Bob Connolly
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Bob Connolly is an Australian film director, cinematographer and author. He is best known for his documentaries produced over the past 30 years, including '' The Highlands Trilogy'' and ''
Rats in the Ranks ''Rats in the Ranks'' is an Australian documentary film released in 1996. The film detailed the last weeks of the 1994 Leichhardt Municipality, Leichhardt Council mayoral elections. The filmmakers, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson (later known ...
''. More recent films include '' Facing the Music'' (2001) and Mrs Carey's Concert (2011). His films have won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination, AFI Awards, and Grand Prix at the
Cinéma du Réel Cinéma du Réel (Cinema of the Real) is an international documentary film festival organized by the BPI-Bibliothèque publique d'information (Public Information Library) in Paris and was founded in 1978. The festival presents about 200 films per ye ...
Festival.


Biography

Connolly was educated at Sydney's
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, located in Riverview, a small suburb located on the Lane Cove River on the ...
and attended
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
. He trained as a journalist at the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
(ABC), where he worked for almost a decade as a foreign correspondent, current affairs reporter and documentary filmmaker. While at the ABC he made over 30 documentaries and met his future wife
Robin Anderson Robin Anderson (1950 – 2002) was an Australian award-winning documentary filmmaker. Career Anderson was in born in Perth, Western Australia in 1950. After graduating from high school in 1967 she spent a year in Europe including 6 months in Paris ...
, then a research assistant. The couple had two daughters together. In 1980 he left the ABC to work independently with Robin Anderson. Their first film together was ''River Journey'' (1980), Shot on
35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
during an arduous 2 week rafting trip down
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
's
Franklin River The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderne ...
, the film played a major role in the river's subsequent preservation. For the next twelve years Connolly and Anderson directed their focus on the
Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...
of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. The couple developed an acclaimed professional partnership which included the award-winning ''Highlands trilogy'' of documentaries about Papua New Guinea, which saw '' First Contact'' receive an Academy Award Nomination. In 1986 following training in 16mm cinematography and sound recording at the
Australian Film, Television and Radio School 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 ...
(AFTRS), they returned to the Highlands to make ''Joe Leahy's Neighbours'' (1989) followed by '' Black Harvest'' (1992). The three PNG films are still widely distributed around the world as ''The Highlands Trilogy'' and have together won more than 30 national and international awards. In 1996, ''Rats in the Ranks'' followed treachery in the inner workings of
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 ...
inner city Leichhardt Council. Connolly and Anderson were awarded the
Byron Kennedy Award The Byron Kennedy Award is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is "to identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and televisi ...
by the
Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...
in 1992. In 2001, they were awarded the Brisbane Film Festival's
Chauvel Award The Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF), formerly Gold Coast Film Fantastic, is an annual Australian film festival, held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland. Founded in 2002 as a fantasy film festival, GCFF ...
. 2001 saw the release of '' Facing the Music'', Connolly and Anderson's last film. The film won the 2001 AFI Award for Best Documentary and was voted most popular film at the Sydney and Brisbane Film Festivals. Anderson died in 2002, and Connolly initially intended to end his film making career, however 2011 saw the release of '' Mrs Carey's Concert''. After opening in 70 cinemas in Australia the film became one of the most successful Australian theatrical documentaries of all time. It also won the 2011
AACTA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary The AACTA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary, is a non-feature film award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) to an Australian documentary that is longer than sixty minutes in duration and "is a creati ...
and Best Direction in a Documentary.


Books

Connolly's 2005 book ''Making Black Harvest'' won the
Walkley Book Award The Walkley Book Award is an Australian award presented annually by the Walkley Foundation for excellence in long-form journalism and nonfiction, with subjects ranging from biography to true crime to investigative journalism and reporting. Winne ...
for Best Non Fiction. Previous books by Connolly were ''The Fight for the Franklin'' (1982) and ''First Contact'', which he co-wrote with Anderson (1987)


Filmography

Major works by Bob Connolly include: * ''Franklin River Journey'' - 1980 * '' First Contact'' - 1983 * ''Joe Leahy's Neighbours'' - 1988 * ''Black Harvest'' - 1992 * ''
Rats in the Ranks ''Rats in the Ranks'' is an Australian documentary film released in 1996. The film detailed the last weeks of the 1994 Leichhardt Municipality, Leichhardt Council mayoral elections. The filmmakers, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson (later known ...
'' - 1996 * '' Facing the Music'' - 2001 * ''Mrs Carey's Concert'' - 2011


See also

*
Cinema of Australia The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Bob Australian film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview