This edition of Talks @ AFTRS features two of Australia’s leading directors – Kriv Stenders (Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Wake in Fright, Red Dog) and Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker, Stateless, Les Norton). In conversation with AFTRS Head of Directing Rowan Woods, they will discuss their careers and projects and explore moving between the worlds of television and feature films.

JOCELYN MOOREHOUSE
Upon graduating from AFTRS in 1984, Jocelyn worked in TV as script editor, writer and director and received a grant from the AFC to direct a short children’s comedy called The Siege Of Barton’s Bathroom which was adapted to a 12-part children’s series, The Bartons, commissioned by the ABC. Jocelyn wrote and directed her feature film debut Proof, starring Hugo Weaving and Russell Crowe, which had its world premiere in Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991.

In 1994, Jocelyn moved to LA to direct How to Make an American Quilt (1995) starring Winona Ryder and Anne Bancroft, and A Thousand Acres (1997) starring Michele Pfeiffer, Jessica Lang and Colin Firth. She works closely with her husband PJ Hogan and worked as a producer on Muriel’s Wedding, Unconditional Love, Peter Pan and Mental. Jocelyn wrote and directed The Dressmaker, released in 2015, starring Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and Liam Hemsworth. It took over $20m at the Australian Box Office and won AACTA Awards for Best Costume, Best Actress, Best Supporting actress, Best Supporting Actor and Audience vote for Favourite Australian Film of the Year.

Jocelyn directed her first play, Sex with Strangers at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2012 and had her memoir, Unconditional Love: A Memoir of Filmmaking and Motherhood published in 2019.

Her television credits include Wanted (Matchbox, Seven Network and Netflix), set up director Les Norton (Roadshow Rough Diamond and ABC), Stateless (Matchbox, Cate Blanchett, Tony Ayres and ABC) and set up director Wakefield (Jungle, ABC and BBC).

KRIV STENDERS
Kriv Stenders is one of Australia’s most renown, respected and prolific film directors with numerous critically acclaimed and award -winning shorts, documentaries, music videos, television commercials, television series and feature films to his credit. His early feature films include Blacktown, The Illustrated, Family Doctor, Boxing Day, and Lucky Country.

His fifth feature, Red Dog, earned over $22 million at the box office, making it the eighth highest grossing Australian film of all time, and won numerous awards. Other feature film directing credits include Kill Me Three Times, Red Dog: True Blue and the Vietnam War epic, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan which was released theatrically across Australia in 2019.

Kriv directed Australia Day for Foxtel, Hoodlum and Icon Films which was the first film released on the Dendy Demand platform and his critically acclaimed feature-length documentary The Go-Betweens: Right Here premiered at the 2017 Sydney Film Festival.

Kriv’s extensive television credits include The Principal, a four-part television drama for SBS, the feature length documentary, Why Anzac with Sam Neill and Wake in Fright, Stephen M. Irwin’s contemporary re-imagining of the Australian classic which aired as a two-parter on Channel Ten.

That same year, he also completed production on Foxtel’s The Pacific with Sam Neill, a six-part documentary series which he co-directed with Sally Aitken. He is currently in post-production on feature documentaries about Slim Dusty’ wife, Joy McKean and racing legend, Peter Brock for Universal Pictures which are due for release in 2020.