(b. Johannesburg, 13/07/1924 – d. Pretoria, 09/08/1989). Director, scriptwriter, playwright. Also credited as Jan Perold or J.M. Perold.

Biography

Jan Mellet Perold’s first known film credits were on two 1953 Jamie Uys films, first as a cameraman on 50–50 and then as assistant director on Daar Doer in die Stad. The following year he wrote, photographed and directed Lobola, a short film that was well received and was picked up for distribution by Contemporary Films in New York. He then joined African Film Productions and worked on several documentaries for Caltex, the South African Bureau of Standards, the Department of Information, etc. His three features as director – As Ons Twee Eers Getroud Is! (1962), Die Ruiter in die Nag (1963) and Piet My Niggie (1963) – were all made for South African Screen Productions / Suid-Afrikaanse Rolprentproduksies. In 1968 he moved to Pretoria where he joined the National Film Board of South Africa, occasionally directing, but more frequently as scriptwriter.

In 1953 he married the botanist Sarie Magdalena Perold (née Lombard) (1928-2011). Their son, Dr. Jan J. Perold, born in 1967, is a research psychologist.

Theatre

A play entitled Winde van Verandering (Winds of Change), about the racial situation in South Africa, was published by Voortrekkerpers in 1966, but there are no records of it having been staged.

Filmography (incomplete)

1953 – 50 – 50 (Feature) (Director: Jamie Uys) (camera), 1953 – Daar Doer in die Stad (Feature) (Director: Jamie Uys) (assistant director), 1954 – Lobola (Short) (photographer, writer & director), 1955 – Matieland! (Feature) (Director: Pierre de Wet) (story), 1955 – A Hundred Years and a Day / Honderd Jaar en ‘n Dag (Documentary) (director), 195* - Copper (Documentary) (director), 1957 – South Africa: Land of Endeavour / Suid-Afrika: Baanbrekersland (Documentary) (director), 195* - Beyond the Orange / Oorkant die Oranje (Documentary) (scriptwriter with Gordon Vorster & director), 1961 – En die Vonke Spat (Feature) (Director: Pierre de Wet) (story), 1962 – As Ons Twee Eers Getroud Is! (Feature) (adapter of the play by Gerhard J. Beukes with Pierre de Wet & director), 1963 – Die Ruiter in die Nag (Feature) (director), 1964 – Piet My Niggie (Feature) (scriptwriter & director), 1965 – Shimmering Harvest / Uit die diepte van ons see (Documentary) (director), 196* – Touching Wood (Documentary) (director), 1966 – Kavaliers (Feature) (Director: Elmo de Witt) (screenplay with Fanus Rautenbach & Piet Schreuder), 1967 – Kruger Miljoene / Kruger Millions (Feature) (Director: Ivan Hall) (story with Fanus Rautenbach), 1967 – Home is Where the Light Is (Documentary) (writer & director). 1970 – Practical Geometry / Meetkunde in die Praktyk (Documentary) (Producer: Hans Wagner) (script), 1971 – Jean Welz (Documentary) (Director: Retief Koch) (scenario), 1971 – Praestantia Praevaleat Praetoria (documentary) (Director: not credited) (research & compiler with Johan de Lange), 1972 – U Dienswillige Dienaar, C.J. Langenhoven (Documentary) (Director: Retief Koch) (scenario), 1972 – Fit At Forty / Veertiger Viks (Documentary) (Director: Pierre Joubert) (scenario), 197* - The Wealth of our Talents (Documentary) (Producer: Willem Viljoen) (scenario), 1976 – Johannesburg As Metropolitan Area (Documentary) (Director: not credited) (scenario), 1976 – National Libraries of South Africa / Nasionale Biblioteke van Suid-Afrika (Documentary) (scenario & director), 1977 – Oom Lokomotief: D.F. du Toit (Documentary) (director).