Void ascent:In 1985 Siula Grande was climbed by Joe Simpson and Simon Yates...
in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
in 1985. The film won the Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
Award for Best British Film at the 2003–04 BAFTA Awards
57th British Academy Film Awards
The 57th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 15 February 2004, honoured the best in film for 2003....
– coincidentally, it was Korda who had given Macdonald's grandfather his first job when he had arrived in England in 1935.
He has also directed a number television commercials with Rogue Films who represent him for all his TV commercial work worldwide.
Macdonald directed the film adaptation
State of Play (film)
State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
of hit BBC
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
television drama State of Play, starring Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
. He then directed The Eagle (2011 film), an adaptation of the book The Eagle of the Ninth
The Eagle of the Ninth
The Eagle of the Ninth is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1954. The story is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, after the building of Hadrian's Wall....
, about a Roman Legion in 2nd Century A.D. in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Bobby Fischer Goes to War, his next project, is a film about the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland, in which Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
took on the entire Soviet chess establishment. In March 2010 was announced he is set to direct the psychological thriller Murder Mystery for Tower Hill Entertainment.
Macdonald made a film called Life in a Day with producer Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
. The footage had been filmed by millions of people all around the word about their life in one day and posted onto the world's largest video website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to a global live audience, on January 27 8pm EST.
Filmography
As director:- The Making of an Englishman (1995), about the filmmaker Emeric Pressburger
- Chaplin's Goliath (1996), about the actor Eric CampbellEric Campbell (actor)Alfred Eric Campbell was an English actor who for many years was wrongly believed to be Scottish....
. - The Moving World of George Rickey (1997)
- Howard Hawks: American Artist (1997)
- Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance (1998, also producer), about the film director Donald CammellDonald CammellDonald Seaton Cammell was a Scottish film director who enjoys a cult reputation thanks to his debut film Performance, which he co-directed with Nicolas Roeg.-Biography:...
. - One Day in SeptemberOne Day in SeptemberOne Day in September is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany...
(2000) (Won an Academy Award) - Humphrey Jennings (2000)
- A Brief History of Errol Morris (2000), interview with Errol MorrisErrol MorrisErrol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and...
. - Being MickBeing MickBeing Mick is a 2001 television film which chronicles the life of Mick Jagger for one year. Much of the film was filmed by Mick using a handheld camera. The film documents his recording of the Goddess in the Doorway album, as well as daily life including his family and friends...
(2001). A fly-on-the-wall documentary following Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
. - Touching the VoidTouching the Void (film)Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb the 6,344 metre Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.-Outline:...
(2003). - The Last King of ScotlandThe Last King of Scotland (film)The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
(2006) - My Enemy's EnemyMy Enemy's EnemyMy Enemy's Enemy is a documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald in 2007.-Synopsis:The story of Klaus Barbie through World War II and post-war hiding journey in Argentina before being tried in France for crime against humanity.-Casting:...
(2007) - State of PlayState of Play (film)State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
(2009) - The Eagle (2011)
- Life in a Day (2011)
- Marley (2011)
External links
- An interview with Macdonald on the making of Touching the Void
- An interview with Macdonald on making The Last King of Scotland
- Television commercials
- Kevin Macdonald's Commercial Work (US)