John Burgan

John Burgan (born in 1962 in London) is an independent documentary director and writer. He lives in Denmark. Many of his films are themed around identity, sense of belonging, and migration.

Burgan is best known for his documentary film Memory of Berlin (1998). Sometimes autobiographical, sometimes observational, he takes the viewer on a search for identity, sharing his own roots as English adoptee as well as reflecting on the torn identity of the city he chose to live in: Berlin. The film was shown in many film festivals around the world and received the first prize at the Marseille festival "Vue sur les Docs". The film was repeatedly broadcast by ZDF and ARTE. Selected commentary to "Memory of Berlin" was published in Grand Street (magazine).

In Friendly Enemy Alien, Burgan asks: "Friends, enemies, aliens: is it possible to be all three at once? June 1940: Jewish refugees from Austria, Germany and Italy flee Hitler at the outbreak of the war and are given asylum in England, to be interned as suspected spies, shipped off on the HMT Dunera to Australia to endure months behind barbed wire deep in the outback."

Friendly Enemy Alien was first broadcast by ZDF in Germany in August 2006. The Daily Telegraph quotes John Burgan on his motives for making this film: "Refugees are invariably unwanted and unloved when they arrive, but being at the bottom of the heap they knuckle down and make the best of the chance they've been given, to become an asset to their adopted country."

Chris Marker said about John Burgan's work: "I guess it's about time for the First-Person film to become a genre by itself, and for historians to wonder why, as it had been at the roots of literature, it took so much time to the cinema to catch up. I don't take any risk at predicting Memory of Berlin will be considered as a milestone in the road of the film-essay."

Biography

John Burgan grew up in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire where he attended Hymers College. He read English Language and Literature at Newcastle University from 1981 to 1984, then worked as an editor at the BBC before attending the National Film and Television School from 1989 to 1992.

In 1992, Burgan moved to Berlin and was awarded a Nipkow Programme Fellowship to develop the documentary essay, Memory of Berlin, completed in 1998.

He was chosen by Richard Attenborough in 1992 to receive the Student Award attached to his own Shakespeare Prize
Shakespeare Prize (Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.
Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.). Previous recipients include director Sam Mendes.

In Berlin, Burgan worked as a writer, director and editor. He taught documentary at the Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts and at documentary workshops in Hamburg and Istanbul. He was artist-in-residence at the Villa Aurora, Los Angeles in 2003. In 2005, he joined Doug Block and Ben Kempas in hosting The D-Word, an online community for documentary filmmakers.

John Burgan is the author of entries on Robert Vas, Jean-Pierre Gorin and The Back of Beyond in the Encyclopaedia of the Documentary Film edited by Ian Aitken.

Burgans documentary Friendly Enemy Alien received the "Best Documentary" award at the "Achtung Berlin New Berlin Film Awards in 2006.

In 2007, John Burgan moved to Ebeltoft, Denmark, where he teaches documentary at the European Film College
European Film College.

Films

• Close Up: Swinton & Szabo (1995)
• Memory of Berlin (1998)
• Behind Words (2005)
• Friendly Enemy Alien (2006)

He also worked as a consultant on 'Memories of Rain' (2004) and Cinemania (2002). He is credited as "John 'The Godfather' Burgan" on the latter.

Filmography

FRIENDLY ENEMY ALIEN » June 1940: the HMT Dunera leaves Liverpool docks crammed with over 2,500 German, Austrian and Italian internees, supposedly heading for Canada...