Sunday, May 17, 2020

Curriculum Vitae - James Ricketson

James Ricketson
Curriculum Vitae


1967-71           Arts Degree at the University of New South Wales
                        2nd Class Honours Degree in Drama

1972                Masters Degree in Drama at the University of New South Wales

1972                Limbo
                        Low budget, self financed Short film

1973                Australian Film Television and Radio School
One of 12 inaugural students

1973                Phillippe Petit - The Bridge
                        Documentary
                        Producer Director

Documentary film following world famous tightrope walker Philippe Petit as he makes endeavours to tightrope walk between the southern pylons of Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge.

1973-4            Joker and Reflections
                        Short films made while at ATRS
                        Director
Award: AACTA award for best film – Reflections
Alan Stout Award for Best Short Film - Reflections

1974               It Wasn't Going to Happen to Me 
                        TV Documentary for ABC TV 'Chequerboard' program
                        Director

1975               The Seventh Age
TV Documentary for ABC TV 'Chequerboard' program
Director

1975                Drifting
50 minute drama short film
Director
Financed by Australian Film Commission – Creative Development Branch

1976-7             Scholarship New York Film School

1978                Third Person Plural
                        Feature Film
                        Duration - 92 Minutes

                        Production Company - Abraxas Films
Financed by Australian Film Commission – Creative Development Unit

Third Person Plural is a feature film looking at the emotional entanglements of four young people from Sydney who get to know each other by spending weekends on a yacht stationed in Sydney's Pittwater area. The lead character Beth is naive, and determined to have a farm with goats and make patch work quilts while Danny is a do gooding documentary film-maker, working on a film about old people. Mark, played by Byran Brown, is a serious person concerned with the meaning of life, and Terry is the carefree, free-wheeling owner of the boat. Beth falls in love with Terry, which causes problems with her husband Toby, but Terry is inclined to be wayward, while Danny and Mark also show signs of getting together, except that Mark isn't impressed by Danny's film project. Through in depth and personal conversations, the four young people get to know each other on a much deeper level than they had ever expected.

1979                Roslyn and Blanca - Everyone Needs A Friend
                        Short Film
                        Co-Director. Producer Film Australia.

1979                We Dream for Luck
Documentary
Director

Documentary set in Coober Pedy, South Australia, for TV Broadcaster SBS 

1980               Jacob's Ladder
Dramatised Documentary 
Director.

Documentary set in Coober Pedy, South Australia, for TV Broadcaster SBS 

1981               Women of the Sun - Alinta the Flame (Episode 1)
Mini Series
Director
Producer Bob Weis
Production Co Generation Films Pty Ltd

Four self-contained stories of Aboriginal women from the 1930s. A first time opportunity for one of the world’s most oppressed minorities to tell a part of their history in their own words



Winner of multiple awards including:

Two Australian Writers' Guild awards, five Penguin Awards, the United Nations Media Peace Prize and the Banff Grand Prix. 

1981               Co-Founder of the Australian Film Directors Association

1981-2            Walking Champion of the Year - Robie Silberstein
                        Documentary Series - 7 parts. Producer Film Australia.
                        Director

1981-2            Crashing Into A Brick Wall
                        Documentary
                        Director
                        Producer Film Australia

1984               Where the green ants dream
Feature film by Werner Herzog
            Actor

1984-5            The Haven
                        Feature Documentary 90 Mins
Director

1987               Australian Dream
                        Feature Film
                        Actor

1989                Candy Regentag
                        
Feature Film - Drama
Duration - 102 minutes
Directed by James Ricketson
Production Company - Rainy Day
Financed by the Australian Film Commission (AFC)

Candy Regentag is a feature film about a sex worker named Candy Regentag and the complexity of human relationships that can emerge in that setting. Candy is new to the world's oldest profession begins working in a brothel in Sydney. She has an abusive boyfriend named Ian. One night, Candy gets into trouble on the street and is rescued by a man named Reg, an apparent good Samaritan. After Reg turns up as a client at the large brothel where Candy works, she finds herself emotionally drawn to him. Despite warnings from her colleagues, she breaks up with Ian and takes up with the mysterious Reg, whose secrets are not all benign. She breaks the most important rule of them all: don't fall in love with a client. Unfortunately, she can never be a part of Reg’s world - she is nothing more than one of Bambi's girls.

1989                Tender Hooks (script editor) 



1992                Blackfellas
Feature Film - 95 Mins

Written and Directed by James Ricketson

Production Company - Barron Entertainment
Financed by the Australian Film Commission (AFC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Winner - AFI / AACTA Award Best Adapted Screenplay - James Ricketson
Blackfellas is a feature length fictional film based on the novel, “The Day of the Dog” by Archie Weller, focussed on the lives of Aboriginal Australians. When Doug Dooligan, a 19-year-old Aboriginal, is released from prison where he was incarcerated for assault, he has plans for a crime-free, trouble-free future. His best friend, Floyd "Pretty Boy" Davies, who was partially responsible for Doug's incarceration, has different ideas. He becomes attracted to local girl named Polly and, upon learning that Floyd is still involved in criminal activities, decides to leave and visit his mother on his father's old property, which has traditional roots. Eventually, Doug meets Floyd and the two become friends again. When Doug tries to stop Floyd from committing a crime, Floyd sacrifices his own life so that Doug can escape and avoid arrest.


1994                Born in Soweto
TV Documentary, 55 mins
Director
Production Company – TVD Pty Ltd
Producers : Richard Mordaunt and Bernard Terry

The lives and perspectives of exceptional Sowetans. Their dillemmas, optimism, music, and dance seen through tragedy, comedy and their indomitable spirit. A deep insight into South Africa’s heartland.  

1997                Sleeping with Cambodia
TV Documentary, 55mins
Writer, Director, Producer, Camera
Funded by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Comission) and the AFC (Australian Film Commision)

Set in Cambodia - an exploration of paedophilia and children at risk against a background of the World Vision organisation.

1999 - 01         Backpacking Australia
TV Documentary, 13x30min. Series
Co-Writer, Director, Producer, Camera

Young travelers from all over the world have adventures in Australia, fall in love, go broke, buy cheap cars that break down frequently, have the time of their lives and grow up in the process in a strongly character based series

2003 - 04         Viva
TV Documentary, 10x26min. Series
                        Writer, Director, Producer, Camera

2005-06           Documentary - General Development
                        Funded by Australian Film Commission $30,000

2005 - 17         Chanthi’s World
                        Documentary - ongoing production
Writer, Director, Producer, Camera

2006                Little Booksellers of Phnom Penh
                        Documentary for Al Jazeera
                        Writer, Director, Producer, Camera

2008-09           Honey
                        Feature Film Development 
                        Funded by Screen Australia $30,000

2009                Losing Ground - Group 78 Evictions
Documentary
Writer Director Producer Camera

2009-10           Losing Ground
                        Single Project Documentary Development 
                        Funded by Screen Australia $20,000

2010                Philippe Petit - Remembering The Bridge
Documentary
Writer Director Producer Camera

2010                Retirement

2016                Floridas Part 3
Music Video
Director Camera

2016                The Island
Documentary
Director Camera Participant



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