Roland Joffé (;"Roland Joffé and David Puttnam interview for The Killing Fields (1984)" 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 JofféThe Independent, 5 October 2007: Roland Joffé: Why the director is a victim of his own successJune Rose, Daemons and Angels: A Life of Jacob Epstein, London: Constable, 2002, p.244,258Mark Joffe by Jacob Epstein, 1952 Watford Museum began a relationship with the daughter of Jacob Epstein and Kathleen Garman, Esther Garman, who helped raise Roland.Esther Garman biography The New Art Gallery WalsallPhotograph of Esther Garman cutting Roland Joffe's birthday cake, c1951 Garman Ryan Collection, The New Art Gallery WalsallPhotograph of Jacob Epstein, Kathleen Garman, Mark Joffe and Esther Garman at Open-Air Sculpture Exhibition, 1948 Garman Ryan Collection, The New Art Gallery Walsall 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.Roland Joffe by Theodore Garman, 1949-1951 Garman Ryan Collection, The New Art Gallery WalsallRoland Joffe by Jacob Epstein Garman Ryan Collection, 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,The Independent, 5 October 2007: Roland Joffé: Why the director is a victim of his own success Retrieved 2013-03-06IMDb: Roland Joffé Filmography Retrieved 2013-03-06 Sam, The Stars Look Down, Crown Court, Bill Brand, and Headmaster.
In 1977, producer Tony Garnett was commissioned by the BBC to direct the play The Spongers within BBCs Play for Today series. He informed the BBC drama department that he wanted to hire Roland Joffé as director, but was told that Joffé did not possess BBC clearance and was regarded a "security risk" (see: "Christmas tree" files).Mark Hollingsworth and Richard Norton-Taylior Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting, London: Hogarth Press, 1988, p.97-99. The relevant extract from this book is here. The reason was that Joffé had attended some Workers Revolutionary Party meetings in the early 1970s,At that time, the WRP was known as the Socialist Labour League, but Hollingsworth and Norton-Taylor use the later form. 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."Blacklist, p.98 Only after Garnett threatened he would "go public", was the veto on Joffé's appointment withdrawn. The Spongers won the prestigious Prix Italia award.
Joffé also directed an episode in BBC's Second City Firsts in 1977 and later directed two more plays for Play for Today: The Legion Hall Bombing (1979) and United Kingdom (1981). In 1979, he directed the TV play No, Mama, No by Verity Bargate for the ITV Playhouse series, and in 1980 he made a version of 17th century dramatist John Ford's play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore as a TV film for the BBC.
Film director Roland Joffé's first two feature films (The Killing Fields, 1984, and The Mission, 1986) each garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Joffé worked closely with producer David Puttnam on each film. The Killing Fields detailed the friendship of two men, an American journalist for The New York Times, and his translator, a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge in Communist Cambodia. It won three Academy Awards (for Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing) and was nominated for four more (including Best Picture and Best Director). The Mission was a story of conflict between Jesuit missionaries in South America, who were trying to convert the Guaraní Indians, and the Portuguese and Spanish colonisers, who wanted to enslave the natives. In an interview with Thomas Bird, Joffé says of The Mission, "The Indians are innocent. The film is about what happens in the world... what that innocence brings out in us. You would sit in a cinema in New York, or in Tokyo, or Paris, and for that point of time you would be joined with your companions on this planet. You would come out with a real sense of a network.".Bird, Thomas. "Roland Joffé " , BOMB Magazine Winter, 1987. Retrieved 2012-11-26. 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.Roland Joffé's new film Mission: to uncover secrets of the Opus Dei The Guardian. 8 June 2009Bringing a Saint’s Life to the Screen The New York Times. 22 August 2009 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."Director Roland Joffé Explains "There Be Dragons", CBN.com.
In 2013, Joffé directed the internationally co-produced historical adventure film, The Lovers.
Personal life From 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".Roland Joffé Interview to the National Catholic Register
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer1984The Killing Fields1986The Mission1989Fat Man and Little Boy1992City of Joy1993Super Mario Bros.1995The Scarlet Letter1998Goodbye Lover2000VatelWaterproof2007Captivity2008You and I2011There Be Dragons2013The Lovers2017The ForgivenNovember 1963
Executive producer Blood on the Crown (2021)
Television Year Title Notes1973–74Coronation Street4 episodes1974–75Sam4 episodes1975The Stars Look Down6 episodes1976Crown Court4 episodesBill Brand5 episodes1977Headmaster3 episodesSecond City Firsts1 episode1978The SpongersPlay for TodayEpisode: "The Legion Hall Bombing"1979No, Mama, No1980Tis Pity She's a Whore1981Play for TodayEpisode: "United Kingdom"2002Undressed1 episode2015Texas Rising5 episodes2017Sun Records8 episodes2019A Lover ScornedTelevision film2026The Gray House8 episodes
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominated work ResultPrix Italia1978The SpongersPrix Italia, Winners 1949 – 2010, RAI Academy Awards1985Best DirectorThe Killing Fields1987The MissionGolden Globe Awards1985Best DirectorThe Killing Fields1987The MissionCannes Film Festival1986Palme d'OrThe MissionTechnical Grand PrizeBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts1985Best DirectionThe Killing Fields1987The MissionBest FilmBerlin International Film Festival1990Golden BearFat Man and Little BoyGolden Raspberry Awards1996Worst PictureThe Scarlet LetterWorst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or SequelWorst Director2008Captivity
Directed Academy Award performancesUnder Joffé's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations (and one win) for their performances in their respective roles. +YearPerformerFilmResultAcademy Award for Best Actor1985Sam WaterstonThe Killing FieldsAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor1985Haing S. NgorThe 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)