Aaron Wilson (director)

Last updated

Aaron Wilson
Born (1976-02-16) 16 February 1976 (age 48)
Tocumwal, NSW, Australia
Alma mater Monash University (Bachelor of Electrical Engineering)
Occupation(s) Film director, screenwriter
Years active2004–present

Aaron Wilson is an Australian film director and screenwriter, known for the 2013 suspense war drama Canopy and the 2021 period drama Little Tornadoes .

Contents

Early life

Wilson was born in rural Australia and grew up on a farm along the Murray River. The world of his childhood serves as inspiration for much of his work.

Career

Films

Wilson has made several short films, which have screened at numerous festivals, with some gaining international sales and garnering awards. These include Ten Feet Tall (based on the song Ten Ft Tall by Australian singer-songwriter Pete Murray), Feng (Wind), Leap Year, My Name is Martin, and Ahmad’s Garden, which premiered at the 2008 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). [1]

Wilson developed the script for his first feature film Canopy, while he was undertaking a filmmaker residency program with Objectifs Centre for Filmmaking and Photography in Singapore. [1] The film deals with war and its impact on people, [2] and has very little dialogue. [3]

Canopy was filmed in Singapore in 2010 and premiered in competition at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and went on to screen at dozens of film festivals including Busan International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Horizons Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival and Taipei Film Festival. It was awarded the Grand Prix Award for Best Film at the 2014 Antipodean Film Festival, Best Director at the 2014 International Film Festival War on Screen (WoS), and Special Jury Mention at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

His second feature film, Little Tornadoes, was co-written by Australian author Christos Tsiolkas, who was brought onto the project in 2020. [2] It was shot on a tiny budget across a number of years commencing in 2009 (back to back with Canopy"), and final pickup filming taking place in early 2021. Wilson has described it as second film in his regional PTSD trilogy. The film, set in 1971 rural Australia, deals with the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on a family. [4] It had its world premiere at the 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival (online only due to Melbourne's COVID-19 pandemic lockdown), [1] and went on to screen at Brisbane International Film Festival, CinefestOZ, and the Antipodean Film Festival in St Tropez.

The film was released in Australian cinemas on 12 May 2022. [5] [3] It received an honourable mention as one of ACMI's Best Films of 2021, and was selected as one of The Guardian’s “Top 10 Australian Films of 2022”. [6]

Wilson said that he explores themes of masculinity, vulnerability and isolation (physical and emotional) in both Canopy and Little Tornadoes. His paternal grandmother, who lived on the family farm during his childhood, became a strong influence in Wilson's life and his storytelling. [7]

Wilson's 2021 short VR film, Iopu is about a queer Samoan-Australian performer, and was co-directed by Iopu Auva'a. The film was developed with the assistance of "Cinemart" (hosted by International Film Festival Rotterdam) and premiered at MIFF in 2021, and Wilson won the 2021 ADG Award for Best Direction in an Interactive or Immersive Title for the film. [1]

As of May 2024, Wilson is again working with Tsiolkas on a film set in rural Australia that is "perhaps a little more action-packed". [2]

Commercials

In addition to his films, Wilson has directed numerous TV commercials, commissioned films and multi-platform projects across Australia and South-East Asia.

In 2012, he directed the Impossible Orchestra project, which saw an orchestra perform continuously for 24 hours at Melbourne's Hamer Hall to raise awareness of the round-the-clock role of Australia’s 2.6 million unpaid carers in our community. The multi-camera event was live-streamed, and comprised short documentary films (directed by Wilson in the lead-up to the event) featuring Melbourne carers. [8] [9] The project, conceived by McCann Worldgroup (Melbourne), received numerous awards including a Bronze Lion at the 2013 Cannes Lions.

He also directed the 2018 "Passion Kitchens" project for Singapore Tourism Board, which celebrates four different and distinct Singaporean cuisines through an immersive VR experience.

Filmography

Short film

Feature film

Music video

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lygon Street</span> Street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Lygon Street is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, running through the inner northern suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street is synonymous with the Italian community of Melbourne, forming the nexus point of Little Italy. It is home to many Italian restaurants and alfresco cafés.

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Festival in 1932, Cannes Film Festival in 1939 and Berlin Film Festival in 1951.

Ana Kokkinos is an Australian film and television director and screenwriter of Greek descent. She is known for her breakthrough feature film Head On (1998), and has directed television shows such as The Secret Life of Us, The Time of Our Lives and Ten Pound Poms.

Marie Hoy is an Australian musician and actress. As a vocalist and keyboardist, she was a member of Sacred Cowboys, Orchestra of Skin and Bone (1984–86), No (1987–89) and a number of bands in Melbourne's little band scene. As an actor, she appeared in the 1986 film Dogs in Space, where she performed the Boys Next Door's track, "Shivers". She worked with performance artist, Stelarc, on a short science fiction film, Otherzone (1998).

The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) is an Australian independent film festival featuring mostly genre, controversial, transgressive and avant garde material.

Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for The Slap, which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Pedersen</span> Australian actor

Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film Mystery Road, its sequel Goldstone, and spin-off television series. He has been nominated for many and won several acting awards, including the 2021 AACTA Award for International Award for Best Actor in a Series.

<i>Bran Nue Dae</i> (film) 2009 Australian film

Bran Nue Dae is a 2009 Australian musical comedy-drama film directed by Rachel Perkins and written by Perkins and Reg Cribb. A feature film adaptation of the 1990 stage musical Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi, the film tells the story of the coming of age of an Aboriginal Australian teenager on a road trip in the late 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Lang</span> Australian film director

Samantha Lang is an Australian film director and screenwriter. Her production company is Handmaid Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirrah Foulkes</span> Australian actress

Mirrah Foulkes is an Australian director, screenwriter, and film and television actress. She was raised on the Sunshine Coast, in South East Queensland, Australia. She has appeared in films such as Animal Kingdom (2010), Sleeping Beauty (2011), and in the Australian anthology film The Turning (2013).

William Townsend Onus Jnr was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. He was father of artist Lin Onus.

Dominic Allen is an Australian director and producer whose work includes short and feature films, music videos, commercials, and television documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiel Courtin-Wilson</span> Australian film director

Amiel Courtin-Wilson is an Australian filmmaker. He has directed over 20 short films and several feature films. His debut feature film, Hail, premiered internationally at Venice Film Festival in 2011. He is also a musician, music producer, and visual artist.

Lost Property Office is a 2017 stop-motion animated short film written and directed by Daniel Agdag and produced by Liz Kearney. The film about a lost property office in a train station premiered at the 56th Melbourne International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise McCann</span>

Elise McCann is an Australian actress and musical theatre performer most well known for originating the role of Miss Honey in the Australian production of Matilda the Musical and as Lucille Ball in Everybody Loves Lucy.

The Antipodean Film Festival, variously referred to as Festival des Antipodes, Antipodes International Film Festival, Antipodes Film Festival Saint Tropez, Saint Tropez Film Festival and other variations, is a film festival showcasing New Zealand and Australian films, held annually in St Tropez in France since 1999.

Steven McGregor is an Australian filmmaker, known for his work on Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Sweet Country, and numerous documentaries, including My Brother Vinnie.

Aaron Chen is an Australian comedian and actor from Sydney.

Little Tornadoes is a 2021 Australian period drama directed by Aaron Wilson and co-written by Christos Tsiolkas. It stars Mark Leonard Winter and Silvia Colloca, and was filmed along the Murray River in and around the towns of Tocumwal, Cobram, and Mulwala.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Aaron Wilson". RGM. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Keast, Jackie (11 May 2022). "Aaron Wilson on collaboration and the decade long journey of 'Little Tornadoes'". IF Magazine . Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 Buckmaster, Luke (11 May 2022). "Little Tornadoes review – an elegant portrait of life in country Australia". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Aaron Wilson: Chasing Little Tornadoes". FilmInk . 30 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Little Tornadoes trailer and release date sweeps in". Cinema Australia. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "The 10 best Australian films of 2022". The Guardian . 26 December 2022.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Aaron (24 May 2022). "Little Tornadoes director Aaron Wilson talks about working with Mark Leonard Winter, Christos Tsiolkas, and presenting rural Australia on screen in this interview". The Curb (Interview). Interviewed by Peirce, Andrew F. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "'The Impossible Orchestra' Case Study (McCann Australia)". Youtube.
  9. ↑ "'Care Aware launches Impossible Orchestra at Arts Centre Melbourne, via McCann Melbourne". Campaign Brief. 26 October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.