Roland Joffé Biography

Fast Facts

• Garnered Oscar nominations for his first two feature films
• Has served as a board member of Operation USA, a non-profit organization geared at disaster relief efforts across third-world countries
• After graduating from Europe's only Jewish boarding school, he went on to complete his college requirements at the University of Manchester
• His father left his mother for the daughter of sculptor Jacob Epstein
• Began his career in the 1970s as a director-in-training for various television series at the BBC before transitioning to film in the early 1980s
• Quote: "The first two movies I made, 'The Killing Fields' and 'The Mission,' I loved making, but in some ways they've been an albatross round one's neck․ Everybody thinks that's what you're supposed to doing․"
• Although he often concentrated on politically-charged narratives like "The Killing Fields," he took a brief break from such serious material in 1993 to produce the big budget Hollywood film "Super Mario Bros․"
• Was almost not allowed to direct for the BBC at the beginning of his career because of his participation in Workers' Revolutionary Party meetings several years prior