Mark Donne is a, London-based film-maker and writer. Formerly a reporter and journalist, Donne wrote for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' newspapers & has appeared as a commentator on relevant issues on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, Sky News,

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' i ...

and other current affairs television programmes. Donne ha
writing and directing credits
on two independent feature-length artist documentaries and various short films, and is a member of th
Unit 3 Films
collective, specialising in short film, long and short form documentary, arts feature and animated film.

Early life and education

Donne is English, from London, of mixed Celtic heritage. Whilst there is no record of post-compulsory education, Donne did receive a vocational, postgraduate National Diploma in Journalism and subsequently an NQJ from the National Council for Training of Journalists in 2005. Mark Donne carries direct ancestral lineage (paternal) to the English metaphysical poet and former Dean of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedr ...

Short Films & Special Projects

In early 2009, after producing various short films for ''The Independent'' online, Donne set up the film collective "Brass Moustache" with producer and Director of Photography Joe Morris. The collective was based in Soho, London. Donne and Morris produced various short-form political documentaries including interviews with

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

and former leader of the UK Labour Party

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

. They also collaborated on various music promo films for bands including "Lose My Way" for the UK indie-rock band TOY, which was chosen by "Creative Bloq" design magazine in its "25 Greatest Animated Music Videos". In 2014 Donne and Morris were commissioned by

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in E ...

to make a short film for the Ruin Lust exhibition which formed part of the multi-disciplinary show. The short featured a poetic script narrated by actor

Louise Brealey Louise Brealey (born 27 March 1979), also credited as Loo Brealey, is an English actress, writer and journalist. She played Molly Hooper in ''Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock'', Cass in ''Back (TV series), Back'', Scottish professor Jude McDermid ...

which Mark Donne adapted from the text "Pleasure in Ruins" by

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spirit ...

. In 2015 Donne and Morris made an artist documentary short filmed in the Ecuadorian Amazon; the film focused on the plight of indigenous communities and the natural environment being blighted by a colossal oil spillage. "Afectados" features narration from Hollywood icon

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Sh ...

, reading a version of Chilean poet

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

's "United Fruit Company" and a field score from musician

Drew McConnell Drew McConnell (born 10 November 1978 in Dublin, Ireland) is the bass guitarist and backing vocalist with Babyshambles, the band formed and fronted by frontman of the Libertines, Pete Doherty, and for former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher's ba ...

& long term

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

collaborator Jim Carey. US oil giant

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * ''Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...

reacted furiously to the film, claiming that Texaco – later subsumed into Chevron – had cleaned up the impacted area adequately after ceasing operations. In December 2015 Donne collaborated with

Robert Del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole consi ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was rele ...

for a second time (see ''features'') writing a short satirical film "La Fête est Finie" (The Party is Over) to mark the historic Paris Climate change conference or COP21. The short, jointly directed with Joe Morris under the Brass Moustache moniker, was also scored by Del Naja and former

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

winning band

Young Fathers Young Fathers are a Scottish band based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2014, they won the Mercury Prize for their album ''Dead''. History Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings, the group starte ...

and was produced by

Forest Swords Matthew Barnes, known by his stage name Forest Swords, is an English record producer, composer, DJ, and artist. Career ''Dagger Paths'' EP Forest Swords's debut six-track EP, ''Dagger Paths'', was originally released in March 2010, before bein ...

. Starring Utopia actor

Fiona O'Shaughnessy Fiona O'Shaughnessy is an Irish film, stage, and television actress. Early life O'Shaughnessy was born in Galway. Her family moved to Reading, Berkshire, when she was 9. She returned to Galway a decade later where she pursued a career in the ...

Natasha O'Keeffe Natasha Dervill O'Keeffe (born 1 December 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Abbey in the E4 series '' Misfits'' (2012–2013), Fedora in the ITV series ''Jekyll and Hyde'' (2015), Emilia Ricoletti in the '' Sherlock'' ...

( Sherlock,

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racket ...

The Last Panthers ''The Last Panthers'' is a Franco-British crime drama television series created by Jack Thorne and directed by Johan Renck. It is a fictional story inspired by the notorious Balkan jewel thieves the Pink Panthers. The six-part series premiered o ...

) in a cast of over 25, the film premiered with The Guardian newspaper and Pitchfork simultaneously and was screened in Paris during the climate change summit. In Sept 2016, Donne delivered an evocative film commission to the inaugura
Estuary Festival
set on the River Thames, entitled “Listening with Frontiersman”. The six-screen film installation was arranged in the historic

Coalhouse Fort Coalhouse Fort is an artillery fort in the eastern English county of Essex. It was built in the 1860s to guard the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury ...

, and featured sound recording and design from

collaborator Jim Carey and musical samples from

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describ ...

. Donne later explained in a
interview with BBC 6 Music
that the work blended the notion of the river and the water as a potential gateway to safety or security, with the “absurd and deadly” reality of the relationship between UK arms sales to despotic regimes and the “refugee crisis”
Excerpts of the work
also featured on BBC Arts. In 2018, Donne worked as co-curator and Editor in Chief of the �
Rapid Response Unit
�� in Liverpool. The novel project combined artists of various disciplines with real time news events, and operated from a makeshift news bureau constructed in St John’s Shopping Centre – the bureau was fully open to the public to deposit any news they saw fit. During the one year project, Donne’s notable commissions included Turner Prize winning artist

Lubaina Himid Lubaina Himid (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire.exploration
of unconscious racism in the Guardian newspaper (in collaboration with The Guardian),

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

and the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians creation of a new piece of music to mark St Georges Day
subsequently performed on St George’s Day
at the

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall in Hope Street, in Liverpool, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed ...

), the first ever public work by satirical artist

Coldwar Steve Cold War Steve is the pen name of Christopher Spencer, a British collage artist and satirist. He is the creator of the Twitter fee@coldwarsteve His work typically depicts a grim, dystopian location in England populated by British media figures ...

on the “media landscape”, a public ode to Egyptian footballer from poet and writer

Musa Okwonga Musa Okwonga (born 11 October 1979) is a British author, podcaster, and musician. Early life and education Okwonga's parents, medical students, fled Uganda under Idi Amin's dictatorship and settled in the UK. He is the eldest of four children w ...

, an exploration of self-photography and the work of artist

Francesca Woodman Francesca Stern Woodman (April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white photography, black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models. Many of her photographs show women, nake ...

with musician

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery b ...

, and a “mini daily mail” distributed freely to the public by artist Darren Cullen. Halfway through the RRU project, the Huffington Post moved its own national news bureau entirel
into a shopping centre for one week
Donne collaborated further with

and

in July 2020 – conceptualising and producing the multimedia “ Eutopia EP”. The innovative work comprises permutating visuals from leading machine learning artist

Mario Klingemann Mario Klingemann (born 1970 in Laatzen, Lower Saxony) is a German artist best known for his work involving neural networks, code, and algorithms. Klingemann was a Google Arts and Culture resident from 2016 to 2018, and he is considered as a pione ...

and – as well as new music from Massive Attack – musical and lyrical contributions from New York City poet

Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film '' Slam ...

, Mercury prize winning

and UK/US punk outfit Algiers. Combining again with Del Naja and Klingemann in January 2021 – this time under commission to fashion house Valentino and Valentino Creative Director Pierpaulo Piccioli – Donne is credited with joint concept and the original script for �
Code Temporal
��, an experimental short film featuring permutating neural imagery and creation footage from the Valentino atelier in Rome, with sound design from Del Naja and interplaying, intercutting text and quotations. Inspired by the collaboration, the Valentino 2021 Spring/Summer Haute Couture collection itself was named Code Temporal – giving the overall project greater narrative identity. In November 2021, Donne co-produced and directed the conceptual “Eightfold” in collaboration with black and Asian company

Ballet Black Cassa Pancho's Ballet Black is a British ballet company. It was founded by Cassa Pancho in 2001 as a response to the lack of professional Black and Asian ballet dancers in the UK. The Company was to provide dancers and students of black and Asian ...

. The experiential eight film suite of work features a script from playwright Natasha Gordon and narration from actor

Thandiwe Newton Melanie Thandiwe Newton ( ; born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. Newton has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for ...

, as well as new choreography from eight international choreographers. The films were acquired and broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and are presently streaming on ALL4.

The Rime of the Modern Mariner (Feature)

The film received a UK premiere in Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor's baroque "St Anne's Church" beside the River Thames in London, introduced by actor and playwright

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously ...

and performed with a live orchestral score, led by members of

The Klaxons The Klaxons were a Belgian accordion-based band founded by Burt Blanca who had a minor UK hit in 1983 with "Clap Clap Sound", which reached number 45 in the UK charts, number 18 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and number 1 on the South Africa ...

and

Babyshambles Babyshambles were an English rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) during a hiatus from the Libertines. As of 2013 the band includes Mick Whitnall (lead guitar), Drew McConnell (bass ...

and script narration from

Carl Barat Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

of the UK rock band

The Libertines The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall (m ...

. "The Rime of the Modern Mariner" received a US premiere at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The film was subsequently the subject of a BBC1 cultural feature transmitted in June 2010, and was chosen as

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

newspaper ''"Film of the Week"'', was the subject of a major feature in VICE Magazine. The film was official selection at various film festivals including

Flanders International Film Festival Ghent Film Fest Ghent, spelt Film Fest Gent in Flemish and also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeuren ...

(Belgium), Cinecity Film Festival (UK), Mexico City Film Festival (Mexico) and remains attached to a programme of forthcoming international festivals. The film also received prestigious theatrical screenings at

Pompidou Centre The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

(France), BAFTA Arena of Latitude Festival (UK), The Royal Maritime Museum (UK) and the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

(UK). The artist documentary received wide critical acclaim, with The Times Arts Editor Alex O'Connell writing ''"The film evokes the waterside architecture, music and arcane language, set to a score that samples a creaking hull, hammering cargoes and engine room rhythms"'' and The Guardian Film Editor Catherine Shoard stating ''"Something of that rock'n'roll spirit has survived in Mark Donne's movie: a stylish essay that combines chinwags with East End sea dogs with a gonzo two-week adventure on the high seas with the crew of a Maersk cargo boat."''

The UK Gold (Feature)

UK Gold – a collaboration with

of Radiohead and

of Massive Attack was completed in 2013 and won the Jury Best Documentary prize at the

East End Film Festival The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. It ceased all operations on 4 March 2020. The owner, Alison Poltock, explained that "the push to provide a more mainstream commercial offering is not for us." Founded in 200 ...

The 2013 Jury Chair was US Director

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include '' Super Size Me'' (2004), ''Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' (20 ...

. The film – narrated by British actor

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (2014–2019), ...

– is currently touring international film festivals and received a European premiere at

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival CPH:DOX is the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival established in 2003 and held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. CPH:DOX has since grown to become one of the larg ...

(CPH:DOX) as "official selection" – receiving a nomination for the "FACT Journalism Prize" alongside eventual winner and 2014 Academy Award nominee "Dirty Wars". The film has also been broadcast in 63 territories including RTE 1 in Ireland, CBC in Canada and others scheduled. In February 2015 Del Naja, Yorke and Donne released the full soundtrack to the film via the

UK Uncut UK Uncut was a network of United Kingdom-based protest groups established in October 2010 to protest against cuts to public services and tax avoidance in the UK. Various sources have described the group as left-wing in its political orientati ...

activist group. The film is now streaming across all territories on Prime Video, an
Apple TV
with the US title
Offshore Incorporated
.

Blogging and Writing

Donne formerly produced a popular, political blog for ''The Independent'' online. Donne has written comment articles for various UK national newspapers and magazines, including ''

, ''

Le Monde Diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

and ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individ ...

''.

Other projects

Since 2004, Donne has worked with Latin American human rights organisations and appeared as a guest of Venezuelan President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Repub ...

on a live broadcast of his television programme "Alo Presidente" in September 2007. In 2006–07, Donne was also a member of the small political team behind the Labour MP and anti-racist campaigner

Jon Cruddas Jonathan Cruddas (born 7 April 1962) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham since 2010, and formerly for Dagenham between 2001 and 2010. A graduate of the University of Warwi ...

in his bid to become Deputy Leader of the British Labour Party. Cruddas won the popular vote but eventually lost the competition following preference voting rounds to

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Ca ...

. The Cruddas campaign, however, was voted "political campaign of the year" at the

2008 political awards. Donne is connected to the British left-wing

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

think-tank

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

. On 8 February 2008, ''The Independent'' reported that Mark Donne has called for the closing of tax loopholes for the very wealthiest in Britain and for a rise in the living wage levels for the poorest in the British economy. 10 Downing Street responded by explaining that via their own tax initiatives "non-dom" business taxation would go some way to closing the disparity of tax burden between the richest and poorest. The broader context for this debate is the rising anger within the UK of the perceived injustice of the taxation system and stagnant levels of social mobility. On behalf of charities such as

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Child Poverty Action Group Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is a UK charity that works to alleviate poverty and social exclusion. History The Group first met on 5 March 1965, at a meeting organised by Harriett C. Wilson. It followed the publication of Brian Abel-Smith a ...

and Gingerbread (One Parent Families), Donne lead a national campaign to urge the wealthiest

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

football clubs to pay off the pitch staff, including cleaners and hospitality workers, a

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labo ...

Instigate Debate

In August 2008, Donne set up Instigate Debate with musicians

Jon McClure Jon McClure (born 22 December 1981), known as The Reverend, is an English musician. He is the lead singer and frontman of Reverend and The Makers, and ex-vocalist of 1984 and Judan Suki. He says that the name "Reverend" became his moniker because ...

and Drew McConnell. The rolling initiative is designed to re-engage young people with contemporary political debate and to call into question the effect of the corporately owned media on the British democratic processes. Donne introduced the project in ''The Guardian'' and ''The Independent''.
Mark Donne website

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20111006094222/http://www.realfits.org.uk/?page=Article&story=4 *https://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/38899 *http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/aug/29/foreignpolicy.uk
Instigate Debate official website''The Guardian'' profileThe UK Gold Homepage and trailerReview of The UK Gold in ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donne, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Online journalists English male journalists English bloggers British male bloggers