Professor Alan Rosenthal is a distinguished film director, exceptionally known for his expertise in documentary films. Born in England, Professor Rosenthal holds a Master's degree in Law from University of Oxford, and a Master's degree in Communications from Stanford University. With a long career in documentary filmmaking, Professor Rosenthal has been director, writer, and a producer of over 60 films for broadcasting companies around the world, including ZDF and ARTE in Europe, the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, ABC, Israel TV, and CBC Canada.
Based in Jerusalem, Professor Rosenthal is a world expert on documentaries and docudramas, with historical and social matters at the heart of his work. Some of his important works, include The Fatal Clash, The First Fagin, Stalin's Last Purge, Adolf Eichmann – The Secret Memoirs, Waves of Freedom, and Heritage: Civilization and the Jews, which won him the Emmy Award. Professor Rosenthal also received other major accolades including the Christopher Award, the Peabody Journalism Award, and the CINE Golden Eagle Awards.
Held in high esteem in the field, Professor Rosenthal has been engaged by many prestigious film schools, including the Australian Film Television and Radio School, University of North Texas, New York University, Rowan University, London School of Economics, Leeds Beckett University, London Film School, York University, and the Victorian College of the Arts at The University of Melbourne. He was also a Communications and Journalism professor at Hebrew University for over 40 years.
Dedicated to pass on his experiences to younger generation film makers and documentarians, Professor Rosenthal published numerous seminal textbooks in film, documentary, and non-fiction film production, sharing his observations in theory and in practice. His publication include The Documentary Diaries : Working Experiences of a Non-Fiction Filmmaker, Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Films and Digital Videos, Why Docudrama?: Fact-Fiction on Film and TV, and many more.
A long-time supporter of the School of Film and Television of the Academy, Professor Rosenthal has made notable contributions to the academic developments of the School. He has been regularly engaged as an advisor for the School, in the capacity as an External Academic Reviewer and assisted the School's academic programme validation and accreditation. Professor Rosenthal first visited the Academy for an initial introduction to the Division of Television in the School of Technical Arts in 1993, his valuable advice on curriculum reviews greatly contributed to the design of the School's first Degree Programme. In his subsequent visits to Hong Kong over the years, he delivered multiple workshops and seminars for Academy students and provided professional development for faculty members.