James Staniforth Ricketson is an Australian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, known for the feature film '' Blackfellas''. He became more widely known when he was charged with espionage for flying a drone in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

in 2017.

Film career

Ricketson studied at the Australian Film and Television School and has made a number of features and documentaries.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p136 In 1973 Ricketson filmed and helped to organise

Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French highwire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized highwire walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...

's high-wire walk between the two north pylons of

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

. A short film of the walk was released on DVD with Man On Wire, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Petit's World Trade Center Twin Towers walk. Ricketson directed the feature films '' Third Person Plural'' (1978), '' Candy Regentag'' (1989), '' Blackfellas'' (1994). His documentaries include ''Reflections'' (1973), ''Roslyn and Blagica Everyone Needs a Friend'' (1979), ''Born in Soweto'' (1994), ''Sleeping with Cambodia'' (1997), ''Backpacking Australia'' (2001), and ''Viva'' (2004). In 1981 he became one of the founding members of the

Australian Directors Guild The Australian Directors' Guild (ADG) is an industry guild representing the interests of film, television, commercials and digital media directors, including documentary makers and animators, throughout Australia. With its headquarters in Sydney ...

. In the same year he directed one of the four episodes of the award-winning Australian miniseries '' Women of the Sun''. In July 2012 it was announced he was suing

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

Trouble in Cambodia

In 2014 Ricketson was fined six-million Cambodian riel (A$1,500) and given a suspended two-year prison sentence by a Phnom Penh court for threatening to broadcast accusations that a local branch of the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

-based Citipointe Church sold children. In June 2017, he was arrested while flying a drone at a

Cambodia National Rescue Party The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; , UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party. The party believed in the strengthening of freedo ...

rally in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

, and charged with espionage, a charge he denies. He was held in Prey Sar prison and his trial began in a Phnom Penh court on 16 August 2018, with character testimony from Australian film director

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...

. On 31 August he was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. It was announced on 21 September 2018 that Cambodian authorities had pardoned Ricketson for the offence.

Selected filmography

*'' Third Person Plural'' (1978) *'' Candy Regentag'' (1989) *'' Blackfellas'' (1994)

Awards

* AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, ''Blackfellas'' (1994) * AACTA Award for Best Film, ''Reflections'' (1973) * Alan Stout Award for Best Short Film, ''Reflections'' (1973)

Personal life

Ricketson is the grandson of stockbroker Staniforth Ricketson. He has a son, Jesse, and is a surrogate father to Roxanne Holmes, whom he met "while researching a film project about street kids" in the 1980s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketson, James Australian film directors Living people 1949 births Prisoners and detainees of Cambodia Australian people imprisoned abroad Australian prisoners and detainees 2018 in Cambodia 21st-century Australian criminals