
Warwick Thornton is an internationally-recognised director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Born and raised in remote Alice Springs Australia, Warwick perfected his trade at Australia’s prestigious film school AFTRS.
Warwick quickly established a strong presence in the industry shooting, directing and writing a series of short films, focusing on contemporary Indigenous Australian stories. Both NANA and GREENBUSH were premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival – NANA winning the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film – establishing Warwick as an important voice in Australian cinema.
Following the success of these films Warwick began work on his first feature SAMSON AND DELILAH- a confronting look at the relationship between two young Aboriginal teenagers in Alice Springs. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, winning the Caméra d’Or. SAMSON AND DELILAH collected many other awards including best film at the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards, the AFI awards, and the Film Critics Circle awards.
Next, Warwick completed his next feature THE DARKSIDE, a film which presents well know Australian actors retelling Indigenous ghost stories. This became Warwick’s third film invited to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. Following this he directed and shot the opening segment of Tim Winton’s THE TURNING, and the opening segment of Guillermo Arriaga’s WORDS WITH GODS– which was invited to premiere at Venice 2014.
In 2016 Warwick Thornton directed Sweet Country which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and the Platform Prize at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival as well as many other awards internationally and in Australia.
Although Warwick has solidified a name for himself as director and screenwriter he is also widely regarded for his work as a cinematographer. His work as DOP on the 2012 hit musical THE SAPPHIRES once again highlighted Warwick’s ability to present diverse and exciting Indigenous stories. He went on to shoot with the same director Wayne Blair on their next collaboration SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ– starring Adrian Brody and Salma Hayek.
See Warwick in the following sessions:
FILMMAKING WITH WARWICK THORNTON – Saturday 27th Oct 3:20PM