Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). ''

Taking It All In ''Taking It All In'' is the seventh collection of movie reviews by the critic Pauline Kael and contains the 150 film reviews she wrote for ''The New Yorker'' between June 9, 1980, and June 13, 1983. She writes in the Author's Note at the beginning ...

''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include ''

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the su ...

'', '' Plenty'', '' Roxanne'', ''

A Cry in the Dark ''Evil Angels'' (released as ''A Cry in the Dark'' outside Australia and New Zealand) is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book of the same nam ...

'', '' Mr. Baseball'', ''

Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...

'', and ''

Last Orders ''Last Orders'' is a 1996 novel by British writer Graham Swift. The book won the 1996 Booker Prize. In 2001, it was adapted for the film ''Last Orders (film), Last Orders'' by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi. Plot The story makes ...

''.

Life and career

Frederic Alan Schepisi was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the son of Loretto Ellen (née Hare) and Frederic Thomas Schepisi, who was a fruit dealer and car salesman of Italian descent."Fred Schepisi Biography (1939– )"
FilmReference.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011. He began his career in advertising and directed both commercials and documentaries before making his first feature film, '' The Devil's Playground'', in 1976. Schepisi won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction and the

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) was an award presented intermittently by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), for an Australian screenplay written directly for the screen or based on previously releas ...

for both ''The Devil's Playground'' and '' Evil Angels'' (released as ''A Cry in the Dark'' outside of Australia and New Zealand). In 1991, Schepisi's film ''

The Russia House ''The Russia House'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré published in 1989. The title refers to the nickname given to the portion of the British Secret Intelligence Service that was devoted to spying on the Soviet Union. A film b ...

'' was nominated for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

at the

41st Berlin International Film Festival The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with ''Uranus'' by Claude Berri. The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film '' La casa del sorriso'' directed by Marco Ferreri. The ret ...

. In 2005, Schepisi directed and co-produced the HBO miniseries '' Empire Falls'', for which he was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and the

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

for Best Director of a TV Film. In 2007, he was the Chairman of the Jury at the

29th Moscow International Film Festival The 29th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2007. The Golden George was awarded to the Russian film ''Travelling with Pets'' directed by Vera Storozheva. Jury * Fred Schepisi (Australia – Chairman of the Jury) * A ...

. In April 2008, it was announced that

Film Finance Corporation Australia The Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) was the government agency responsible for funding commercial productions of Australian film, documentary, and television from 1988 to 2008. Unlike other publicly funded organisations responsible for f ...

was providing funding for Schepisi's film ''The Last Man'', about the final days of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. It was scheduled to begin filming in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, with

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...

and

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in '' Van Helsing'', Dilios in '' 300'' ...

in leading roles, towards the end of the year. In 2011, Schepisi directed '' The Eye of the Storm''. Filmed in Melbourne, Sydney and Far North Queensland, and based on the novel by Patrick White, ''The Eye of the Storm'' stars Charlotte Rampling,

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress in film, television, and on stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequen ...

and

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...

. The story is about "children finally understanding themselves through the context of family". In 2012, he directed '' Words and Pictures'' starring

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

and Clive Owen. Schepisi has also directed a number of music videos, including for the 2008 song " Breathe" by

Kaz James Kaz James (born 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and DJ. He was raised in Melbourne and is of Italian and Greek origin. He released his first solo album, '' If They Knew'', in 2008. Kaz James was a co-founder in 2004 of the group BodyRo ...

featuring

Stu Stone Stuart Stone (born Stuart Eisenstein) is a Canadian film, television, and voice-over actor as well as a producer of television, film and music. He is best known for his roles as Ronald Fisher in the 2001 cult film, ''Donnie Darko'' and Ralphie Ten ...

. Asked about the "gypsy-like existence" of a filmmaker, Schepisi has said: "It's the hardest thing. I think we're today's circus people. It's very hard on your family.

is wife In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

travels with me and when everyone was younger and it was possible, I liked them to travel with me and be with me. Fortunately, Mary's an artist; she paints, and often finds inspiration from our locations." Schepisi has seven adult children and one grandchild.

Personal life

Fred Schepisi has been married three times and has seven children. He had four children with his first wife Joan; his second wife Rhonda died of cancer, after they had had two children. His third wife, Mary, whom he married in 1984 and with whom he had a seventh child, is American. He supports Australia becoming a republic and is a founding member of the

Australian Republican Movement The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-party-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, revi ...

Filmography

*'' The Devil's Playground'' (1976) *''

'' (1978) *''

Barbarosa ''Barbarosa'' is a 1982 American Western film starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey about a young cowboy on the run from the law who partners with a famous ''bandito'' and learns about life from him. "One of the best overlooked westerns of th ...

'' (1982) *'' Iceman'' (1984) *'' Plenty'' (1985) *'' Roxanne'' (1987) *'' Evil Angels'' (''A Cry in the Dark'') (1988) *''

'' (1990) *'' Mr. Baseball'' (1992) *''

'' (1993) *''

I.Q. An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...

'' (1994) *''

Fierce Creatures ''Fierce Creatures'' is a 1997 British-American farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, ''Fierce Creatures'' is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film '' A Fish Called Wanda''. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin ...

'' (1997) *''

'' (2001) *'' It Runs in the Family'' (2003) *'' Empire Falls'' (2005) *'' The Eye of the Storm'' (2011) *'' Words and Pictures'' (2013)

Unmade films

*''Bitter Sweet'' (1979) – romance drama for

Avco Embassy Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as ''The Graduate'', '' The Produc ...

"Oz in LA", ''Cinema Papers'', May–June 1979. p. 332.

References

External links

Official website
*
Facebook pageTwitterOnlyMelbourne.com.au biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schepisi, Fred 1939 births Living people Australian republicans Australian people of Italian descent Australian screenwriters Film directors from Melbourne Officers of the Order of Australia