Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm (born 12 May 1932) is an English film critic.
Son of J. Douglas Malcolm (died 1967) and Dorothy Vera (died 1964; née Elliston-Taylor), Malcolm was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
and
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
. As a child he expressed an interest in film, often going to the newsreel cinema on Victoria station. He worked for several decades as a film critic for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', having previously been an amateur jockey and the paper's first horse racing correspondent. In 1977, he was a member of the jury at the
27th Berlin International Film Festival
The 27th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 24 June – 5 July 1977. The festival opened with ''Nickelodeon'' by Peter Bogdanovich. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Soviet Union film '' The Ascent'' directed by Larisa Shep ...
. In the mid-1980s he was host of ''The Film Club'' on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...
, which was dedicated to art house films, and was director of the
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
for several years.
After leaving ''The Guardian'' in 2000, he published his final series of articles, ''The Century of Films'', in which he discusses films he admires from his favourite directors from around the world. He became chief film critic for the ''
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'', before being replaced in 2009 by novelist
Andrew O'Hagan
Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award.
His most recent novel is ''Mayf ...
. He still contributes film reviews for the newspaper, but it emerged in July 2013 that his contribution to the title was to be reduced further.
In 2008 he was a member of the jury at the
30th Moscow International Film Festival
The 30th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 19 to 28 June 2008. The Golden George was awarded to the Iranian film '' As Simple as That'' directed by Reza Mirkarimi.
Jury
* Liv Ullmann (Norway – Chairman of the Jury)
* Michael G ...
.
Malcolm is president of the
British Federation of Film Societies
The British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS), which has used the trading name Cinema For All since 2014, is the national organisation for the development and support of the film society and community cinema movement in the United Kingdom.
In ...
and the International Film Critics' Circle. In 2003 he published an autobiographical book, ''Family Secrets'', which recounts how in 1917 his father shot his mother's lover dead, but was found not guilty of murder.
Malcolm has been married to the journalist and author
Sarah Gristwood
Sarah Gristwood is an English journalist and author. She was born in Kent, grew up in Dover