Marc James Francis (also known as Marc J. Francis and Marc Francis) is a British film director, producer and documentary cinematographer.
In 2007, Marc and his brother Nick Francis were chosen by
Harper’s Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
magazine as two of their top ''Forty Under 40; Household Names of the Future.'' In 2007,
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
newspaper named the brothers as some of Britain’s Rising Stars. They both were regular contributors to the Observer's sister paper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' between 2006 and 2012, notably in its film blog.
Marc is Co-founder and Creative Director of the production company Speakit, founded in 2004 with his brother Nick Francis.
Early life
Prior to his film career, Marc was an undergraduate at the University of Leeds where he learned Mandarin. He also studied Chinese cinema and lived in China during the economic boom of the mid-1990s.
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.
Career
In 2004, Francis and his brother founded British production company
Speakit Films
Speakit Films is a British film production company established in 2004 by writer, director and producer team Nick Francis and Marc J. Francis.
The company is best known for the award-winning 2006 Sundance hit '' Black Gold'' and the acclaimed BB ...
. Their first Speakit film was Black Gold which launched at the Sundance film festival in 2006 to critical acclaim. His work has been supported by
The Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers fr ...
BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
, Bertha Foundation
CNC
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a p ...
and EU
MEDIA Programme
The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries.
Budget
The goal of programmers is to increase the ...
Fund.
Feature films
Black Gold (2006)
Directed and produced with his brother Nick Francis, ''Black Gold'' was the first film to receive funding from
BritDoc Doc Society (formerly Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and BRITDOC Foundation) is a social entrepreneurship organisation created in 2005. They have supported the production of over 60 films that have won awards .
Development
Initially supported by UK b ...
. 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. The film premiered at the
2006 Sundance Film Festival
The 2006 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 19, to January 29, 2006. It was held in Park City, with screenings in Salt Lake City; Ogden; and the Sundance Resort. It was the 22nd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, and the c ...
. It was nominated to and won several awards, amongst which Best Achievement in Production -
British Independent Film Awards 2007
The 10th British Independent Film Awards, held in November 2007 at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, honoured the best British independent films of 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
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
Documentary Channel
A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific a ...
(Canada),
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
(Japan), and
Al-jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
(Middle East).
The film has attracted wide coverage in the media including features on CNN, ''The Guardian'', BBC World, BBC News 24, Sky News, Bloomberg, The Observer, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, New York Times, LA Times, The Washington Post and The Sunday Times.
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". 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. 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".
When China Met Africa
''When China Met Africa'' is a 2010 documentary film by Nick Francis and Marc James Francis. Set on the front line of Chinaʼs foray into Africa, it follows the lives of a Chinese farmer, a road builder, and the Zambian trade minister.
''When C ...
(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.
Walk with Me (2017)
In 2011, Marc was invited by filmmaker and friend
Max Pugh
Max Pugh is an award-winning British filmmaker who also has French nationality.
Since completing a BBC production traineeship in 2000 during which he worked on Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am, he has directed documentaries on a number of subj ...
to help him make a film about Zen Master
Thich Nhat Hanh Thích is a name that Vietnamese monks and nuns take as their Buddhist surname to show affinity with the Buddha.
Notable Vietnamese monks with the name include:
*Thích Huyền Quang (1919–2008), dissident and activist
*Thích Quảng Độ (192 ...
. 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
Max Pugh is an award-winning British filmmaker who also has French nationality.
Since completing a BBC production traineeship in 2000 during which he worked on Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am, he has directed documentaries on a number of subj ...
, the
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
narrated film premiered in 2017 and screened at international film festivals like SXSW, BFI London Film Festival 2017, Illuminate Film Festival and Foyle Film Festival.
Short films
A Letter from Calais (2016)
Directed by Marc and Nick Francis and produced by Marc and Nick Francis and
Max Pugh
Max Pugh is an award-winning British filmmaker who also has French nationality.
Since completing a BBC production traineeship in 2000 during which he worked on Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am, he has directed documentaries on a number of subj ...
released in October 2016 for Benedict Cumberbatch's company, Sunny March. Featuring
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary Césa ...
, 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. The film is an exclusive portrait of Malawi’s first female President
Joyce Banda
Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the ...
, 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.
St Dunstans (2003)
TV documentary of 6 x 30 minutes episodes directed by Marc J. Francis and released on ITV.