The first person actor Jodie Foster thanked in her Golden Globe acceptance speech was the Scots man responsible for her success in The Mauritarian.
Jodie hit the headlines after filming her acceptance speech for best supporting actor t the US film award in her pyjamas alongside her wife Alexander Hedison and dog, but the real story is about the hugely talented Scot behind her success in the movie.
The film tells the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a terror suspect held for 14 years in Guantánamo Bay without charge.
In the film, Jodie plays Nancy Hollander, the American defence lawyer determined to defend his rights, while Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) plays Slahi.
The movie was directed by Scots born Kevin MacDonald who made award winning One Day In September in 1999 and The Last King Of Scotland in 2006 starring James McAvoy and who now is world acclaimed.
He has subsequently created films including 2011’s Life In A Day Documentary (Which was followed up in 2020), movie The Eagle, The Whitney Documentary and
Jodie who wore her pyjamas told her fans: “I think you made a mistake. I’m a little speechless. I just never expected to ever be here again and wow. I have to thank all of my amazing filmmakers, Kevin Macdonald, Benedict Cumberbatch…and the real-life people. … And Aaron Rodgers! This is awesome.”
She said later it was the best Globes ever.
She added: ”Dinner is waiting for me and at some point I’m going to eat. We were thinking of maybe just driving around the city with our heads through the sunroof like dogs, but I just feel giddy.”
Kevin, who comes from Glasgow was sent the book for the movie by Benedict Cumberbatch’s company.
The 53-year-old is the grandson of Hungarian-born filmmaker Emeric Pressburger, and started making films by directing a screen adaptation of his grandfather’s written biography for TV in 1995 with The Making of an Englishman.
He said: “I’m a Glasgow boy really. I come from a film family and was brought up around film. I grew up in Gartocharn, near Balloch, and all my early film experiences are in Glasgow. That’s where I fell in love with film.
“I started making little home videos in my early twenties and little films for fun really, most of them were documentaries and one was seen by someone who worked for BBC Scotland and that led to my first commission together with my brother Andrew who makes feature films.”
“I really enjoy doing documentaries. You’ve got to be really nosy. I thought I’d be a journalist when I was younger.”
