---
name: "Roland Joffé"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/roland-joffe"
fi1m_id: "roland-joffe"
imdb_id: "nm0423646"
tmdb_id: 8965
wikidata_id: "Q309715"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "17 November 1945"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-07T11:28:01.102255+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Roland Joffé

## Identity

Roland Joffé

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/roland-joffe
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** roland-joffe
- **IMDb ID:** nm0423646
- **TMDB ID:** 8965
- **Wikidata ID:** Q309715
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Joff%C3%A9, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309715, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0423646/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8965

Director and producer. Born 17 November 1945 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 17 November 1945, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 1960–1993
- **Also known as:** Roland Joffe
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 directing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Alan Grint](https://film.one/person/alan-grint.md), [Baz Taylor](https://film.one/person/baz-taylor.md), [Bob Hird](https://film.one/person/bob-hird.md), [Charles Sturridge](https://film.one/person/charles-sturridge.md), [Claude Whatham](https://film.one/person/claude-whatham.md), [Colin Welland](https://film.one/person/colin-welland.md), [David Puttnam](https://film.one/person/david-puttnam.md), [Derek Bennett](https://film.one/person/derek-bennett.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 74 (1), 1980s 73 (2), 1990s 42 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, History 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, Soap 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $52m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Joff%C3%A9, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309715, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0423646/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8965

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Killing Fields*](https://film.one/film/the-killing-fields.md) (82)
- **Apple TV:** [*Coronation Street*](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md) (74)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Mission*](https://film.one/film/the-mission-1986.md) (64)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Roland Joffé

> Roland Joffé makes historical upheaval personal, putting friendships and difficult choices at the centre of large-scale dramas. We rate him most highly when he leaves the actors room to work; his determination to move us can become intrusive.

The passages without dialogue in *The Killing Fields* (1984) show Roland Joffé at his most persuasive. He keeps us watching people struggle to survive, with Haing S. Ngor’s restraint as Dith Pran giving the suffering its force. We were moved by that restraint, because Ngor makes Pran’s fear and endurance plain without asking for our tears. Joffé lets the actors and the camera do work that the script elsewhere insists on doing aloud.

Joffé came to features from television, making his debut with *The Killing Fields* and producer David Puttnam. Cinematographer Chris Menges worked on that film and *The Mission* (1986), helping him give large-scale historical dramas carefully composed images. Those settings matter, but it is the attention to individuals that makes the debut worth returning to. *Fat Man and Little Boy* (1989), about the development of the atomic bomb, and *City of Joy* (1992), centred on a doctor in Calcutta’s slums, continued his interest in people facing difficult moral choices.

The difficulty is that Joffé does not always leave those choices to speak for themselves. In *The Killing Fields*, Bruce Robinson’s screenplay asks the friendship between reporter Sydney Schanberg and his guide, Pran, to carry too much explanation. Mike Oldfield’s music compounds the problem, bearing down on distress the performances have already made clear. Beside Ngor’s restraint, the score can feel almost impatient for a response. These are substantial irritations in a film we nevertheless recommend: its sustained attention to fear and endurance earns the difficult evening it asks of us.

Later Hollywood and international productions, including *The Scarlet Letter* (1995), received mixed or poor reviews. *The Forgiven* (2018) took up faith and personal reckoning in a South African setting, subjects consistent with his earlier concerns. We would not recommend the later work on the strength of the debut alone, but nor does that uneven reception diminish what he achieved with Ngor. Start with *The Killing Fields*, on an evening when neither of you needs something easy.

## Biography

Roland Joffé is an English film and television director, producer and screenwriter. Born in London in 1945, he was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Carmel College and the University of Manchester. He began his career directing for the theatre and television, including episodes of Coronation Street and the series Bill Brand.

Joffé made his feature film debut with The Killing Fields (1984), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. His second film, The Mission (1986), also received an Oscar nomination for Best Director and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Later credits include Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), City of Joy (1992), The Scarlet Letter (1995), Vatel (2000), Captivity (2007) and There Be Dragons (2011). In the late 1980s he co-founded the production company Lightmotive.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Directed (3) — the average rests on these

- *The Mission* (1986), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-mission-1986.md)
- *The Killing Fields* (1984), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-killing-fields.md)
- *Coronation Street* (1960), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Super Mario Bros.* (1993), Fi1m 42, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/super-mario-bros.md)

## Complete filmography (38)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *November 1963* (2026), Director
- *The Gray House* (2026), series, Director, Creator
- *Blood on the Crown* (2021), Executive Producer
- *A Lover Scorned* (2019), Director
- *The Forgiven* (2018), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Sun Records* (2017), series, Director
- *Texas Rising* (2015), series, Director, Creator
- *The Lovers* (2015), Director, Writer
- *There Be Dragons* (2011), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *You and I* (2011), Director
- *Captivity* (2007), Director
- *Vatel* (2000), Producer, Director
- *Undressed* (1999), series, Director
- *Goodbye Lover* (1999), Director
- *The Scarlet Letter* (1995), Director, Producer
- *Super Mario Bros.* (1993), Producer — Fi1m 42, [page](https://film.one/film/super-mario-bros.md)
- *City of Joy* (1992), Director, Producer
- *A Taste of Freedom* (1991), Producer
- *Fat Man and Little Boy* (1989), Screenplay, Director
- *Swimming to Cambodia* (1987), Thanks
- *The Mission* (1986), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-mission-1986.md)
- *The Killing Fields* (1984), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-killing-fields.md)
- *United Kingdom* (1981), Director
- *'Tis Pity She's a Whore* (1980), Director
- *No Mama No* (1979), Director
- *The Legion Hall Bombing* (1978), Director
- *The Spongers* (1978), Director
- *Twelve Off the Belt* (1977), Director
- *Headmaster* (1977), series, Director
- *Bill Brand* (1976), series, Director
- *The Stars Look Down* (1975), series, Director
- *Second City Firsts* (1973), series, Director
- *Sam* (1973), series, Director
- *Crown Court* (1972), series, Director
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Director
- *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, Director
- *Coronation Street* (1960), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)
- *L'Inverno*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Gwiazda Rolanda Joffégo na Alei Gwiazd w Krakowie na Bulwarze Czerwieńskim. (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-d1f7a99cffd7.jpg) Gwiazda Rolanda Joffégo na Alei Gwiazd w Krakowie na Bulwarze Czerwieńskim. (2023) — Mach240390, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/GwiazdaRolandaJoff%C3%A9go-AlejaGwiazd-BulwaryWi%C5%9Blane-POL%2C_Krak%C3%B3w.jpg/1280px-GwiazdaRolandaJoff%C3%A9go-AlejaGwiazd-BulwaryWi%C5%9Blane-POL%2C_Krak%C3%B3w.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Roland Joffé](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-19d37d8d5c09.jpg) Roland Joffé — Franek Vetulani, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/RolandJoffe_OffPlusCamera.JPG/1280px-RolandJoffe_OffPlusCamera.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Закрытие фестиваля (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-239c72e45a76.jpg) Закрытие фестиваля (2017) — Frolzart, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/SIFFA_%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_05.jpg/1280px-SIFFA_%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_05.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Награждение и закрытие (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-f315ab98c19d.jpg) Награждение и закрытие (2017) — Frolzart, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_SIFFA_46.jpg/1280px-%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_SIFFA_46.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Roland Joffé](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-a0357de54504.jpg) Roland Joffé — Image via TMDB
- ![Roland Joffé](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-ddb230dbc65b.jpg) Roland Joffé — Image via TMDB
- ![открытие фестиваля (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/118186/gallery-9e48784e9aaf.jpg) открытие фестиваля (2017) — Frolzart, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/%D0%9E%D1%82%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_SIFFA_16.jpg/1280px-%D0%9E%D1%82%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B5_SIFFA_16.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1987: Best Director (nominated), for *The Mission*
- 1985: Best Director (nominated), for *The Killing Fields*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/roland-joffe