Screen Music celebrations honour Robert Connolly with distinguished services award

Multi-award winning writer, producer and director Robert Connolly will receive the 2018 Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen award, the APRA board of directors announced this morning.

Melbourne-based Connolly receives his honour at the Screen Music Awards on Monday, November 19 at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.

With a penchant for socio-political works, he is best known as the director and writer of the feature films Balibo (about Australian journalists executed by Indonesian soldiers in East Timor), Three Dollars (man discovers that’s all he has in his bank account after losing his job) and The Bank (about the “greed is good” principle).

He is also, the producer of the high-profile Australian films Romulus, My Father (the adversities faced by a post-war Romanian immigrant) and The Boys (man dealing with life after a stretch in prison).

His work has showcased Australian composers as Lisa Gerrard, Alan John, Bryony Marks, Nigel Westlake, François Tétaz and Evelyn Ida Morris among others.

As a producer, Connolly’s first feature film, The Boys, with the music of seminal experimental group The Necks has gone on to become a classic in Australian cinema.

His films have screened in 30 international film festivals, and in 1998, US-based Variety named him as one of the 10 best emerging producers in the world.

Connolly served on the Screen Australia board from 2008-2012 and continues to introduce and mentor emerging talent and new creative voices.

He said, “I remain in awe of the creative insight and impact that composers have contributed to the film and television productions I have worked on.

“So many times the profound emotional and narrative elements that have eluded me as a filmmaker have been so much more clearly explored by the composer.

“It is a great honour to receive this award from APRA, providing an opportunity for me to acknowledge the extraordinary contribution screen music has made to my work.”

At the awards, musical director Jessica Wells will be joined by musicians Jared Underwood, Damian de Boos Smith, Julian Langdon and special guest bass player Jonathan Zwartz to pay musical tribute to Connolly.

Also performing on the night are classical composer Nigel Westlake joined by singer Lior, Afrobeat singer/songwriter Ajak Kwai, and with concertmaster, Véronique Serret featuring as part of the orchestra.

Organisers APRA AMCOS and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers) today also announced the presenter line-up

It includes multi award-winning Australian feature film and documentary director Gillian Armstrong, actors Sacha Horler, Kym Gyngell and Marcus Graham, and minister for resources, energy & utilities Don Harwin.