John Duigan

Born: 19th June 1949
Where: Hampshire, England

John moved with his family to Sydney, Australia, where he went to boarding school and later studied philosophy and history at The University of Melbourne.

While a student, John began acting professionally on stage and in several films, as well as serving as president of the Melbourne University Student Theatre and co-edited the Melbourne University Magazine.

It was not until 1974 that John wrote and directed his first film, The Firm Man. He followed with The Trespassers, and received critical acclaim for Mouth to Mouth, about four homeless, unemployed youths who establish a community in an abandoned power station.

In addition to filmmaking, John wrote and published his first novel, Badge. Later he published another two, Players and Room to Move.

Winter of Our Dreams enhanced his reputation and earned widespread distribution in the USA and abroad, and John soon began a fruitful affiliation with Australian production company Kennedy Miller, scripting and producing episodes of the miniseries Vietnam for Australian TV.

1987, also saw him write and direct the coming-of-age story The Year My Voice Broke, and two years later he made his American directing debut with the biopic Romero, about the assassinated archbishop of El Salvador.

In the early 1990s, Duigan moved to London, directed the art house feature Sirens and in 2001, helmed the British comedy The Parole Officer.