John Duigan | |
---|---|
Born | Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England | 19 June 1949
Alma mater | University of Melbourne (1973) |
Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
Years active | 1975–present |
Spouse | Nammi Le |
John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical films The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting , and the 1994 film Sirens , which stars Hugh Grant.
Duigan was born in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England to an Australian father, and emigrated to Australia in 1961. He is related to many Australian performers, being the brother of novelist Virginia Duigan (wife of director Bruce Beresford) and uncle of Trilby Beresford. [ citation needed ]
Duigan studied at the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Ormond College and graduated in 1973 with a master's degree in Philosophy. While at university, he worked extensively as an actor and director in theatre, and acted in a number of films (including Brake Fluid, Bonjour Balwyn and Dalmas). [1]
He began directing films in 1974, with early successes including Mouth to Mouth , winner of the Jury Prize at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards and Winter of our Dreams , for which he won an Australian Writers' Guild award for Best Screenplay. His 1981 film Winter of Our Dreams was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. [2]
The multi-award-winning mini-series Vietnam followed in 1987; it was one of Nicole Kidman's first major roles. Subsequently, Duigan worked in the United States and Europe, returning to Australia to make Sirens , winner of Best Film at the St. Petersburg Film Festival. [3]
In the United States, he directed Romero , starring Raul Julia, which won the Humanitas Award, [4] and Lawn Dogs , winner of numerous prizes in European festivals. [5] In England he directed The Leading Man , from a screenplay by his sister Virginia, The Parole Officer with Steve Coogan, [6] and in Canada/France/UK Head in the Clouds with Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz, winner in Canada of four Genie Awards and Best Film at the Milan Film Festival. [7] [8]
Between 2005 and 2010, he took time off from the film industry to work on a book on secular ethics, returning to Australia to direct Careless Love in 2011/12. [7]
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States.
Noah George Taylor is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Darby Sabini in the BBC One series Peaky Blinders, Mr. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny in the Australian cult film He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. Taylor also starred as Adolf Hitler in both the American television series Preacher and the 2002 film Max. In 2023 he starred as Dr. Friedrich "Fritz" Pfeffer in A Small Light.
Flirting is a 1991 Australian coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by John Duigan. The story revolves around a romance between two teenagers, and it stars Noah Taylor, who appears again as Danny Embling, the protagonist of Duigan's 1987 film The Year My Voice Broke. It also stars Thandiwe Newton and Nicole Kidman.
Sirens is a 1994 film, based on the life of artist and author Norman Lindsay, written and directed by John Duigan and set in Australia during the interwar period. Sirens was mostly filmed at the Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum, Lindsay's home and studio in New South Wales.
Bryan Neathway Brown AM is an Australian actor and author. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include Breaker Morant (1980), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), F/X (1986), Tai-Pan (1986), Cocktail (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), F/X2 (1991), Along Came Polly (2004), Australia (2008), Kill Me Three Times (2014) and Gods of Egypt (2016). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his performance in the television miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983).
The Year My Voice Broke is a 1987 Australian coming of age drama film written and directed by John Duigan and starring Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen and Ben Mendelsohn. Set in 1962 in the rural Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, it was the first in a projected trilogy of films centred on the experiences of an awkward Australian boy, based on the childhood of writer/director John Duigan. The film itself is a series of interconnected segments narrated by Danny who recollects how he and his best friend Freya grew apart over the course of one year. Although the trilogy never came to fruition, it was followed by a 1991 sequel, Flirting. The film was the recipient of the 1987 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, a prize which Flirting also won in 1990.
The AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television." The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films. From 1971 to 2010, the category was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuation of the AFI Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
The Motel is a 2005 American comedy drama film written and directed by Michael Kang in his feature debut. The film won the Humanitas Prize in the Independent Feature Film category, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
The Australian Film Institute Jury Prize is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. It was awarded annually between 1976 and 1984.
Paul Ashton Delprat is an Australian artist and as of 2023 the principal of the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney's oldest continuous fine art school. His work is represented in state, municipal and university galleries as well as numerous private collections.
John Sacret Young was an American author, producer, director, and screenwriter primarily in television, perhaps best known for his work on the show China Beach. Young was nominated for seven Emmys and seven Writers Guild of America Awards, winning two WGA Awards.
The International Cycling Film Festival is an independent, not-for-profit film festival held annually in Germany, in Poland, in Kosovo and in the Netherlands. Its mission is to strengthen international cooperation in the areas of art film and bicycle culture. The festival promotes interaction between movie makers and cyclists from all over the world. It has screened more than 350 short movies from more than 30 countries since its debut in 2006. Each year around 20 films compete for the award Goldene Kurbel and the awards of the audience. The Neistat Brothers, Michaël Dudok de Wit, Andrea Dorfman, Tomer Shushan, Lucas Brunelle, Steven Subotnick, Nash Edgerton, M. A. Numminen and other filmmakers and artists contributed to the ICFF.
The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the Sous le soleil de Satan by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize was given under the jeers of the public. Pialat is quoted to have retorted "You don't like me? Well, let me tell you that I don't like you either!"
The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films for five days in June of each year.
Bonjour Balwyn is a 1971 Australian independent film directed by Nigel Buesst and starring John Duigan, Peter Cummins, and John Romeril. It was one of the most notable films of the "Carlton Wave" of filmmaking.
Mouth to Mouth is a 1978 film directed by John Duigan. It stars Kim Krejus and Sonia Peat. It was nominated for three awards by the Australian Film Institute in 1978.
Tom Cowan is an Australian filmmaker.
Careless Love is a 2012 Australian drama film written and directed by John Duigan. The story centers on a university student who secretly works as an escort.
The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the festival and Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Ismael's Ghosts, directed by French director Arnaud Desplechin, was the opening film for the festival.