Fred Schepisi

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Fred Schepisi
Born Frederic Alan Schepisi
(1939-12-26) 26 December 1939
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Fred Schepisi
Occupation film director

Frederic Alan "Fred" Schepisi, AO (born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. His credits include Last Orders, Roxanne, Plenty and Six Degrees of Separation.

Life and career

Frederic Alan Schepisi was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of fruit dealer & car salesman Frederic Thomas Schepisi and Loretto Ellen (née Hare).[1] He began his career in advertising and directed both commercials and documentaries before helming his first feature film, The Devil's Playground, in 1976.

Schepisi won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction and the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay for both The Devil's Playground and Evil Angels (released as A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand[2]).

In 1991 his film The Russia House was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.[3]

In 2005 Schepisi directed and co-produced the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, for which he was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director of a TV Film.

In 2007 he was the Chairman of the Jury at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival.[4]

In April 2008 it was announced Film Finance Corporation Australia was providing funding for Schepisi's film The Last Man, about the final days of the Vietnam War. It was scheduled to begin filming in Queensland, with Guy Pearce and David Wenham in leading roles, towards the end of the year.[5]

In 2011 Schepisi directed 'The Eye of the Storm'. Filmed in Melbourne, Sydney and Far North Queensland, and based on the novel by acclaimed author Patrick White, ‘The Eye of the Storm’ stars Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush, and is about children finally understanding themselves, through the context of family.

In 2012 he directed 'Words & Pictures' with Juliet Binoche and Clive Owen.

Schepisi has also directed a number of music videos, including for the 2008 song "Breathe" by Kaz James featuring Stu Stone.[6]

Asked about the "gypsy-like existence" of a filmmaker, Schepisi has said: "It's the hardest thing. I think we're today's circus people. It's very hard on your family. [His wife] Mary travels with me and when everyone was younger and it was possible, I liked them to travel with me and be with me. Fortunately, Mary's an artist; she paints, and often finds inspiration from our locations."[7] Schepisi has seven adult children.

He supports Australia becoming a republic and is a founding member of the Australian Republican Movement.[8]

Filmography

Unmade Films

  • Bitter Sweet (1979) - romance drama for Avoc Embassy[10]

References

  1. "Fred Schepisi Biography (1939-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "A Cry in the Dark (1988) - Release dates". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 June 2012. 
  3. "Berlinale: 1991 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 26 March 2011. 
  4. "29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007)". MIFF. Retrieved 22 April 2013. 
  5. Zitter, Daniel (3 April 2008). "Fred Schepisi's new local venture". TheAge.com.au.
  6. "MTV Confidential" The Daily Telegraph, 23 April 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  7. Dow, Steve (10 October 2006). "Action Men: Australian directors on film". SteveDow.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  8. http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3294165
  9. Shaw, Lucas (2 November 2012). "Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche Team With Fred Schepisi for 'Words & Pictures'". thewrap.com. Retrieved 13 January 2013. 
  10. "Oz in LA", Cinema Papers, May–June 1979 p332

External links

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