Robert Connolly | |
|---|---|
 Connolly in 2012 | |
| Born | 1967 (age 55–56) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer, screenwriter |
Robert Connolly (born 1967) 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.
Connolly was born in 1967. [1] Along with David Wenham, he worked in theatre before transitioning to filmmaking. They were both involved in a production of The Boys at the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney. [2] Connolly graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in the late 1990s, [1] where he undertook a three-year course that included directing. [2]
Connolly made his first feature film as producer, The Boys in 1998, which had its world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival. [2] His first film as director, The Bank , was produced by his former mentor and later business partner at Arenafilm John Maynard. [3]
In 2007 Connolly and Maynard together produced the period immigration drama Romulus, My Father, [3] directed by Richard Roxburgh, starring Eric Bana and Franka Potente.
By 2013, he had written and directed four feature films and produced around 12 others, as well as doing work for television. [1]
He directed and produced Paper Planes (2014) and The Dry (2020), [4] and has been nominated for or won numerous Australian and international awards (see lists below). [5]
In 2009, Connolly directed Balibo, which he co-wrote with David Williamson. The film examines the politically fraught deaths of Australian-based journalists the Balibo Five and Roger East during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. Maynard produced the film, which starred Anthony LaPaglia in the lead role of East. Balibo was the first feature to be shot in East Timor.< [6]
Indonesia continues to maintain that the Balibo Five died accidentally in crossfire as its troops battled East Timorese Fretilin rebels, a version of events accepted by successive Australian governments. But the film depicts the young journalists, who were working for Australian TV networks and presumed their nationality afforded them protection, being slaughtered on the orders of Indonesian military chiefs to prevent news of the invasion reaching the world. [7]
Connolly refuses to apologise for his film's hardline stance, stating that an Australian coroner found in 2007 that the journalists were executed as they tried to surrender to Indonesian forces. He said: "It's quite clear the journalists were murdered... The current Indonesian and Australian (Government) point of view that they were killed in crossfire is quite frankly absurd. I'd imagine the film will be confronting because it represents something contrary to the official view." [8] He points out that the East Timorese Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that up to 183,000 East Timorese people died as a result of the conflict, when the total population was only around 600,000, while both the Australian Government under the Liberals and the opposition Labor Party were focused on oil and gas resources and regional influence. [9]
Connolly has been definitive about his political approach to filmmaking, saying "Without a doubt, in recent times, the political agenda of the work is what drives us. We feel a responsibility to use cinema to put a blow torch to contemporary Australia and contribute to some discussion or debate about where we're headed. That's what I find most rewarding about it." [2] Three Dollars (2005), The Bank (2001) and The Boys (1998) all have a strong political agenda, and have been released in Australia as a DVD box set along with the documentary The Political Arena, which explores the social and political strands of the films. [10]
In 2008, Connolly published a white paper outlining his views on all that could be improved about the Australian film industry, which includes a ten-step plan for reducing production costs. [11]
Arenafilm was first incorporated in 1987 by film producer John Maynard [12] [13] [3] and produced The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Jane Campion's film s Sweetie (1989) and An Angel at My Table (1990) (with Maynard's partner Bridget Ikin). The company went on to produce The Boys (1998) and several other of Connolly's films, including Balibo. [14] Its history is not clear, but Connolly and Maynard [2] became directors of the company during the 2000s. Connolly relocated to set up the Arenafilm Melbourne office in late 2006 [10] (including Arenamedia) and subsidiary companies. [15] [1]
Footprint Films is the film distribution company owned by Arenafilm. [1] [lower-alpha 1] Maynard had earlier had a production company called Footstep Films. [12] In December 2007, Film Victoria provided A$750,000 of funding to be shared among Footprint and two other companies. [17]
In 2009, Footprint Films was the Australasian distributor for Balibo and Sarah Watt's My Year Without Sex (both made by Arenafilm), and in the same year, it expanded its operations to acquire and release third-party films. Its first two distribution-only films were Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah , and Kriv Stenders' Lucky Country (film) . The physical work of distributing is handled by Transmission Films, headed by Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie and backed by Paramount Pictures Australia. Connolly believes that it is healthy for filmmakers to become involved in distribution. [18] [12]
The Boys was nominated for 13 AFI Awards including Best Film, and won awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. In 1998, Connolly was named by Variety as one of the 10 best emerging producers in the world. [2]
Connolly has screened his films at over 30 international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and San Sebastian Film Festival. He received a Centenary Medal for services to the Australian Film Industry in 2001. [19]
Romulus, My Father won four Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI) including Best Film, and Connolly has also garnered AFI Awards for writing The Bank and Three Dollars.
Matthew Campora, head of screen studies at AFTRS, wrote in 2013 that Connolly was "a director who could be considered amongst the most successful contemporary filmmakers working in Australia today", and "Connolly’s films combine characteristics of the Hollywood thriller with archetypal Australian character types and narrative arcs to create a body of films that continue a particular style of filmmaking identified by [Graeme] Turner in the 1990s". [1]
In 2008 Connolly was appointed to the inaugural board of Screen Australia. His term ended on 30 June 2011. [20] [21]
He also served on the boards of the New South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO, predecessor to Screen NSW) and the Australian Directors Guild, as well as the University of New South Wales Dean's Council. [20]
In 2011 Connolly worked on and influenced the development of the unreleased videogame Warco , that could be used to train journalists to work and report in war-torn regions. [22]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Roses Are Red |  | Short film | ||
| All Men Are Liars | associate producer Cinequest Film Festival – Best First Feature tied with Le secret de Jérôme Nominated — Cinequest Film Festival Maverick Spirit Award Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Production Design Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role | ||||
| 1997 | Rust Bucket | | | Short film | |
| 1998 | The Boys | | FCCA Award for Best Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Film | ||
| 2000 | Better Than Sex | consultant | |||
| The Monkey's Mask | | ||||
| 2001 | The Bank | | | AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Newport Beach Film Festival Jury Award for Best Director Newport Beach Film Festival Jury Award for Best Screenplay Palm Springs International Film Festival - Best Director Award Portland International Film Festival - Audience Award Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction Nominated — BAFICI Award for Best Film Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Director Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Inside Film Award for Best Direction Nominated — Inside Film Award for Best Script | |
| 2002 | New Skin | consultant producer | |||
| 2005 | Three Dollars | | | AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Montreal World Film Festival - Special Mention Montreal World Film Festival - Grand Prix des Amériques Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay | |
| 2007 | Romulus, My Father | | Also second unit director AACTA Award for Best Film Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Film | ||
| West | consulting producer | ||||
| 2009 | Lucky Country | executive producer | |||
| Balibo | | | AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay ADG Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film São Paulo International Film Festival - Audience Award for Best Foreign Feature Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Director Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Screenplay Nominated — Inside Film Award for Best Feature Film | ||
| 2013 | These Final Hours | executive producer | |||
| The Turning | | | | Segment: "Aquifer" Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction Nominated — AFCA Award for Best Film Nominated — Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Film | |
| The Boy Castaways | executive producer | ||||
| 2015 | Paper Planes | | | | AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay FCCA Award for Best Children's Film Jerusalem Film Festival - Cinematheque Young Critics Club Award for Best Children's Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Film Nominated — AACTA People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film Nominated — ADG Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film Nominated — AWGIE Award for Best Writing in a Feature Film - Original Nominated — Berlin International Film Festival - Crystal Bear Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Film Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Script/Screenplay Nominated — Seattle International Film Festival - Films4Families Youth Jury Award |
| These Final Hours | Short film executive producer | ||||
| Spear | executive producer | ||||
| 2016 | Chasing Asylum | Documentary executive producer | |||
| 2017 | Guilty | post-production Documentary executive producer | |||
| 2021 | The Dry | | | | AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Film Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction |
| 2022 | Blueback | | | ||
| TBA | Force of Nature: The Dry 2 | | | | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Producer | Executive producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Rush | | 1 episode: Series 3 Episode 18 | ||||
| 2011 | The Slap | | 2 episodes | ||||
| 2012 | Underground: The Julian Assange Story | | | Television film AWGIE Award for Best Telemovie Adaptation | |||
| 2015 | Gallipoli | | Miniseries | ||||
| 2016 | Barracuda | | |||||
| 2017 | The Warriors | | | | |||
| 2018 | Deep State | | 4 episodes |
Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately 10 kilometres from the Indonesian border. It is located in the sub-district of Balibo, Bobonaro District.
The Balibo Five was a group of journalists for Australian commercial television networks who were murdered in the period leading up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The Balibo Five were based in the town of Balibo in East Timor, where they were killed on 16 October 1975 during Indonesian incursions before the invasion. Roger East travelled to Balibo soon after to investigate the likely deaths of the Five and was later executed by members of the Indonesian military on the docks of Dili.
Roger East was an Australian journalist who was murdered by the Indonesian military during its invasion of East Timor in 1975.
Kath Shelper is an Australian film producer, known for Samson and Delilah. Her production company is called Scarlett Pictures.
The Dili Allstars are an Australian and East Timorese reggae/ska band based in Melbourne. They are one of the leading voices of support for the East Timorese people and a popular musical group. The band has released two albums; a special edition Portuguese tour CD; an EP titled Increase the Peace; and also tracks for the ARIA Award-winning Balibo soundtrack album, and the Australian Canadian telemovie Answered By Fire.
Balibo is a 2009 Australian war film that follows the story of the Balibo Five, a group of journalists who were captured and killed while reporting on activities just prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor of 1975. The film is loosely based on the 2001 book Cover-Up by Jill Jolliffe, an Australian journalist who met the men before they were killed.
Granaz Moussavi is an Iranian-Australian contemporary poet, film director and screenwriter. She is known for her avant-garde poetry in the 1990s. Her debut feature film My Tehran for Sale (2009) is an internationally-acclaimed Australian-Iranian co-production.
Ranko Markovic is an Australian film and television producer and is the company director and producer of Templar Entertainment. Markovic's career started out in property development and investment before moving into film. Since then Markovic has studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School(AFTRS) and the Metroscreen Film College. He came together with Jeff Purser in 2004 after completing his studies to form Templar Entertainment alongside Purser.
Ego Lemos is a permaculturist and singer-songwriter from East Timor who sings in his native tongue, Tetum. His song "Balibo" was awarded best original song composed for the screen at the 2009 Screen Music Awards and a 2009 APRA Award for best song in a film. His debut solo album, produced by Michael Hohnen, was released in 2009. Lemos also plays with the popular East Timorese band Cinco do Oriente, a band named after a band that existed before the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor.
Warco: The News Game was an unreleased first-person videogame created by now defunct Australian game studio Defiant Development in collaboration with ManiatyMedia and Arenamedia. The game is made to train journalists to work in war environments. In the game, players control a journalist filming and travelling through war zones.
Rosemary Blight is an Australian film producer, credited with films such as The Sapphires, The Tree, and Clubland. Her television work includes the Lockie Leonard series. She has been principal partner and company director with Goalpost Pictures since 1992, and a board member of Screen Australia since 2013.
Paper Planes is a 2015 Australian 3D children's drama film directed by Robert Connolly, which he co-wrote with Steve Worland and co-produced with Liz Kearney and Maggie Miles. The film stars Sam Worthington, David Wenham, Deborah Mailman, and Ed Oxenbould. The film tells a story about Dylan, a young boy who lives in Australia, who finds out that he has a talent for making paper planes and dreams of competing in the World Paper Plane Championships in Japan.
Escape from Pretoria is a 2020 Australian prison film co-written and directed by Francis Annan, based on the real-life prison escape by three political prisoners in South Africa in 1979, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber. It is based on the 2003 book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison by Tim Jenkin, one of the escapees.
Nívea Elisabeth C. dos Reis, known professionally as Bety Reis, is an East Timorese actress, director and film producer.
Catriona McKenzie is an Australian filmmaker. She is known for her film Satellite Boy and television series Kiki and Kitty and Wrong Kind of Black. Her production company is called Dark Horse.
Bridget Ikin is a New Zealand film producer who has lived and worked in Australia since 1990.
Darren Dale is an Indigenous Australian film and television producer. Since joining Blackfella Films as a producer in 2001, he is as of 2021 co-director of the company, along with founder Rachel Perkins. Dale is known for co-producing many films and television series with Miranda Dear since 2010, with their most recent collaboration being the second season of Total Control.
Serhat Caradee is an Australian filmmaker, writer and actor based in Sydney, New South Wales. He is known for feature films Cedar Boys (2009) and A Lion Returns (2020) and short films previously.
John Maynard is an Australian film producer and film distributor who also played an important role in the development of New Zealand art museums.
Film Victoria has allocated $750,000 in Slate Funding support to be shared by Arenafilm Melbourne, Burberry Productions and Southern Arc Films. Arenafilm Melbourne is the new arm Robert Connolly...
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