CLARE MACDONALD

London-born, France-raised director, writer, and artist telling emotionally precise stories with dark wit and sharp, visual sensibility.

Short films screened at BAFTA- and Oscar-qualifying festivals worldwide, earning recognition including Best Director from AWFJ, US and London Director Awards, and NFTS Star of Tomorrow at BAFTA. Clare’s feature scripts have won the Annecy Festival Residency, JETS / WEP Films production funding at Berlinale, and French regional development support, with projects selected by Canneseries Writers Club and Sundance’s Feature and Episodic Labs.

Clare’s creative practice is shaped by an ongoing interest in control, resistance, and the ways systems are navigated or disrupted. The work approaches these ideas through tightly drawn narratives and dry humour.

A graduate of Oxford and the National Film and Television School (NFTS), Clare began in commissioned work, including a holographic finale for the UAE pavilion at Milan Expo — later exhibited in Dubai for three years as well as branded films and series. Alongside directing and writing, Clare has lectured at London Film School and works bilingually in French. Lapdogs & Fools, an artist film, was recently presented as an installation at Vielmetter Los Angeles. Development is underway on a debut Anglo-French feature.

FILM DIRECTOR | WRITER | CREATIVE