Marc James Francis Explained

Marc James Francis
Othername:Marc J. Francis, Marc Francis
Occupation:Film director, film producer, documentary film cinematographer
Yearsactive:2000–present
Birth Date:4 December 1975
Birth Place:UK

Marc James Francis (also known as Marc J. Francis and Marc Francis) is a British film director, producer and documentary cinematographer.[1] [2] [3] [4]

In 2007, Marc and his brother Nick Francis were chosen by Harper’s Bazaar magazine as two of their top Forty Under 40; Household Names of the Future.[5] In 2007, The Observer newspaper named the brothers as some of Britain’s Rising Stars.[6] They both were regular contributors to the Observer's sister paper The Guardian between 2006 and 2012, notably in its film blog.[7]

Marc is Co-founder and Creative Director of the production company Speakit, founded in 2004 with his brother Nick Francis.[8] [9]

Early life

Prior to his film career, Marc was an undergraduate at the University of Leeds where he learned Mandarin.[10] He also studied Chinese cinema and lived in China during the economic boom of the mid-1990s.[6]

During that time, together with his brother Nick Francis, he made a documentary about the anti-nuclear weapons protest movement and their attempts to shut down Britain’s Trident submarine base in Scotland in 2002.[11]

Career

In 2004, Francis and his brother founded British production company Speakit Films. Their first Speakit film was Black Gold which launched at the Sundance film festival in 2006[12] to critical acclaim.[13] [14] [15] His work has been supported by The Sundance Institute, The BRITDOC Foundation, the BFI, Bertha Foundation[16] CNC and EU MEDIA Programme Fund.[9] [17] [18]

Feature films

Black Gold (2006)

Directed and produced with his brother Nick Francis, Black Gold was the first film to receive funding from BritDoc.[19] The film follows the efforts of an Ethiopian Coffee Union manager as he travels the world to obtain a better price for his workers' coffee beans.[20] The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.[21] It was nominated to[22] [23] and won several awards, amongst which Best Achievement in Production - British Independent Film Awards 2007 and Contemporary Issues - San Francisco Black Film Festival (2006).

Black Gold went on to be seen in over 60 international film festivals including London, Rome, Berlin, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Rio de Janeiro and has secured major broadcast deals around the world including Channel 4 (UK), PBS/Independent Lens (US), Documentary Channel (Canada), NHK (Japan), and Al-jazeera (Middle East).[24]

The film has attracted wide coverage in the media including features on CNN,[25] The Guardian,[26] BBC World, BBC News 24,[27] Sky News,[28] Bloomberg, The Observer,[29] The Times,[30] The Daily Telegraph,[31] New York Times,[32] LA Times,[33] The Washington Post[34] and The Sunday Times.[35]

Since the first showing of Black Gold during Sundance, Starbucks sent people to screenings of the film in what has been called by one journalist "going on a charm offensive".[26] As the film became more and more popular, Starbucks flew Tadesse and four other African coffee producers to their Seattle headquarters for a weekend conference, which was seen by many as a PR stunt.[36] Further, just before the film premiered at the London Film Festival in October 2006, a memo received by Starbucks staff from the headquarters leaked to the Black Gold forum. The internal memo was sent out to inform all Starbucks employees that Black Gold was "incomplete and inaccurate".[37]

When China Met Africa (2010)

Directed and produced with his brother Nick Francis. Set on the front line of Chinaʼs foray into Africa, the film follows the lives of a Chinese farmer, a road builder, and the Zambian trade minister.[38]

Walk with Me (2017)

In 2011, Marc was invited by filmmaker and friend Max Pugh to help him make a film[39] about Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.[40] [41] He spent several months over 5 years living in Plum Village  - Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastery in France, where he learned the art of meditation and mindfulness. This experience changed his life and by 2017, they had completed their film Walk with Me and it was released worldwide.

Directed and produced with Max Pugh, the Benedict Cumberbatch narrated film premiered in 2017 and screened at international film festivals like SXSW,[42] BFI London Film Festival 2017,[43] Illuminate Film Festival[44] and Foyle Film Festival.[45]

Short films

A Letter from Calais (2016)

Directed by Marc and Nick Francis and produced by Marc and Nick Francis and Max Pugh released in October 2016 for Benedict Cumberbatch's company, Sunny March.[46] [47] Featuring Jude Law,[48] the film aims to draw attention to the hundreds of unaccompanied children living in the Calais refugee camp.

Madam President (2012)

Directed and produced by Marc and Nick Francis released on The Guardian website in December 2012 and supported by The Guardian and the Worldview Broadcast Media Scheme.[49] The film is an exclusive portrait of Malawi’s first female President Joyce Banda, as she tries to steer her country out of an economic crisis.

TV Documentaries

Nuke UK (2001)

Channel 4 / Ideal World Productions TV documentary directed by Marc and Nick Francis.[46]

St Dunstans (2003)

TV documentary of 6 x 30 minutes episodes directed by Marc J. Francis and released on ITV.[46]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: November 2010. Directors Marc and Nick Francis win first Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award For When China Met Africa at the American Museum of Natural History. September 13, 2020. American Museum of Natural History.
  2. Web site: The San Francisco Black Film Festival Announces Winners. 2020-09-23. www.studentfilmmakers.com.
  3. News: Adams. Tim. Conner. Megan. Elan. Priya. John. Emma. Shaitly. Shahesta. 2012-06-02. The 2012 winners of the Observer Ethical Awards in association with Ecover. en-GB. The Observer. 2020-09-23. 0029-7712.
  4. Web site: British Independent Film Awards (2007). 2020-09-23. IMDb.
  5. Web site: Forty Under 40; Household Names of the Future. September 2007. Harper’s Bazaar. July 13, 2017.
  6. Web site: Rising stars. July 10, 2007. The Observer. July 13, 2017.
  7. Web site: Marc Francis Profile. The Guardian Newspaper. July 14, 2017.
  8. Web site: Speakit Films . 2020-09-23. The Guardian. en.
  9. Web site: About Speakit. Speakit Films. July 13, 2017.
  10. Web site: 50th Anniversary of East Asian Studies. leeds.ac.uk. July 13, 2017.
  11. Web site: Nuke UK (2002). https://web.archive.org/web/20201001183757/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8779a81b. dead. October 1, 2020. 2020-09-23. BFI. en.
  12. Web site: IndieLondon: Black Gold - Marc and Nick Francis interview - Your London Reviews. 2020-09-23. www.indielondon.co.uk.
  13. News: French. Philip. 2007-06-09. Black Gold. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-09-23. 0261-3077.
  14. News: Hoyle. Ben. A wake up call to world's coffee giants. The Times. en. 2020-09-23. 0140-0460.
  15. Hornaday, Ann (8 December 2006). "Brewing 'Black Gold'". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 Sept 2020
  16. Web site: Bertha Directory of completed films A - Z. July 14, 2017.
  17. Web site: Impact of Art. britdoc.org. July 13, 2017.
  18. Web site: Key Crew. Speakit Films. July 13, 2017.
  19. Web site: Evans. 2007-06-08. Chris. Black Gold: storm in a coffee cup. 2020-09-23. Screen. en.
  20. Web site: Close-Up Film Filmmaking. 2008-05-22. 2017-07-18. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080522132345/http://www.close-upfilm.com/features/regionalfilm/southeast-news-brightonatsundance.htm. 2008-05-22.
  21. Web site: 2008-05-22. Close-Up Film Filmmaking. https://web.archive.org/web/20080522132345/http://www.close-upfilm.com/features/regionalfilm/southeast-news-brightonatsundance.htm. dead. 2008-05-22. 2020-09-23.
  22. Web site: 2006-10-24. Nominees Announced in Four Categories for 22nd Annual International Documentary Association Awards. 2020-09-23. Studio Daily. en.
  23. Web site: 2008-04-22. Why Ahlaam (Dreams) deserved to win. 2020-09-23. The Guardian. en.
  24. Web site: Impact. 2020-09-23. Black Gold Movie. en.
  25. Web site: 15 September 2008. Black Gold film shakes up coffee industry. 25 September 2020. Youtube. CNN.
  26. News: Seager. Ashley. 2007-01-29. Starbucks stirred by fair trade film. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-09-25. 0261-3077.
  27. Web site: 1 October 2006. BBC News - Live interview with Black Gold Directors Marc and Nick Francis and Kraft. 25 September 2020. Youtube. BBC News. Video.
  28. Web site: 7 June 2006. Sky News - Marc & Nick Francis talk about Black Gold, trade & coffee. 25 September 2020. Youtube. Sky News.
  29. News: French. Philip. 2007-06-09. Black Gold. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-09-25. 0261-3077.
  30. News: Hoyle. Ben. A wake up call to world's coffee giants. The Times. en. 2020-09-25. 0140-0460.
  31. Web site: Britain shines at Sundance. 2020-09-25. The Telegraph. en-GB.
  32. News: Scott. A. O.. 2006-01-27. Art in Review. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-09-25. 0362-4331.
  33. Web site: Chocano. Carina. 2007-01-12. Poverty in that morning cup. 2020-09-25. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
  34. News: Hornaday. Ann. 8 December 2006. Brewing 'Black Gold'. Washington Post. 25 September 2020.
  35. News: Dawson. Jeff. Wake up and smell the coffee. The Times. en. 2020-09-25. 0140-0460.
  36. Web site: Ethiopian coffee farmer Tadesse Meskela Gudeta tastes... 904004 - seattlepi.com. 2020-09-25. www.seattlepi.com.
  37. News: Forrest. Adam. 27 May 2007. Grounds for complaint? Why a film about coffee. 16–17. The Sunday Herald.
  38. News: When China Met Africa – review. Pulver. Andrew. 2011-10-06. The Guardian. 2017-07-18. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  39. Web site: 2017-09-21. Marc J. Francis: "Bringing in my documentary experience into the fiction film world, that's what I would like to do". 2020-09-23. FILM TALK. en.
  40. Web site: Benedict Cumberbatch boards Buddhism doc. July 14, 2017. Screen International.
  41. Web site: The Making of "Walk With Me". July 14, 2017. thichnhathanhfoundation.org.
  42. Web site: Barraclough. Leo. 2017-03-09. Alejandro G. Inarritu on Mindfulness Documentary 'Walk With Me' (EXCLUSIVE). 2020-09-13. Variety. en.
  43. Web site: . 2017-08-31. BFI - London Film Festival 2017. 2020-09-13. UKFilmNews.com. en-GB.
  44. Web site: Walk With Me ILLUMINATE Film Festival Sedona, Arizona. 2020-09-13. illuminatefilmfestival.com.
  45. Web site: 2017-10-06. Walk With Me (NI Premiere). 2020-09-13. Foyle Film Festival. en.
  46. Web site: Nick Francis and Marc J Francis. United Agents. July 13, 2017.
  47. Web site: Benedict Cumberbatch joins wife Sophie Hunter for Letters Live. 14 March 2016. July 14, 2017.
  48. Web site: A Letter from Calais - Short Film. 11 March 2016. July 14, 2017.
  49. News: Madam President: meeting Malawi's Joyce Banda – video. The Guardian. 17 December 2012. July 14, 2017. Francis. Directed by Nick. Francis. Marc.

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