Jon Blair
{{Short description|South African-born British film director and producer}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2025}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
Jon Blair, CBE (born 1950), is a South African-born British writer, film producer, and director of documentaries, drama, and comedy.
Biography
Jon Blair was born in South Africa in 1950. After evading conscription into the South African Defence Force in 1966, he fled to England. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an International Documentary Association Distinguished Achievement Award, and a BAFTA.{{Cite web |title=BAFTA Awards: Jon Blair |url=https://awards.bafta.org/award/1983/television |website=British Academy of Film and Television Arts}} He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to film.{{Cite news |date=12 June 2015 |title=Queen's birthday honours list 2015: GCB, DBE and CBE |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/12/queens-birthday-honours-list-2015-gcb-dbe-cbe |work=The Guardian}} In 1994, Blair received an honorary doctorate from Stockton University (then Richard Stockton College) for advancing human rights awareness through film.{{Cite web |title=Honorary Degree Recipients |url=https://stockton.edu/academic-affairs/commencement/honorary-degrees.html |website=Stockton University}}
In 2003, Blair served as a visiting professor at Stockton, teaching a cross-disciplinary course on real-world issue research.
Documentaries
Blair's 1995 documentary Anne Frank Remembered won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and an International Emmy Award.{{Cite web |title=Anne Frank Remembered |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996 |website=Academy Awards Database}} It also received awards at the Chicago International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, and others.
His 1983 BAFTA-winning documentary Schindler, narrated by Dirk Bogarde, preceded Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and served as a research resource for the film.{{Cite news |last=Keneally |first=Thomas |date=15 December 1993 |title=The Director's List |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/15/movies/the-director-s-list.html}} Blair re-released Schindler in 2019 with Ben Kingsley narrating.{{Cite news |date=17 November 2019 |title=Hernán, la serie sobre Cortés, encabeza los recomendados de series y películas para la semana |language=es |work=Clarín |url=https://www.clarin.com/espectaculos/tv/hernan-serie-cortes-encabeza-recomendados-series-peliculas-semana_0_p9wBwk8B.html}}
Blair's 2022 documentary Navalny: The Man Putin Couldn't Kill won the Gold Nymph Award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.{{Cite news |date=20 June 2022 |title=Monte Carlo TV Festival Winners |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/monte-carlo-tv-festival-winners-1235165120/}}
As Head of Documentaries for Al Jazeera English (2011–2013), Blair executive-produced Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, which won a George Polk Award and Amnesty International Media Award.{{Cite web |title=2012 Amnesty International Media Awards |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/2012-media-awards-winners |website=Amnesty International UK}}
Other works include:
- Dancing with the Devil (2009), examining Rio de Janeiro's drug wars.{{Cite news |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=5 October 2009 |title=Dancing with the Devil Review |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/05/dancing-devil-review}}
- Ochberg's Orphans (2007), Oscar-shortlisted for Best Short Documentary.{{Cite web |title=Oscar Shortlist 2008 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2008 |website=Academy Awards Database}}
- Murder Most Foul (2007), a crime documentary for Channel 4.
Theatrical films
- Monster in a Box (1991), produced by Blair and directed by Nick Broomfield, featuring Spalding Gray.
Drama and comedy
Blair co-created Spitting Image (1984–1987), winning two Emmys.{{Cite web |title=Spitting Image Awards |url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/spitting-image |website=Emmy Awards}} Other works include BBC's Dawn French's Girls Who Do: Comedy (2006).
Theatre
Blair authored The Biko Inquest (1978), a play about Steve Biko's death, staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company and starring Albert Finney.{{Cite news |last=O'Connor |first=John J. |date=12 September 1985 |title=TV Review: 'The Biko Inquest' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/12/arts/tv-review-the-biko-inquest-on-showtime.html}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0086282}}
- [https://www.sonyclassics.com/annefrank/ Sony Classics: Anne Frank Remembered]
- [https://annefrankremembered.co.uk/ Official site: Anne Frank Remembered]
- [http://jonblairfilms.com/ Jon Blair Films]
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Category:British film directors
Category:British documentary filmmakers
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:British television show creators