Vikram Jayanti was born in New York in 1955 but grew up in France, Italy, Switzerland, India, Costa Rica and England, where he did most of his schooling. Initially, he wanted to be a painter, but after seeing Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets and Werner Herzog’s The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser in the same week, he became enchanted by the possibilities of filmmaking and moved to Los Angeles in 1977. He began producing anthropological documentaries at the University of Southern California and later ran two documentary film festivals in Los Angeles. These brought together a community of filmmakers and broadcasters who formed the basis of his future work, which has garnered numerous awards. When We Were Kings, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 1996, went on to win an Oscar in 1997.

Since then, he has directed a series of feature documentaries which his friends call his American Monsters series, about larger-than-life characters such as Ken Kesey, James Ellroy and Julian Schnabel. His masterful The Man Who Bought Mustique, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2000, was nominated for a BAFTA, and the UK’s Channel Four version of the film won the Indie award for Best Documentary in 2000.

Known for his gonzo choice of subjects, he has also produced high-profile television documentaries with his signature combination of eccentricity and amazement.

Following Encounters, Jayanti plans to start work on a new feature documentary about chess genius Garry Kasparov. We welcome Vikram to Cape Town, where he will introduce his films and answer questions afterwards. He is a Close Encounters Laboratory tutor and is sponsored by The British Council.