The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received international recognition. Many actors and filmmakers with international reputations started their careers in Australian films, and many of these have established lucrative careers in larger film-producing centres such as the United States.
Nicholas Edward Cave is an Australian musician, writer and actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences and lyrical obsessions with death, religion, love and violence.
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has served as its president since 2015. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
George Miller is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his Mad Max franchise, whose second installment, Mad Max 2, and fourth, Fury Road, have been hailed as two of the greatest action films of all time, with Fury Road winning six Academy Awards. Miller is very diverse in genre and style as he also directed the biographical medical drama Lorenzo's Oil, the dark fantasy The Witches of Eastwick, and the Academy Award-winning animated film Happy Feet, produced the family-friendly fantasy adventure Babe and directed the sequel Babe: Pig in the City.
David Keith Williamson is an Australian playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she has received two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career.
Phillip Noyce is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ; thrillers ; and action films. He has also directed the Jack Ryan adaptations Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), as well as the 2014 adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver.
Richard Joseph Frankland is an Australian playwright, scriptwriter and musician. He is an Aboriginal Australian of Gunditjmara origin from Victoria. He has worked significantly for the Aboriginal Australian cause.
Osamah Sami is an Australian stage and screen actor, writer and stand-up comedian of Iraqi origin. His book Good Muslim Boy, was the winner of the 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Award. It was also Commended at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards that same year.
Jimmy The Exploder is a filmmaker and writer best known for the 2008 film The Black Balloon.
Clifford Green OAM, born in Melbourne, Australia, was an Australian screen writer, whose best-known work is the script for the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).
Robert Connolly is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter based in Melbourne, Victoria. He is best known as the director and writer of the feature films Balibo, Three Dollars and The Bank, and the producer of Romulus, My Father and The Boys. He is head of the film distribution company, Footprint Films, owned by Arenafilms.
Tomorrow, When the War Began is a 2010 Australian action-adventure war drama film written and directed by Stuart Beattie and based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John Marsden. The film was produced by Andrew Mason and Michael Boughen. The story follows Ellie Linton, one of seven teenagers waging a guerrilla war against an invading foreign power in their fictional hometown of Wirrawee. The film stars Caitlin Stasey as Ellie Linton and features an ensemble cast including Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis and Phoebe Tonkin. Production began in September 2009.
The Palace is a 2011 Cypriot–Australian short film co-production, written and directed by Anthony Maras, that had its international premiere at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival and won Best Short Fiction Film and Best Screenplay in a Short Film in the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.
Virginie Le Brun is a New Zealand actress best known for her role as Dr. Gabrielle Jacobs in the TV series Shortland Street. She is the daughter of French parents, vintners Adele and Daniel Le Brun.
Simon Stone is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor.
I, Frankenstein is a 2014 American science fantasy action film written and directed by Stuart Beattie, based on the digital-only graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the film was produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Andrew Mason and Sidney Kimmel. It stars Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto and Jai Courtney. The film tells the story of Adam, Frankenstein's creature, who embarks on a dangerous journey to stop evil demons and their ruthless leader from taking over the world.
Joan Long was an Australian producer, writer and director best known for Caddie (1976). She was awarded as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980 for her services to the film industry.
Paul Goldman is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer.
