Armstrong, Gillian (1950–)
Armstrong, Gillian (1950–)
Australian film director. Born Gillian May Armstrong, Dec 18, 1950, in Melbourne, Australia; father worked in real estate; mother was a teacher; lives with film editor John Pffefer; children: 2 daughters.
Acclaimed film director, part of the "Australian New Wave," studied theater design and then film, winning a scholarship to Film and Television School at Swinbourne College in Sydney; made documentaries after graduation as well as drama The Singer and the Dancer (1976), which won Australian Film Institute award for Best Short; won 11 Australian Film Institute awards, including Best Film and Best Director for My Brilliant Career (1979), which was the 1st feature film directed by an Australian woman since the 1930s and was also selected for Cannes Film Festival; invited to Hollywood after early success, but elected to continue working in Australia until 1984; has mostly directed films that focus on difficulties facing independent women, such as The Last Soffel (1984), High Tide (1987), and The Last Days of Chez Nous (1993); also directed musical comedy Starstruck (1982); other films include Fires Within (1991), Little Women (1994), Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Charlotte Gray (2001). Won Dorothy Arzner Directing Award (1995).