Steven Silver (film director)
- Not to be confused with American science fiction editor and published Steven H Silver or with American cinematographer Steven V Silver
Steven Silver is a film writer, director and producer. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He started his film career in South Africa and later on in Canada writing and co-producing a feature-length 1997 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) documentary Gerrie & Louise that earned him an International Emmy award. In addition to documentaries for the CBC, he also directed documentaries for PBS, the History Channel and Discovery Channel, as well as Diameter of the Bomb and the critically acclaimed The Last Just Man, for which he won a number of international awards. He cooperated with Barna-Alper Productions with Box Car Rebellion, Doctor's Strike, The Last Just Man; The Anglo Boer War and The Dark Years.
His most recent film for which he also wrote the screenplay is a Canadian–South African long feature film entitled The Bang-Bang Club[1] based on the book The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War co-written by Greg Marinovich and João Silva who were part of the group of four photographers in South Africa known as Bang-Bang Club, the other two members being Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).[2]
He also serves as President of Production and Director of eOne Television where he has been in the role since the company was known as Barna-Alper Productions.
Filmography
Director
- 2002: Stories from the War Zone (TV documentary)
- 2002: Soul of India (TV documentary) - Part of Wide Angle series
- 2002: The Last Just Man (documentary)
- 2003: The Great Atlantic Air Race (TV documentary)
- 2005: Diameter of the Bomb (documentary)
- 2005: H5N1: Killer Flu - Part of Wide Angle series
- 2007: The Dark Years (TV mini-series)
- 2010: The Bang-Bang Club - First directed long feature film
Writer
- 1997: Gerrie & Louise (documentary)
- 2003: The Great Atlantic Air Race (TV documentary)
- 2010: The Bang-Bang Club (screenplay / writer)
Producer
- 1997: Gerrie & Louise (documentary) (co-producer)
- 2002: Soul of India (TV documentary) - Part of Wide Angle series
- 2005: H5N1: Killer Flu - Part of Wide Angle series
- 2007: Shake Hands with the Devil (executive producer)
- 2007: Who Do You Think You Are? (TV series) (executive producer)
- 2007: Party Mamas (TV series) (executive producer - 6 episodes: "Emily", "Rosalie", "Angel", "Suzanne" and "Bridget"
- 2008: Céline (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2009: Bio-Dad (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 2009: Ted Rogers: A Life in Broadcasting (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2009: Almost Audrey (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2010: Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (documentary) (executive producer)
- 2010: The Bang-Bang Club (executive producer)
- 2010: Flip, Flop, and Fly, 40 Years of the Downchild Blues Band (documentary) (executive producer)
- 2010: Pickton (TV documentary) (executive producer) (post-production)
Awards and Nominations
- For Gerrie & Louise
- 1998: Won Gemini Award for "Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series" (shared with Barry Stevens)
- 1998: Won Writers Guild of Canada Award (Shared with Barry Stevens)
- For The Last Just Men
- 2002: Won "Best Documentary Film/Video" at Hamptons International Film Festival
- 2002: Won "Humanitarian Cinema Award" at Newport International Film Festival Award
- 2003: Won both "Audience Award" and "Special Jury Award" at the Prague One World Film Festival
- Others
- 2006: Won "Silver Screen Award: Documentaries" U.S. International Film and Video Festival for "Wide Angle" "H5N1: Killer Flu" (Shared with Micah Fink)
- 2008: Nominated for Gemini Award for "Best Direction in a Documentary Series" and for "Best Documentary Series" for The Dark Years
- 2009: Nominated for Gemini Award for "Best TV movie" for Céline (shared with Laszlo Barna)