Robert Connolly

Robert Connolly
Connolly in 2012
Born	1967 (age 57–58)
Occupation(s)	Film director, producer, screenwriter

Robert Connolly (born 1967) is an Australian film director,

Connolly was born in 1967.[1] Along with David Wenham, he worked in theatre before transitioning to filmmaking. They were both involved in a production of The Boys at the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney.^[2] Connolly graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in the late 1990s,^[1] where he undertook a three-year course that included directing.^[2]

Connolly made his first feature film as producer, The Boys in 1998, which had its world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[2] His first film as director, The Bank, was produced by his former mentor and later business partner at Arenafilm John Maynard.^[3]

In 2007 Connolly and Maynard together produced the period immigration drama Romulus, My Father,^[3] directed by Richard Roxburgh, starring Eric Bana and Franka Potente.

By 2013, he had written and directed four feature films and produced around 12 others, as well as doing work for television.^[1]

He directed and produced Paper Planes (2014), The Dry (2020), Blueback (2022) and Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (2024)^[4] and has been nominated for or won numerous Australian and international awards (see lists below).^[5]

In 2009, Connolly directed Balibo, which he co-wrote with

Indonesia continues to maintain that the Balibo Five died accidentally in crossfire as its troops battled East Timorese Fretilin rebels, a version of events accepted by successive Australian governments. But the film depicts the young journalists, who were working for Australian TV networks and presumed their nationality afforded them protection, being slaughtered on the orders of Indonesian military chiefs to prevent news of the invasion reaching the world.^[7]

Connolly refuses to apologise for his film's hardline stance, stating that an Australian coroner found in 2007 that the journalists were executed as they tried to surrender to Indonesian forces. He said: "It's quite clear the journalists were murdered... The current Indonesian and Australian (Government) point of view that they were killed in

Connolly has been definitive about his political approach to filmmaking, saying "Without a doubt, in recent times, the political agenda of the work is what drives us. We feel a responsibility to use cinema to put a blow torch to contemporary Australia and contribute to some discussion or debate about where we're headed. That's what I find most rewarding about it."[2] Three Dollars (2005), The Bank (2001) and The Boys (1998) all have a strong political agenda, and have been released in Australia as a DVD box set along with the documentary The Political Arena, which explores the social and political strands of the films.^[10]

In 2008, Connolly published a white paper outlining his views on all that could be improved about the Australian film industry, which includes a ten-step plan for reducing production costs.^[11]

Arenafilm was first incorporated in 1987 by film producer

In 2009, Footprint Films was the Australasian distributor for Balibo and Sarah Watt's My Year Without Sex (both made by Arenafilm), and in the same year, it expanded its operations to acquire and release third-party films. Its first two distribution-only films were Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah, and Kriv Stenders' Lucky Country (film). The physical work of distributing is handled by Transmission Films, headed by Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie and backed by Paramount Pictures Australia. Connolly believes that it is healthy for filmmakers to become involved in distribution.^[18][12]