Murray Grigor


William Alexander Murray Grigor is a Scottish film maker, writer, artist and exhibition curator who has served as director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. He has made over 50 films with a focus on arts and architecture documentaries.

Early life

Grigor was born in 1939 in Inverness, and graduated from St. Andrews University. He started his career as a film editor at the BBC which he left in 1967 to become director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. He married, in 1968, Barbara Grigor, née Sternschein, a teacher of French and German, film maker, exhibition curator,and chairman of the Scottish Sculpture Trust with whom he had two daughters, Sarah, b 1970 and Phoebe, b 1972. Barbara Grigor died in 1994. Grigor married Carol Colburn Grigor née Colburn in 2011.

Career

In 2008, Grigor produced seven film loops for Los Angeles' Hammer Gallery exhibition Between Earth and Heaven about the architecture of John Lautner, which coincided with the premiere of his documentary Infinite Space on the same subject.
Since the 1980s, Grigor widened his film focus to cover more international, and particularly American subjects, such as the 1986 landmark 8 part series Pride of Place with Robert A. M. Stern for the American television channel PBS. In 1997, he directed the PBS series "The Face of Russia" with James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. "Contemporary Days" on the British designers Robin and Lucienne Day for Design Onscreen of Denver Colorado, was premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2011. "Ever to Excel" -a feature documentary with Sir Sean Connery was funded in America to mark the 600th anniversary of the University of St Andrews for its scholarship endowment campaign, and had its British premiere at the 2012 Glasgow Film Festival. It was followed by sequel "Ever to Exceed' celebrating the achievements of
St Andrews' students, scholars and alumni.
Grigor also worked as film producer and writer. Together with Barbara Grigor, he founded, in 1972, the film company Viz Ltd based in Inverkeithing, Scotland. Grigor has also written screenplays for all his films, and a number of exhibition catalogues to accompany his exhibitions. He was co-author of "The Architects' Architect" on C.R. Mackintosh with Richard Murphy and "Being a Scot" with Sir Sean Connery, published in 2008 and which is now published in 5 languages. "Beatus – The Spanish Apocalypse" on the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages on the Book of Revelation, was invited in competition to the 2015 Montréal Festival du Film sur L'Art – the 4th film Grigor has made in partnership with Hamid Shams, the American Director of Photography.

Appointments and awards

He was appointed, in 2007, as a member of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission.
Grigor is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was the first film maker to be made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and the Royal Institute of British Architects. Grigor is Visiting Professor of Film Studies at the Anglia Ruskin University, from which he received, in 2010, an Honorary Doctor of Arts.
Grigor was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to architecture and the film industry.

Selected filmography

Grigor has directed the following films.
YearTitleSummary-
1968MackintoshDocumentary about 20th century Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh-
1970FettesDocumentary about activities and events at Fettes College, Edinburgh, including a visit by HM The Queen Mother-
1972Space and lightDocumentary about the newly built St. Peter's Seminary, Cardross, by Scottish architects firm Gillespie, Kidd and Coia-
1974ClydescopeDocumentary about the river Clyde, from Biggar to Brodick, with Scottish comedian Billy Connolly as guide-
1974Suilven SpringDocumentary about the Northwest of Scotland seen through the eyes of a young couple taking a Spring break-
1975The Hand of AdamDocumentary about 18th century Scottish architect Robert Adam-
1975Steel upon the SwardDocumentary about works of the three sculptors Gerald Laing, Gavin Scobie and Andrew Mylius-
1977
A James-Bond type fiction film about an evil woman's plans to 'hi-jack' the New Town of Cumbernauld.-
1982Sean Connery's EdinburghDocumentary about Edinburgh presented by Scottish actor Sean Connery
1983 The Architecture of Frank Lloyd WrightDocumentary about 19th/20th century American architect Frank Lloyd Wright featuring the architect's granddaughter, the actress Anne Baxter-
1984Pride of Place8-part one-hour TV series documentary about American architecture-
1990The Why?sman – In Pursuit of the Question MarkDocumentary on the self-styled Sculptor George Wyllie, artist, playwright, poet and Pataphysician. It features his Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat, as a requiem for Glasgow's once-great industrial prowess. It also features Wyllie's performance piece, Day Down a Goldmine, with Bill Paterson, an eerie forecast on the collapse of the banking system.-
19921995The Architecture of Carlo ScarpaDocumentary about 20th century Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, presented by Scottish architect Richard Murphy
1995In Search of Clarity: The Architecture of Gwathmey SiegelDocumentary about 20th century American architects firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects-
1999Nineveh on the Clyde: the Architecture of Alexander "Greek" ThomsonDocumentary about 19th century Scottish architect Alexander "Greek" Thomson-
2001The Work of AngelsDocumentary on The Book of Kells, Director of photography, Seamus McGarvey,
Producer Louis Lentin for RTE, Ireland and ABC TV, Australia.		-
2005Maggie's CentresDocumentary about Maggie's Centres, cancer care centres in Britain, inspired by Maggie Keswick Jencks and built by celebrated architects-
2005Sir John Soane: an English architect, an American legacyDocumentary about 18th century English architect Sir John Soane and his influence on 20th century American architects-
2011Contemporary Days: the Designs of Lucienne and Robin DayDocumentary about the British designers Lucienne and Robin Day-
2012Ever to Excel + "Ever to Exceed" with Hamid ShamsFeature-length documentary to mark the 600th anniversary of the University of St Andrews with Sean Connery. Director of photography Hamid Shams, Music composed by Rory Boyle.-