Documentaries
Anne Frank Remembered, written, produced and directed by Blair, is the winner of an Academy Award for Documentary Feature (Oscar), as well as an International Emmy, a CableACE, the International Documentary Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Jury Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival and a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival together with awards for editing and cinematography at the New York Film and Television Festival. It has also been featured at the Melbourne, Montreal and Toronto International Film Festivals (all non-competitive). The film was distributed theatrically in the UK, North America and Australia.
Blair is the winner of a British Academy Award for Best Documentary for his 1983 film, Schindler, which preceded Steven Spielberg's feature by 10 years and was used extensively by Spielberg as a research resource. Schindler was narrated by Dirk Bogarde and written, produced and directed by Blair.
Blair’s latest feature documentary, Dancing with the Devil, premiered at the Silverdocs Festival in the USA in June 2009 and had its Latin American premiere at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival in October 2009. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described it as “horribly fascinating” Review of Dancing With the Devil "Dancing with the Devil Review". http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/oct/05/olympics-favelas-rio-de-janeiro Review of Dancing With the Devil. Retrieved August 01, 2012.] in The Guardian, 5 October, 2009, it portrays the bloody battle between drug lords and police in Rio de Janeiro where more than 1000 people die each year.
During 2007/ early 2008 Blair made Ochberg’s Orphans for Rainmaker Films, about the 1921 expedition of one Isaac Ochberg who saved nearly 200 orphans from the wreckage of post-revolutionary Russia. The film was shortlisted for an Oscar for Short Documentary.
In August 2007 Blair completed Murder Most Foul a 75 minute feature documentary for More 4 about crime in South Africa with the ex-South African Shakespearean actor, Sir Antony Sher.
In 2006, Blair produced and directed a multi episode comedy series for BBC1, Dawn French’s Girls Who Do: Comedy. In 2005 Jon made two one hour drama documentaries for Discovery Networks Europe in the Zero Hour series, about the Oklahoma bomb and the plot to kill Pope John Paul II. Prior to that he worked as an Executive Producer for Discovery for 8 months.
In 2003/4, he series produced a 4 hour series – of which he produced, wrote and directed 3 hours – Reporters at War, a first hand history of war reporting, featuring some of the most famous American and British war reporters through the ages. The Series won an Emmy in the US for Best Historical Programming. His feature length opening programme of the Series won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for best multi-channel programme for 2003 and was nominated for the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2003/4, as well as receiving an Honourable Mention at Banff. The Series also received a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals.
Following a programme on Bin Laden: the Early Years for Channel Four after September 11, 2001, in 2002 he was Series Producer, as well as director and writer of two episodes, of the four part series, The Age of Terror. The Series made by 3BM Television received wide critical acclaim including an International Documentary Association Award nomination and winning the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2002. The Series was also nominated for a Banff Documentary Award.
Also in 2002, Blair produced, wrote, directed and narrated The Meyssan Conspiracy, about a 9/11 conspiracy theory, for Channel Four Science and then a rapid turn-round special, also for Channel Four, on the Bali bombing. He was also a contributor to The Times Special Supplement on the first anniversary of the September 11th tragedy.
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