Kevin Macdonald British film director, producer and screenwriter. Date of Birth: 28.10.1967 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Kevin MacDonald

Kevin MacDonald is a British film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his acclaimed documentary films, including "One Day in September" and "Touching the Void," as well as the drama "The Last King of Scotland." Born on October 28, 1967, in Glasgow, Scotland, MacDonald is the grandson of actress Wendy Orme and Hungarian-born British director, producer, and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger.

MacDonald's brother, Andrew, chose a career in film production, while MacDonald himself attended the prestigious Scottish boarding school, Glenalmond College. In 1999, he married Tatiana Lund, an artist and set decorator, and they have three sons together. MacDonald and his family currently reside in North London.

MacDonald began his career by adapting his famous grandfather's biography, "The Life and Death of a Screenwriter," into the documentary film "The Making of an Englishman" in 1995. After several biographical documentaries, MacDonald embarked on the film "One Day in September," which explores the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He managed to secure an interview with the last surviving terrorist, Jamal Al-Gashey, who had been on the run for nearly 40 years. The result of MacDonald's persistence and courage was an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

In his next film, "Touching the Void" in 2003, MacDonald tells the story of two mountaineers' disastrous attempt to climb Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. The film received the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film and showcased MacDonald's ability to create gripping and visually stunning narratives.

Currently, MacDonald is working on a groundbreaking project in collaboration with British director and producer Ridley Scott. Together with Google-owned video platform YouTube, Scott and MacDonald announced their plan to create a film composed of various amateur videos from around the world, all filmed on July 24, 2010. Anyone can participate in the project, regardless of their filming equipment. The videos will be accepted until July 31, 2010, and a selection of the submitted footage will be included in the future film, tentatively titled "Life in a Day." All videos, whether included in the final film or not, will be preserved on a dedicated channel on the YouTube platform for viewers to access. The premiere of "Life in a Day" is scheduled for late January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States, making it a groundbreaking experiment in cinema history, offering a unique and diverse perspective on life through the eyes of thousands of people.