Ray Lawrence is one of Australia’s
most highly regarded directors. The
award-winning LANTATNA was released
in Australia in 2001–2 and went on to
critical acclaim and commercial success
in Australia, the US, UK and Europe.
The film’s ensemble cast includes
Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Vince
Colosimo, Barbara Hershey and Kerry
Armstrong. In 2001, Lantana won seven
AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director,
Best Actor for LaPaglia, Best Actress for
Armstrong, and Best Adapted Screenplay
for Andrew Bovell who based the script
on his play SPEAKING IN TONGUES. It was
released by Lions Gate in the US in late
2001 and launched the international
careers of Vince Colosimo and Andrew
Bovell.
Lawrence made his feature debut with
BLISS (based on the best selling novel by
Peter Carey) which screened in main
competition at Cannes in 1985 alongside
the films of Peter Weir, Alan Parker
and Paul Schrader. In Australia BLISS
received AFI Awards for Best Screenplay
(Lawrence co-wrote with Carey), Best
Director and Best Film.
JINDABYNE is Ray Lawrence’s third
feature.
