Ross Devenish

  Agent:  Julian Friedmann

Biography: Ross directed the eight-part adaptation of BLEAK HOUSE which won three BAFTAs.  NOW THAT THE BUFFALO'S GONE won a Blue Riband Award.  He was one of the two directors engaged on GOAL! about the World Cup Competition being held in England in 1966.  GOAL! received the Robert Flaherty Award from BAFTA. Now writing as well, he has written an adaptation of Zakes Mda's WAYS OF LIVING as a modest budget South African film.

Ross Devenish studied film-making in London.  He started his career with documentaries, filming behind the Royalist lines in the Civil War in the Yemen, secretly entering and filming the mercenaries trapped in the besieged town of Bukava in the Congo after a failed coup, and the next year filming in Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive.  He then spent the best part of a year in the United States making a film about the native Americans, called NOW THAT THE BUFFALO'S GONE.

Deciding to concentrate on his interest in drama, he began working with the dramatist Athol Fugard.  He directed three films with scripts by Fugard, including THE GUEST and MARIGOLDS IN AUGUST, in his native South Africa.  THE GUEST won a Bronze Leopard at Locarno and MARIGOLDS IN AUGUST a Silver Bear in Berlin.

He now lives in Cape Town. 

 

Credits:

  • AGAAT (WAY OF THE WOMEN), a feature adaptation of Marlene van Niekerk's novel for Mutz Media.
  • WAYS OF LIVING (2006. Feature film based on adaptation of Zakes Mda's novel WAYS OF DYING. Ross to direct)
  • NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (Feature adaptation of John Kani's play of the same name: Filming finished in December 2006)
  • SHADES (2005. Based on the novel by Marguerite Poland, script by Ross Devenish)
  • DALZIEL & PASCOE (2001. A feature length film for BBC TV. Producer Annie Tricklebank. 8.2m viewers: Highest rating for Dalziel & Pascoe)
  • A CERTAIN JUSTICE (1998. From the novel by P D James. Anglia / United. Three-part thriller. Producer Martin Auty)
  • DALZIEL AND PASCOE: EXIT LINES (1997. BBC. Feature length film for television: Producer Paddy Higson)
  • TRUE TILDA (1996. BBC. 6 episodes. Producers: Eric Abraham and Brenda Reid)
  • DALZIEL AND PASCOE: A CLUBBABLE WOMAN (1995. BBC. Feature length film for television. Producers Eric Abraham and Chris Parr)
  • A TOUCH OF FROST (1995. YTV. Feature length film for television. Starring David Jason)
  • BETWEEN THE LINES (1994. BBC. Two episodes)
  • CALLING THE SHOTS (1993. BBC. Three-part thriller. Starring Lynn Redgrave)
  • ONE TWO BUCKLE MY SHOE (1991. LWT. Feature length film for television. Starring David Suchet as Poirot. Producer Brian Eastman)
  • THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (1990. LWT. Feature length film for television. Starring David Suchet: Producer Brian Eastman)
  • MADLY IN LOVE (1989. Channel 4. Starring Penelope Wilton)
  • DEATH OF A SON (1987. BBC. Feature length film. Starring Lynn Redgrave)
  • HAPPY VALLEY (1986. BBC. 90-minute film shot on location in Kenya. Starring Denholm Elliot)
  • ASINAMALI (1986. BBC. Adaptation of Mbongoni Ngema's stage play about the State of Emergency in apartheid South Africa)
  • BLEAK HOUSE (1985. BBC's epic adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel. Starring Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliot)
  • MARIGOLDS IN AUGUST (1978. Independent feature. With Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona. South African / British co-production)
  • THE GUEST (1977. Independent feature. With Athol Fugard: South African / British co-production)
  • BOESMAN AND LENA (1974. Independent feature. With Athol Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland)

In America:

  • NOW THAT THE BUFFALO'S GONE (1968. Thames)