Directors

Malcolm Clarke

115

b. England

Malcolm Clarke was born in England but has lived in Montreal since the mid-1990s. He began his career at the BBC, directing everything from the Nightly News and documentaries, to game shows and music programming. He left the BBC in 1975 and worked for Granada TV, Thames TV and London Weekend TV. He co-produced (with Michael Ryan) and directed the television documentary The Life and Death of Steven Biko, which aired on Granada TV, plus several episodes of the award-winning dramatic series Upstairs/Downstairs. The Life and Death of Steven Biko (shot entirely in secret in South Africa) brought Clarke`s work to a wider audience. The Monte Carlo Film Festival awarded the film its Grand Prize, making Biko`s murder a ’cause celebre’ around the world. The film also brought Clarke to the U.S. to produce and direct his first American film. Terror in The Promised Land was a highly controversial investigation into the inner workings of a Palestinian Terrorist Suicide Squad and was aired on the ABC network`s Closeup. Clarke won wide recognition, including an Academy Award® for best documentary feature for Soldiers in Hiding, a portrait of Vietnam veterans who return home unable to cope and live in the American wilderness. His second Oscar® came in 1989 in the best documentary short category for You Don’t Have to Die, about a child battling cancer who inspired other youngsters with the disease. In March of 2014 he won his third Academy Award in the Documentary Short category for The Lady in Number 6. He shared the award with Nicholas Reed, who also hails from England but now lives in Los Angeles. The 38-minute film tells the story of Alice Herz-Sommer, whose devotion to music and her son helped her survive two years in a Nazi prison camp. She was believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor before her death in late February 2014 at the age of 110. The Lady in Number 6 isn’t technically considered a Canadian film under funding rules, but it was shot in Canada using a Montréal film crew.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

The Life and Death of Steven Biko (TV-1977)
Terror in The Promised Land (TV-1978)

Myths Behind the Miracle (TV-1981
Peace on Borrowed Time (TV-1983)
An American Journey (TV-1983)
Being Homosexual (TV-1984)
Soldiers in Hiding (TV-1984)
Vigilante (1987)
Do the Guilty Go Free (1988)
You Don’t Have to Die (1988)

Guns: A Day in the Death of America (1990)
Surviving Salvation (1992, short)
Voices from a Locked Room (1995)

Prisoner of Paradise (2002)
Chasing Holden (2003)

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2013, short)

Credits as a Screenwriter:
Myths Behind the Miracle (TV-1981
Soldiers in Hiding (TV-1984)
Vigilante (1987)
Do the Guilty Go Free (1988)
You Don’t Have to Die (1988)

Guns: A Day in the Death of America (1990)
Surviving Salvation (1992, short)

Prisoner of Paradise (2002)

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2013, short)

Credits as a Producer:
The Life and Death of Steven Biko (TV-1977)
Terror in The Promised Land (TV-1978)

Myths Behind the Miracle (TV-1981
An American Journey (TV-1983)
Being Homosexual (TV-1984)
Soldiers in Hiding (TV-1984)
Vigilante (1987)
Do the Guilty Go Free (1988)
You Don’t Have to Die (1988)

Guns: A Day in the Death of America (1990)
Surviving Salvation (1992, short)

Prisoner of Paradise (2002)

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (2013, short)

TV Series – at least 1 episode of:
America Undercover (1986)

;The Lady in Number 6, movie poster;