Peter Weir Receives Inaugural AFTRS Lifetime Achievement Award
Australian director Peter Weir was presented with the inaugural lifetime achievement award from the Australian Film Television and Radio School at a Sydney Film Festival event on Wednesday. The 81-year-old retired director, known for films including Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, and The Truman Show, was described by AFTRS council chair Rachel Perkins as 'the greatest film-maker this country has produced.' The award recognises his global influence on craft and storytelling across a 43-year career spanning Australian new wave cinema and Hollywood.
Peter Weir, the acclaimed Australian director behind Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, and The Truman Show, received the inaugural lifetime achievement award from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) at a Sydney Film Festival event on Wednesday night. AFTRS council chair Rachel Perkins, herself a prominent Aboriginal filmmaker, praised Weir for his ability to define Australian culture and said Aboriginal audiences 'felt seen' in his films. The award was a unanimous decision, recognising Weir's lasting contribution to screen storytelling across a career in which he made 13 films. Weir, who retired in 2024, described the recognition in his home city as 'quite overwhelming,' having already received a lifetime achievement award at Venice film festival and an honorary Oscar — the first awarded to an Australian filmmaker — in 2022. Following the presentation, Weir joined actor Rob Carlton for the annual Ian McPherson lecture, where he shared anecdotes including his initial reluctance to direct The Truman Show, a chance beach encounter with Robin Williams that preceded Dead Poets Society, and the deliberate risk of casting Linda Hunt as a man in The Year of Living Dangerously. The AFTRS lifetime achievement award is intended to be presented annually to individuals whose careers have made a lasting contribution to screen or audio industries.
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‘Greatest film-maker this country has produced’: Peter Weir receives inaugural AFTRS lifetime achievement award
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