Ray Lawrence — Director
Ray Lawrence is one of Australia’s most highly regarded directors. The award-winning “Lantana” was
released in Australia in 20012 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.
[return to list of biographies]