Since then he has returned to Uganda and Southern Sudan to make The Final Betrayal
for Al Jazeera English and a radio documentary on the peace process for BBC Radio
4’s flagship international affairs strand Crossing Continents. His most recent work
was to film, produce and direct a major two-
For six years he worked full time as reporter and presenter on Channel 4’s Dispatches,
responsible for such award-
Seven years ago he won the Harold Wincott “business programme of the year” award
for Hamleys: A Real Toy Story, an observational film which followed the crisis in
the fortunes of the world-
BACKGROUND – Callum Macrae grew up in Nigeria and Scotland. He studied painting
at Edinburgh College of Art for five years, was a dustman for two years, ran a pirate
radio station for six months and was a teacher for seven years. He was a member of
the Official Edinburgh Festival’s governing Council and President of Edinburgh and
District Trades Council. For two years he produced a weekly satirical cartoon strip
for the Times Educational Supplement. He then became a full-
Callum Macrae co-
He has reported, directed and executive-
His output has ranged from serious investigations to observational documentaries to closely argued polemics, and he has won several awards.
In the last five years his projects have included an Unreported World on the Ivory Coast for Channel 4, which he filmed and directed from both sides of the civil war, (described as: “One of the bravest and most gripping films ever to be buried away in the schedules” by the Guardian, and “remarkable courage…tense powerful stuff’ by The Mail on Sunday).
He directed, narrated and filmed, My Body My Business for Channel Four,
More about Callum Macrae
The Guardian commented: “At last – an intelligent,articulate film about sex workers”He spent some weeks in Iraq directing an observational documentary Life and Death in the War Zone about a US military hospital for PBS in the States as part of their flagship science series, Nova. Since then he has directed and filmed an Unreported World on the civil war in Uganda – described as ‘shocking and heartrending in equal measure’ by the Observer – and a disturbing observational film about Gypsy child weddings in Romania for BBC2, which caused much controversy after its screening as part of the recent international Gypsy Film Festival in London.
He wrote, directed and narrated two docs for FIVE. “Fly me!” The History of the Flight Attendant – was an authoritative but mischievous look at 75 years of sexual politics, described as “fascinating and outrageous” by the Scotsman. In a similar vein “Stranger than Fiction: The Real Flying Saucers” told the amazing but true story of how the CIA invented aliens from outer space as a cover story for their experiments with genuine flying saucer technology they stole from the Nazis. The Express described it as “this absorbing and sometimes hilarious documentary.”
His more recent films include Iraq’s Mission Billions – a Dispatches investigation
filmed in the US and Iraq, into Coalition misuse of billions of dollars of Iraqi
funds. It was described as “a mind-
He spent a year wirh the BBC1’s flagship undercover investigative series “Whistleblower:
– and directed a headline-
Last year he directed a Panorama investigation On Whose Orders into serious allegations
of prisoner abuse and unlawful killing by British troops in Iraq. The film generated
considerable controversy and the BBC had to go to court to overturn a gagging order
to broadcast it. (The Sun ran a full-
He covered the war in Northern Uganda for the BBC Two documentary “A Day of War’” and his experiences filming a massacre on the Sudan/Uganda border were featured on a BBC 4/2 documentary, “Frontline”. His footage was shown all over the world.
He produced, directed and shot the film which opened the Sweeney Investigates series on BBC 2, an expose of Madonna’s Kabbalah sect. It was described as “a devastating indictment” by the Sunday Times. He then filmed and directed a Panorama investigation which exposed the crushing claustrophobia of the “Postcode Poverty” trap.
In the last year Callum Macrae has directed and presented a number of films which have made headlines and won awards. He directed Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields
(ITN for Channel 4) – containing shocking revelations about the Sri Lankan government slaughter of as many as 40,000 civilians at end of the civil war in 2009. Shown on TV stations and screened at events around the world, the film has had a huge impact and has been raised in parliaments worldwide including India, the UK and Australia. It has been nominated for number of awards including the RTS, Broadcast and Bafta. The film was also screened at the international Human Rights Film Festival in Geneva in March 2011.
He presented from Japan and location-
It won two of the most prestigious broadcast awards in the US. The American Association
for the Advancement of Science Award for the best long-
Through Outsider he made two films in 2011. The first, Sudan:War and Independence was made for AlJazeera and TXedin July
To make the film Callum Macrae and John D McHugh travelled secretly into South Kordofan
defying a Khartoum imposed no-
In October Outsider made a 10 minute short for Channel 4 News about Lt Col Nicholas Mercer, who was the British Army’s top lawyer in Iraq at the time of the coalition invasion in 2003. It was Col Mercer’s job to make sure UK forces obeyed international laws of war. But when he tried to prevent the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and ensure that UK forces acted lawfully he was blocked, vilified and silenced by his superiors in the MOD. In this exclusive interview he describes what happened.
At the beginning of the year Callum also spent a couple of weeks in Los Angeles directing and filming some of the early events in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray over the death of Michael Jackson for a documentary on the doctor’s trial which has been transmitted around the world.
2011
Callum Macrae has recently completed work as Director on Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields:
War Crimes unpunished, a follow up to the award-
The followup has created even more controversy with its revelations causing uproar in the Indian Parliament and the programme has been credited with causing India to change it policy on support for a UN resolution on Sri Lanka. Callum has written newspaper articles including for The Independent on Sri Lanka and the Huffington post on Joseph Kony as well as on Sri Lankas civil war
Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields:: Crimes Unpunished
2012