Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television director, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986), both of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the latter winning the Palme d'Or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.
Joffé began his career in television, his early credits including episodes of Coronation Street and an adaptation of The Stars Look Down for Granada. He gained a reputation for hard-hitting political stories with the series Bill Brand and factual dramas for Play for Today. In the late 1980s, he co-founded the production company Lightmotive with Ben Myron.
Early life and education
Joffé was born in London to a family of French and Jewish origin. Around 1950, Roland's father Mark Joffé began a relationship with the daughter of Jacob Epstein and Kathleen Garman, Esther Garman, who helped raise Roland. After Esther's suicide in 1954, Roland lived with her parents. Portraits of Roland as a child by Jacob Epstein and Esther's brother Theodore Garman are part of the Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall.
Joffé was educated at two independent schools: the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, and Carmel College in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, which was Europe's only Jewish boarding school, until it closed in 1997. He completed his formal education at the University of Manchester.
Career
TV director
After university, Joffé joined Granada Television as a trainee director in 1973, where he directed episodes of Coronation Street, Sam, The reason was that Joffé had attended some Workers Revolutionary Party meetings in the early 1970s, although he never became a party member. He explained around 1988: "I was very interested in politics at that time. But I was interested in what all the political parties were doing, not just the WRP, and I was never actively involved." Only after Garnett threatened he would "go public", was the veto on Joffé's appointment withdrawn. The film won the Palme d'Or and Technical Grand Jury Prize at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival. It achieved six Academy Awards nominations—including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Ennio Morricone's acclaimed Best Original Score—and won one, for Best Cinematography.
In 1993, he produced and partially directed a big budget adaptation of the video game Super Mario Bros.. The film struggled to make back its budget. His 1995 adaptation of The Scarlet Letter was a critical and financial disaster, and his 2007 horror film Captivity drew controversy with its advertising billboards, widely regarded as exploitative and misogynistic . He received Razzie Nominations for Worst Director for The Scarlet Letter and Captivity.
His 2011 release, There Be Dragons, garnered press attention as it dealt with the Catholic organisation Opus Dei. A movie about faith and forgiveness, There Be Dragons is a project that Joffé says has a message he's proud to say on film. In an interview with CBN.com, he stated, "I have a very deep emotional investment in this film. I feel that I really want to stand behind what it says to us as human beings."
In 2013, Joffé directed the internationally co-produced historical adventure film, The Lovers.
Personal life
thumb|Roland Joffé by Jacob Epstein, c. 1949From 1974 to 1980, Joffé was married to actress Jane Lapotaire; they have a son, screenwriter and director Rowan Joffé (b. 1973). Later, he and actress Cherie Lunghi were in a longterm relationship; they have a daughter, actor Nathalie Lunghi (b. 1986).
Joffé is a board member of the nonprofit organization Operation USA. He was the official patron of the 2011 Cambodia Volleyball World Cup held from 23 to 29 July at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. Roland Joffé lives in Malta and is an active member of the team organising the Valletta Film Festival.
Religiously, Joffé has described himself as a "wobbly agnostic".
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Writer
! Producer
|-
|1984
|The Killing Fields
|
|
|
|-
|1986
|The Mission
|
|
|
|-
|1989
|Fat Man and Little Boy
|
|
|
|-
|1992
|City of Joy
|
|
|
|-
|1993
|Super Mario Bros.
|
|
|
|-
|1995
|The Scarlet Letter
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|Goodbye Lover
|
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2000
|Vatel
|
|
|
|-
|Waterproof
|
|
|
|-
|2007
|Captivity
|
|
|
|-
|2008
|You and I
|
|
|
|-
|2011
|There Be Dragons
|
|
|
|-
|2013
|The Lovers
|
|
|
|-
|2017
|The Forgiven
|
|
|
|-
|
|November 1963
|
|
|
|}
Executive producer
- Blood on the Crown (2021)
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
|1973–74
|Coronation Street
|4 episodes
|-
|1974–75
|Sam
|4 episodes
|-
|1975
|The Stars Look Down
|6 episodes
|-
|rowspan=2|1976
|Crown Court
|4 episodes
|-
|Bill Brand
|5 episodes
|-
|rowspan=2|1977
|Headmaster
|3 episodes
|-
|Second City Firsts
|1 episode
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
|The Spongers
|
|-
|Play for Today
|Episode: "The Legion Hall Bombing"
|-
|1979
|No, Mama, No
|
|-
|1980
|Tis Pity She's a Whore
|
|-
|1981
|Play for Today
|Episode: "United Kingdom"
|-
|2002
|Undressed
|1 episode
|-
|2015
|Texas Rising
|5 episodes
|-
|2017
|Sun Records
|8 episodes
|-
|2019
|A Lover Scorned
|Television film
|-
|2026
|The Gray House
|8 episodes
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
|-
|Prix Italia
|1978
|
|The Spongers
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Academy Awards
|1985
| rowspan="2" |Best Director
|The Killing Fields
|
|-
|1987
|The Mission
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Golden Globe Awards
|1985
| rowspan="2" |Best Director
|The Killing Fields
|
|-
|1987
|The Mission
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Cannes Film Festival
|rowspan=2|1986
|Palme d'Or
| rowspan="2" |The Mission
|
|-
|Technical Grand Prize
|
|-
|rowspan=3|British Academy of Film and Television Arts
|1985
| rowspan="2" |Best Direction
|The Killing Fields
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1987
| rowspan="2" |The Mission
|
|-
|Best Film
|
|-
|Berlin International Film Festival
|1990
|Golden Bear
|Fat Man and Little Boy
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Golden Raspberry Awards
|rowspan=3|1996
|Worst Picture
| rowspan="3" |The Scarlet Letter
|
|-
|Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Worst Director
|
|-
|2008
|Captivity
|
|-
|}
Directed Academy Award performances<br />Under Joffé's direction, these actors have received Academy Award wins and nominations for their performances in their respective roles.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Performer
!Film
!Result
|-
! colspan="4" |Academy Award for Best Actor
|-
|1985
|Sam Waterston
|The Killing Fields
|
|-
! colspan="4" |Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
|-
|1985
|Haing S. Ngor
|The Killing Fields
|
|}
See also
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain
References
External links
- BOMB Magazine interview with Roland Joffé by Thomas Bird (Winter, 1987)