Michael Rowe (born 1971 in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. Rowe studied English post-colonial literature at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. His artistic career first began as a poet, winning the Melbourne Fringe Festival Poetry Prize. He then moved to theatre and wrote three plays. In 1994, at the age of 23, he traveled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and made it his adoptive home. In 1998, while in Mexico, he began a career as a journalist while studying screenwriting at a Vincente Leñero workshop. In 2005, one of his first scripts, '' Naturalezas muertas'' won at the

Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía The Mexican Film Institute (, IMCINE) is an agency of the Mexican federal government, under the auspices of the Secretariat of Culture, that supports the development of national film production and the film industry. History IMCINE was establis ...

. In 2006, he directed his first short film, '' Cacahuates''. '' Silencio'' followed in 2007. Though English is his native language, the bulk of his film work is done in Spanish. In 2010, Rowe directed '' Año bisiesto (Leap Year)'', which garnered him the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week). The prize was created in 1978 Ca ...

prize for best first time feature film director at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. The film was well received by critics. His follow-up film, ''

The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL or The Well, is a virtual community founded in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annu ...

'' ('' Manto acuífero'') premiered at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

in 2013. In 2013, it was announced that Rowe was working on his English-language feature debut slated for production in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. The film, '' Early Winter'', is a co-production between a Quebec production house, Possibles Media, (run by Serge Noël), and Australia's Freshwater Pictures (run by Trish Lake), and stars Suzanne Clément. The film had a first cut shown at the Melbourne film festival where it was reviewed, but the official international premiere of the director's cut was at the Venice Mostra where it won the Venice Days Award for 2015.

Theatre

* ''Impudence and Innocence'' (1993) * ''Reprise for Godot'' (1993)

Feature films

* ''

Leap Year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to keep t ...

'' (''Año bisiesto'') (2010) * ''

'' (''Manto acuífero'') (2013) * '' Early Winter'' (2015) * '' Danyka'' (2020)

References

External links

* https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2341644/ * http://www.evene.fr/celebre/biographie/michael-rowe-54127.php * http://possiblesmedia.blogspot.ca/2012/12/possibles-media-au-cinemart-2013-rest.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20130929181002/http://www.afi.org.au/AM/ContentManagerNet/HTMLDisplay.aspx?ContentID=11473&Section=QandA_with_Michael_Rowe_director_of_Leap_Year_A_o_Bisiesto_ * https://web.archive.org/web/20140116094812/https://www.festivalscope.com/director/rowe-michael * http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ano_bisiesto/#contentReviews {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Michael 1971 births Living people Australian film directors Directors of Caméra d'Or winners