Ray Lawrence

Ray Lawrence is one of Australia’s most highly regarded directors. The award winning Lantana was released in Australia in 2001 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.

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