Screenwriter director, producer, cinematographer, editor, graphic artist.
Although regarded by his peers and most film Australian critics as one of the country's most significant filmmakers, Paul Cox's career has not followed a commercial path. Indeed, his films have largely been ignored by government funding agencies, the local industry and the public alike, despite his works having been highly praised and honoured overseas.
Born in Venlo in the Netherlands, Paul Cox's interest in film was stirred by his father, Wim, who was a documentary film producer. As a young man he studied photography at art school and in 1963 came to Australia on a 12 month exchange student program. After returning to Holland for a year he decided to immigrate to Australia, arriving in the country in 1965. That same year he made Matuta, the first of his eleven short films (the last being Ritual in 1978). Cox's first feature film as a director was The Journey, made in 1972. After directing his second film, Illuminations (1977) for the Melbourne Filmmakers Cooperative, he set up Illumination Films. The new company's first feature was Inside Looking Out (1979, also known as Two in the Family). During the 1970s he also taught at the Prahran College of Advanced Education, influencing a number of emerging cinematographers and film-makers.
From the early 1980s onwards Cox turned largely to feature filmmaking, producing 18 up until 2000. Among his most critically acclaimed works are: Kostas (1979), Man of Flowers (1981), My First Wife (1984), Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh (1987), Golden Braid (1990), A Woman's Tale (1991), Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999), Innocence (2000) and Human Touch (2004). He has also directed and/or produced a number of documentaries, beginning with Calcutta (1980). Others include: For a Child called Michael (1979), Death and Destiny (1984) and Handle with Care (1985).
Among the awards presented to Cox during his career are: 1984 Golden Spike Award (Valldolid International Film Festival - for Man of Flowers), 1984 Best Director and Best Screenplay awards (Australian Film Institute - for My First Wife), 1986 Golden Spur Award (Flanders International Film Festival - for My First Wife), 1991 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Feature Film Award (for A Women's Tale); 1992 Golden Spur Award (Flanders International Film Festival - for A Woman's Tale), 1993 Chauvel Award (Brisbane International Film Festival - for dintiguished contribution to Australian Cinema), 2000 FIPRESCI Prize (Taormina International Film Festival - for Innocence), 2000 Grand Prix des Amériques (Montréal World Film Festival - for Innocence), 2000 Best Feature Film Award (Inside Film Awards - for Innocence), 2003 Jury Prize (Montréal International Festival of Films on Art - for The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky), 2004 Grand Prix des Amériques (Montréal World Film Festival - for Human Touch).
Cox has also collaborated with a number of screenwriters including John Clarke, Barry Dickens and Bob Ellis (qq.v).
