Montreal director Malcolm Clarke wins Oscar for short doc ‘Lady in Number 6’

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Montreal-based director Malcolm Clarke has won an Oscar for his short documentary “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.”

Clarke is British but has lived in Montreal since the mid-1990s. He shares the win with Nicholas Reed, a Brit who lives in Los Angeles.

The 38-minute film tells the story of Alice Herz-Sommer, whose devotion to music and her son helped her survive two years in a Nazi prison camp.

She was believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor before her death last week at age 110.

Clarke previously won an Oscar in the best documentary short category in 1989 for “You Don’t Have to Die,” about a child battling cancer who inspired other youngsters with the disease.

“The Lady in Number Six” isn’t technically considered Canadian, because it wasn’t funded by Canadians, but it was made by a crew of Montreal residents.

They include producer Frederic Bohbot, director of photography Kieran Crilly, editor Carl Freed and composer Luc St-Pierre.