Stephen Maxwell Johnson

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Stephen Maxwell Johnson
OccupationFilm director
Years active2000–present
Known forYolngu Boy (2001)
High Ground (2020)

Stephen Maxwell Johnson is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his films Yolngu Boy (2001) and High Ground (2020). He is also known for directing Yothu Yindi's music videos in the late 1980s to early 1990s.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in England.

Aboriginal students in Darwin, and Johnson made friends with many of the students there.[1] He has spoken of his appreciation of his "incredible childhood growing up in the wild and all of those countries and then being immersed also in the culture of those countries, particularly very, very intimately with Aboriginal culture [in Australia]".[3]

He has spent most of his life in

massacres of Indigenous people, although this was not taught at his school.[4]

Johnson went to an acting school in

cameraman,[1] before returning to the NT with the aim of making his first film.[5]

Career

Johnson began his film and television career as a trainee cameraman at

television commercials, animated films, corporate films and music videos the country, including in remote communities in the NT.[5]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Johnson directed

AC, singer/ songwriter with Yothu Yindi.[1]

Johnson's debut feature film was Yolngu Boy, released in 2001,[3][2] which was well reviewed by Margaret Pomeranz and others[9] and earned a score of 78% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[10]

Johnson said that

Gan Gan massacre, when over 30 men, women and children were killed by colonial police and settlers. Johnson's friend Witiyana Marika was co-producer and senior cultural adviser, and also played the part of Grandfather Dharrpa.[6][11] The film is extremely close to his heart, a "passion project", as revealed in several interviews[2][3][12][13] and the question-and-answer panel following a showing of the film at the National Film and Sound Archive in March 2021.[4]

Recognition and accolades

The

AACTA Award nominations.[15] Yolngu Boy and Johnson's direction of an episode of the children's TV drama Out There also earned AFI (the forerunner of AACTA) nominations.[5]

Selected filmography

As director

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

Australian music
. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1992 Stephen Johnson for "Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix)" by Yothu Yindi Best Video Nominated [16]
1993 Stephen Johnson for "Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)" by Yothu Yindi Won

References

  1. ^
    Ronin Films
    . Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Johnson, Stephen Maxwell (26 January 2021). "Stephen Maxwell Johnson: Taking The High Ground". FilmInk (Interview). Interviewed by Mottram, James. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Johnson, Stephen Maxwell (13 May 2021). "Interview: 'High Ground' Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson". Script Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Dean, Sadie. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. ^
    NFSA
    . Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Johnson, Stephen Maxwell (12 May 2021). "High Ground – Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson" (Audio (16 min.) + text). Film School Radio (Interview). Interviewed by Kaspar, Mike. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b Gumurdul, Julie Narndal; Rademaker, Laura; May, Sally K. (9 February 2021). "How historically accurate is the film High Ground? The violence it depicts is uncomfortably close to the truth". The Conversation. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  7. ^ "1993: 7th Annual ARIA Awards". ARIA Music Awards. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Tribal Voice (1993) - The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  9. ^ Pomeranz, Margaret (1 January 2009). "Yolngu Boy review: A truly impressive film". SBS Movies. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Yolngu Boy". Rotten Tomatoes. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle (Australia)
    . Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  12. ^ Johnson, Stephen Maxwell; Marika, Witiyana (3 January 2021). "Interview: Stephen Maxwell Johnson & Witiyana Marika". Glam Adelaide (Interview). Interviewed by Ellis, Jordan. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  13. ^ Tyrrell, Caitlin (13 May 2021). "High Ground Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson Reveals How Intense Research Led To A Multigenerational Story". The Illuminerdi. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  14. ^ Vann-Wall, Silvi (3 February 2022). "High Ground, Nitram take top gongs at the FCCA awards". ScreenHub Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  15. ^ Keast, Jackie (31 October 2021). "'High Ground', 'The Newsreader' lead early AACTA Award nominations". IF Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  16. ^ ARIA Award previous winners. "Winners by Award – Artisan Awards – Best Video". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 December 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Maxwell_Johnson&oldid=1113228700"