MALCOLM CLARKE, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
OF THE FILM "PRISONER OF PARADISE"

Two-time Academy Award winning Producer, Director and Documentarian MALCOLM CLARKE has been making films since the mid-seventies. Most of his early work was produced in his native England, while in recent years he has worked in the United States. Mr. Clarke's work has received 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 and YOU DON'T HAVE TO DIE about a young boy's successful battle against cancer which won the Academy Award® for best short documentary.

Currently, Mr. Clarke is writing and producing a number of feature film projects. They include DANCING WITH GIANTS (The Life of Tom Thumb) for the Bubble Factory. As a writer he is developing A LIFE APART for Kevin Costner and Warner Brothers; BLOODLINES with Joe Esterhaus; and PRIOR LIVES for Sid Sheinberg and The Bubble Factory.

Mr. Clarke began his career at the BBC, directing everything from the Nightly News and Documentaries, to Game Shows and Music programming. Upon leaving the BBC in 1975, he worked for Granada TV, Thames TV and London Weekend TV, directing the films THE SECRET GARDEN and EASTERN PROMISE, plus several episodes of the award-winning dramatic series UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF STEVE BIKO (shot entirely in secret in South Africa) about the murder of the celebrated political activist, brought Mr 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 Mr. 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.

In 1995, Mr. Clarke directed his first theatrical feature, VOICES FROM A LOCKED ROOM for Sony, a period film-noir about the true-life tragedy surrounding the destructively bizarre relationship between a powerful English music critic and an ambitious young composer which starred Jeremy Northam.

Through Media Verite, the production company that produced PRISONER OF PARADISE, Mr. Clarke and his partner Stuart Sender are developing a feature film version of Kurt Gerron's story. They are also developing ESCAPE FROM AUSCHWITZ, the true story of a Nazi guard and Jewish inmate who escape together from the Concentration Camp; PRISONER IN A RED ROSE CHAIN, a romantic comedy; and an action movie entitled CITIZEN SOLDIER. They are also creating a reality series set in the world of broadcast journalism, and they are beginning work on their next feature documentary, which is described as "an environmental thriller."

FILM: "PRISONER OF PARADISE"

PRESENTATION DATE AND LOCALE:

- Friday, April 13th: from 11:30-2:00 in Room N429

MORE ON THE FILM:

"Prisoner of Paradise" is the startling true story of Kurt Gerron, a well known and beloved German-Jewish actor, director and cabaret star in Berlin in the 1920's and '30's. Among his greatest accomplishments, Gerron co-starred with the legendary Marlene Dietrich in the film classic The Blue Angel. He also sang Mack The Knife in the original production of Threepenny Opera. Ultimately, he was captured and sent to a concentration camp, where he was ordered to write and direct a pro-Nazi propaganda film. PRISONER OF PARADISE follows Kurt Gerron's career and remarkable odyssey, offering a unique prospective on this extraordinary period.

Shot on location in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Prague, PRISONER OF PARADISE is directed by Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender who have won Emmy and Academy awards for their work. Jake Eberts, whose credits include Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves and A River Runs Through It, is the film's Executive Producer. Co-Producer is David Eberts.

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