Samantha Lang is an Australian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Her production company is Handmaid Media.

Early life and education

Samantha Lang was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, migrating to Australia with her family at the age of 14. She attended North Sydney Girls' High School, earning her HSC in 1985. She grew up watching European films, and was very influenced by the film ''

Hiroshima Mon Amour ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (, lit. , ), is a 1959 romantic drama film directed by French director Alain Resnais and written by French author Marguerite Duras. Resnais' first feature-length work, it was a co-production between France and Japan, an ...

''. In 1986 she spent a year at

Universite de Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

, at

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in France, studying

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. After beginning her university studies in 1987, in 1989 Lang was awarded a scholarship from

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

to study at the Fachhochschule Wiesbaden in Germany for 10 months, where she focused on film and photography. She also attended FAMU, the Czech film school in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, which she said was a "life-changing experience" for her. The government had been overthrown, as Vaclev Havel was coming to power, and young people who had previously been barred from attending university because of their parents' political leanings had just entered film school. In 1990 she graduated with a Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Visual Communications from

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

. Lang graduated, in directing, from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1995. She is fluent in French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Career

Lang's graduate short film, ''Audacious'' (1995), earned her some recognition and won an award at the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

. She directed an episode in '' Twisted Tales'', a mystery drama TV series narrated by

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...

, in 1996. Early in her career, Lang worked for advertising firm Cherub Pictures, directing

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s. In the 1990s she did some stills photography and made some

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. Lang's first feature film ''

The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...

'', an adaptation of the novel by

Elizabeth Jolley Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO (4 June 1923 – 13 February 2007) was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was publishe ...

written by Laura Jones, produced by

Sandra Levy Sandra Elizabeth Levy (born 3 December 1965 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former field hockey player, who represented Canada at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The Toronto, Ontario nativ ...

and starring

Miranda Otto Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of ...

and

Pamela Rabe Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

, was selected for 30

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s, including

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, and was entered into competition for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

in the

1997 Cannes Film Festival The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997 in film, 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to ''Taste of Cherry, Ta'm e guilass'' by Abbas Kiarostami and ''The Eel (film), Unagi'' by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistre ...

. ''

The Monkey's Mask ''The Monkey's Mask'' is an international co-production 2000 thriller film directed by Samantha Lang. It stars Susie Porter and Kelly McGillis. Porter plays a lesbian private detective who falls in love with a suspect (McGillis) in the disappeara ...

'', her second film, is an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

2000 thriller. It stars Susie Porter, Abbie Cornish, and

Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American stage actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in ...

. Porter plays a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

who falls in love with a suspect (McGillis) in the disappearance of a young woman. The film is based on the 1994 verse novel of the same name by Australian poet

Dorothy Porter Dorothy Featherstone Porter (26 March 1954 – 10 December 2008) was an Australian poet. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry. Early life Porter was born in Sydney. Her father was barrister ...

. '' L'idole'' (2002) was a French-language film, which starred

Leelee Sobieski Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta "Leelee" Sobieski (born June 10, 1983) is an American artist and former actress. She achieved fame in her teens with roles in films such as '' Deep Impact'', ''Eyes Wide Shut'', '' Joy Ride'', '' Here on Earth'', a ...

and

James Hong James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

. It was screened at the

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

; World of Women (WOW) Film Festival in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

;

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

in Canada; and in France, the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

, Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema and the Antipodean Film Festival in

Saint Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...

. In 2017, Lang directed her first VR film, ''Prehistoric VR''. that is installed at Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) ''Brown Lake'' (2021) is an artist moving image work of "eco-cinema", narrated by

Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska ( ; born 25 October 1989) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut on the Australian television drama '' All Saints'' in 2004, followed by her feature film debut in '' Suburban Mayhem'' (2006). She first became known t ...

, that has been exhibited at Asia Pacific Triennale (2002) at GOMA, ACMI (2021) and other galleries and screening events. Lang has in development an adaptation of the stage comedy ''Kill The Messenger'' by Nakkiah Lui. A six-part TV drama series, ''Night Games'', based on the book by

Anna Krien Anna Krien is an Australian journalist, essayist, fiction and nonfiction writer and poet. Career Krien has contributed to a number of Australian publications, including ''The'' ''Monthly'', ''The Age'', ''The Big Issue'', ''The Best Australia ...

, is in development. In April 2022,

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

announced funding for ''

Immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux * Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...

'', a science fiction drama TV series to be directed by

Garth Davis Garth Davis (born 1974) is an Australian television, advertising and film director, best known for directing the film ''Lion'' (2016), and the film ''Mary Magdalene'', written by Helen Edmundson. He earlier directed episodes of the series '' T ...

(''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

''), written by

Matt Vesely Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

(''

Aftertaste Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying f ...

'') and

executive produced Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

Emile Sherman Emile Sherman is an Australian film and television producer best known for producing the film ''The King's Speech'' (2010), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA award for Best Film and Best British Film, and for ex ...

(''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...

'') and Lang.

Production companies

Lang's production company is called Handmaid Media. Since 2019 and , Lang is collaborating with

and

Iain Canning Iain Canning is an English film and television producer best known for producing the film ''The King's Speech'' (2010), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA award for Best Film and Best British Film, and for execut ...

in a new production company called I AM THAT, as an executive producer and head of development.

Other roles and activities

Lang was Head of Directing at

AFTRS The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establishe ...

from 2010 to 2016, where she has mentored, supervised and lectured postgraduate film students. She has also mentored emerging filmmakers through

Screen NSW ---> Screen NSW, formerly known as the New South Wales Film and Television Office, or FTO, and before that the New South Wales Film Corporation, is a brand name that is part of Create NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales that is ...

, the HIVE Fund at

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October ...

, and Screen Australia. She was elected as President of the

Australian Directors' Guild The Australian Directors' Guild (ADG) is an industry guild representing the interests of film, television, commercials and digital media directors, including documentary makers and animators, throughout Australia. With its headquarters in Sydney ...

(ADG) in 2015, relinquishing the role in December 2021 after serving for 12 years on the board in total. Under her leadership, there was huge growth in the number and diversity of members, and during this time she was one of the founding members of

's Gender Matters program. She was passionate about encouraging more diverse directors, wanting to "broaden and support directors across a greater breadth and depth, industrially, professionally and culturally". Lang submitted her thesis for a Doctor of Philosophy (Communications) in 'Posthuman Screen Poetics' at

Filmography

* '' God's Bones'' (1993) * ''

Audacious Audacious may refer to: * ''Audacious'' (album), a 2016 album by Cupcakke * Audacious (software), an open-source media player Ships * List of ships named ''Audacious'' * HMS ''Audacious'', various ships of the British Royal Navy * ''Audaci ...

'' (1995) * '' Out'' (1995) * ''

'' (1997) * ''

'' (2000) * '' L'idole'' (2002) * '' Carlotta'' (2014) * ''

The Killing Field ''The Killing Field'' is an Australian mystery-drama- thriller television film on the Seven Network. It was created by Sarah Smith and Michaeley O'Brien and directed by Samantha Lang, from a screenplay by Sarah Smith and Michaeley O'Brien. It was ...

'' (2014)

Awards

Lang's films have won many awards, including at the

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

and the

. ''Carlotta'' won three of the five

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

in the categories in which it was nominated.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Samantha Living people Australian women film directors Australian film directors Australian women screenwriters People educated at North Sydney Girls High School Year of birth missing (living people)