Life & Work with Saxon Logan of Sea Point, Cape Town

Today we’d like to introduce you to Saxon Logan.

Hi Saxon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For reasons unknown, film making has been a vocation for me, not a career. I knew I always wanted to make films; erroneously, when I was very young I thought the actors made the films but after seeing Zulu and Lawrence of Arabia ( and reading background material) I realised that the Director was ultimately the “author” of a film. I arrived in Britain at the age of 18 and was fortunate to be taken on by Lindsay Anderson: The Sporting Life, If…., O Lucky Man! . He effectively became my mentor and provided me with so much access as his assistant, to the making of a movie; from Location research, Art Department, the Shoot and then I was introduced to the vital editing process. He later backed my first short film, which won awards in Europe and actually turned in a profit. The British film industry was dire at the time, so I found work as an Editor at the BBC, made another short film that led me to becoming a Producer/Director at the BBC. In the 80’s I struck out on my own as an independent film maker and made series of award winning documentaries. This was followed by my first narrative film, Sleepwalker. After success at the Berlin Film Festival, I thought I was made. But the British Film Establishment were very conservative and ignored it. However, thanks to Nicholas Winding Refn and the British Film Institute it found its international audience two decades after it was made. I am currently working on a Streamer At the Gates of Thunder, which Lucas Foster is Producing and I will Direct.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a vocational film maker, I am only interested in making films I initiate. I am not a careerist or gun for hire director. This being the case it has been feast and famine along the way. But that is my choice and I have never compromised. So yes, it has been a rough road but at least I know I have and will never compromise. The upshot of this is often the late recognition of my work by a younger generation that is enormously satisfying.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What defines me as a film maker is I am not a careerist, a gun for hire; I am only interested in making films I initiate. I see myself as a vocational film maker. I have always known I wanted to make films, but films I have a deep personal attachment to. I was fortunate enough at a young age (18) to be hired as Lindsay Anderson’s assistant. I began work at the Royal Court Theatre, where Lindsay Anderson was an associate Director. The following year Warner Brothers backed O Lucky Man! This starred Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren. It was my “film graduation” as I worked in location research, the Art Department, as Lindsay Anderson’s assistant when filming and then he took me into the editing rooms where I assisted Tom Priestly (Deliverance etc.). As the British Film Industry was in decline, I joined the BBC as a Film Editor and got promoted to Director\Producer. Having completed a deep dive documentary on Sir Dirk Bogarde, I left to become an independent Film Maker and initially made feature length documentaries on wild life and environmental topics mainly in Africa. I also completed short narrative works which won awards and this led to Sleepwalker my first feature, which today is still in demand thanks to the British Film Institute. Currently, I am working with the eminent Independent Producer, Lucas Foster (Mr & Mrs Smith to Ford V Ferrari and Morbius) from a screenplay I wrote and will direct, entitled At The Gates of Thunder. It is about Dr David Livingstone’s failed Zambezi expedition. Depending on this collaboration I have numerous other film projects I hope to make with Lucas Foster.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My mentor in film and to a certain degree life, is Lindsay Anderson, an Oscar winning, Palm D’Or , acclaimed theatre and film maker. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. He was a tough, formidable individual, which for a naif of 18 was at first intimidating but ultimately hugely rewarding. I am glad to say we became friends and he supported my first short film project, which was a success and he encouraged me through the “feast and famine” that is inevitable with film making. I could always turn to him for sage advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://saxonlogan.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saxon.logan