DAVID STRATTON – 2024 NATIONAL CINEMA PIONEERS OF THE YEAR
DAVID STRATTON AM was born in the U.K. in 1939 and came to Australia in 1963. He was Director of the Sydney Film Festival for 18 years (1966-1983), feature film programmer for SBS TV, host of Movie of the Week and Cinema Classics on SBS (1981-2003), co-host with Margaret Pomeranz of The Movie Show on SBS (1986-2003) and At The Movies on ABC TV (2003-2014).
He reviewed films for the American trade paper Variety (1983-2003) and for The Australian (1990- 2023). He has also contributed articles to The Age, The Bulletin, The Sydney Morning Herald, Cinema Papers and International Film Guide (UK).
Stratton has served as a member of the international jury at the Venice Film Festival (twice) and has alsoservedoninternationaljuriesinBerlin,Montreal,KarlovyVary,HawaiiandAdelaide. Hehas been president of the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) juries in Cannes (twice) and Venice.
He is a recipient of the Longford Award and the Chauvel Award, and is a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France). He has an honorary degree from Sydney and Macquarie universities.
He lectured on film history as part of the continuing education programme at Sydney University (1988-2023).
He is the author of: The Last New Wave (1980), The Avocado Plantation (1990), I Peed on Fellini [autobiography] (2008), 101 Marvellous Movies You May Have Missed (2018) and My Favourite Movies (2021). David’s third book on Australian Cinema, Australia At The Movies will be published by Allen & Unwin in November.
In 2017 he appeared in the feature documentary, A Cinematic Life, directed by Sally Aitken, and in the three-part TV spinoff, David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema.
