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David Lister, born in South Africa and now Australian, is a film and television director, lecturer, and fine artist.
He was raised on a farm in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
After studying painting and sculpture at an art school in Pretoria, he worked at the Performing Arts Council Transvaal (PACT) for four and a half years. During this time, he served as co-head of the scene painting department and head of the props department, contributing to 40 opera, ballet, and drama productions. At 22, he designed sets for "Vrydag" and the popular Afrikaans play "Die Drie Van Der Walts," directed by Francois Swart.
While working in theatre, he supplemented his income through painting and commissions. His artwork is held in private collections across South Africa, Namibia, Australia, the UK, and the US.
He briefly worked as a documentary cameraman for SABC TV before moving to the UK to study. Graduating with first-class honours from the London Film School in 1974, he returned to South Africa to pursue a directing career in film and television.
Over a 45-year career, Lister has directed 16 cinema and telefeatures, 13 television drama series totaling 138 episodes, a 52-part puppet series, and 63 documentaries, commercials, and corporate videos.
He spent five years at The Media Workshop in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, lecturing film and television production students, focusing on directing and scriptwriting. He facilitated and mentored "Songololo," a pioneering project where interns wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited a 24-minute episode in a 13-part comedy series broadcast on eTV's Open View HD channel.
Additionally, he served as film directing mentor and supervising director for an Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council/National Film and Video Foundation project, overseeing training project dramas.
In 2015, Lister played a key role in establishing AFDA (The South African School of Motion Picture and Live Performance) in Port Elizabeth, where he worked as Head of Film School and lectured in directing and production design.
His films cover a wide range of genres, and he is regarded as one of South Africa's most experienced filmmaking lecturers and directors of feature films and television dramas. His critically acclaimed works have earned him 10 directing awards, while numerous actors and technicians under his guidance have also received accolades.
During his early tenure at SABC TV as Principal Producer/Director, Lister directed notable documentaries such as "The Forgotten Children" (handicapped children), "The High Cost of Dying" (the funeral industry), "The Health Business" (alternative medicine), and sports documentaries including "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (athletics), "The Punch and Judo Show" (wrestling), "The July" (horse racing), "Before The Wind" (sailing), and "Journey of Dreams" (Ladysmith Black Mambazo).
He created and directed the highly popular SABC TV series for teenagers, "Video 2" and "What's Happening?" before advancing to television dramas and feature films.
Lister’s work spans Australia and the UK, with productions widely distributed internationally on channels such as SABC TV, Mnet, Etv, BBC TV, ITV, Disney, Fox, HBO, NBC, RTL2, and Sky. Eight of his films have had theatrical releases in the US, UK, Ireland, and South Africa.
He has been nominated for 13 directing awards, winning six Artes (South Africa’s equivalent of the Emmy) and two Star Tonight! awards for television dramas including "Riding High," "John Ross," "Barney Barnato," "The Big Time," and "Konings." He also received a Fespaco jury directing award for "Soweto Green" and was a finalist at the New York Film and TV Festival.
His two Leon Schuster feature film comedies, "Oh Shucks, Here Comes Untag!" and "Panic Mechanic," set South African box office records.
In 2016, David Lister relocated permanently to Australia.
