Martin Butler (director)

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Martin Butler (born 1952) is an Australian film and television producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known the 2015 award-winning film Tanna , and usually collaborates with filmmaker Bentley Dean and editor Tania Nehme.

Contents

Early life and education

Martin Butler was born in England in 1952. [1]

He studied politics and economics at Oxford University, and afterwards worked for the manager of The Who. He migrated to Australia in 1981. [1]

Career

Butler has spent much of his career as a long-form current affairs television producer. He spent six years working on ABC Television's Four Corners , where he directed and produced several episodes, and served for 10 years as supervising or associate producer on Foreign Correspondent . Moving to SBS Television, he became supervising producer for Dateline. [1]

First Footprints is a four-part television series directed by Butler and Bentley Dean and narrated by Ernie Dingo, which premiered on 14 July 2013 on ABC Television. The series won the Walkley Documentary Award in 2013. [2] [3]

In 2009, he co-directed Contact with Bentley Dean. The film tells the story of 20 Martu people who in 1964 became the last people in the Great Sandy Desert to have come into contact with Europeans. [4] The film won many awards. [5]

Other films, made in collaboration with Bentley Dean, include Tanna (director, producer, and writer) (2015), and A Sense of Self (director, producer) (2016).

For Tanna, he received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at 89th Academy Awards. [6] [7]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)
AACTA Awards Best Film Martin Butler, Bentley Dean and Carolyn JohnsonNominated [9]
Best Direction Martin Butler and Bentley DeanNominated
Best Cinematography Bentley DeanNominated
Best Original Music Score Antony Partos Won
Best Sound James Ashton, Emma Bortignon and Martin ButlerNominated
Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film Martin Butler and Bentley DeanNominated [10] [11] [12]
African-American Film Critics Association Best Foreign FilmTannaWon [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Butler, Martin, 1952- - Full record view". Libraries Australia Search. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "First Footprints". AustLit . Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Walkley Winners Archive". The Walkley Foundation. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Maddox, Garry (10 September 2009). "Contact". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "Contact". ABC Shop. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Samuelson, Kate (24 January 2017). "Here Are the 2017 Oscar Nominations". Time . Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Frater, Patrick (23 August 2016). "Australia Selects 'Tanna' as Foreign-Language Oscar Contender". Variety . Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Martin Butler, Liz Jackson, Bentley Dean and Tania Nehme".
  9. ↑ "Hacksaw Ridge leads with 13 AACTA nominations". Sky News. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (24 January 2017). "Oscars: 'La La Land' Ties Record With 14 Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 24 January 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ "Oscar Nominations: Complete List". Variety . 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "The 89th Academy Awards | 2017". 18 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (12 December 2016). "'Moonlight' Named Best Picture by the African American Film Critics Association". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 12 December 2016.
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