Jo Menell was born in Johannesburg in 1938. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College Cambridge where he received a M.A. in Anthropology. From 1960-1970 he worked as a reporter, producer and director of current affairs documentaries for the BBC (Panorama) and ITV (This Week). In 1969 he produced and directed three one-hour documentaries on South Africa which resulted in his being banned by the South African government. From 1970-3, he was the deputy director-general of Chilean National TV during the Salvador Allende regime. From 1973-80, he was a freelance director of documentaries for BBC, Globo (Brazil) and P.B.S. (USA). In 1981 he directed and produced" The Life and Times of Bob Marley", the authorized story of Marley's life, which was distributed world-wide and is available on DVD. In 1985 he co-produced and co-directed "Haiti- Dreams of Democracy" with Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs). From 1990-2005 he lived in San Francisco, California, where he produced and directed documentaries for P.B.S. Channel 9 and taught at the University of Berkeley. In 1996 he recieved an Oscar nomination for "MANDELA", the Authorised Biography, co-directed with Angus Gibson. In 2005 he returned to live in South Africa, and in 2006 made "SHAG" - a film that explores women's views on sex and AIDS in present-day Cape Town. From 2008 - present, he directed and co-produced "STREET TALK" with Richard Mills, a weekly documentary for Cape Town TV (CTV). He has just finished a one hour documentary, "THEMBI", the story of a young AIDS activist from Khayalitsha who died last year, which will have its world premiere in Cape Town at the Encounters Documentary Film Festival this August. Jo lives in Hout Bay with his Chilean wife, Carolina and their two children, Nelson, 15 and Camila, 13.