Scott Hicks (director)

Hicks was born on born 4 March 1953 in Uganda. His father was a civil engineer. His family lived in Kenya, outside Nairobi before moving to the UK when Scott was 10 years old, He had piano lessons until his early teens, and learnt to read music, but "wasn’t really prepared to put the necessary time in". ==Rock music==

In the 1970s, when still a student, Hicks attended numerous rock concerts by international acts, and used his Nikkormat camera to photograph them. The photographs, taken at gigs including the Rolling Stones at Kooyong Tennis Club (1973); David Bowie at Adelaide Oval (1978); Bob Marley at the old Apollo Stadium; Bob Dylan at West Lakes (1978), David Cassidy (1974); The Police; and Rod Stewart on his Blondes Have More Fun tour, A single, "Speed Kills" / "Fascist Sounds" was released by WEA Records in 1982. • "Spy of Love" (1982) • "To Look at You" (1983) Also with WEA, Hicks made a film clip for South Australian band Vertical Hold, costly for its time, for their third single, "Shotdown (In Love)" (1983). He used 16mm film rather than video for the clip. == Film career ==

Films Hicks started his film career in an industry stimulated by renewed government support for the arts, after a period of inactivity. South Australia was at the forefront of this Australian film revival, with established directors such as Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford coming to Adelaide to shoot their films. Hicks started out working as a crew member on various feature films, before making several short films and documentaries on his own. In 1975 he co-directed and produced the hour-long fiction film Down the Wind. In 1982, Hicks made a documentary film about the 11th Adelaide Festival of the Arts under artistic director Jim Sharman, titled The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival. In 1986, Hicks wrote and directed the telemovie Call Me Mr. Brown, which was based on the Qantas bomb hoax of 1971. More than six years later, Hicks made his third Hollywood film as a director in No Reservations, The Boys Are Back in Town, The film portrays the relationships within the ASQ, Australia's only full-time quartet, the wealthy arts patron, Ulrike Klein (founder of Jurlique) who purchases the violins, and a family of musicians and dealers in New York City called The Carpenters (David, Sean and Lauren Carpenter). He said of the film: "This was about the people. People who are obsessed with what they're doing. Whether they're musicians, investors, dealers... they’re all obsessed". He called the Carpenters "the Kardashians of the music world". ==Other roles==

Hicks is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 2019 Hicks gave a training session in Singapore at MindChamps. ==Recognition, awards, and honours==

Hicks was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Flinders University, in 1997. Hicks was a finalist in 2008 for the Australian of the Year Awards. In November 2024, Hicks' 1982 documentary The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival, about the Adelaide Festival under the directorship of Jim Sharman, was screened at the Space Theatre in the Adelaide Festival Centre, followed by a conversation with the two men. The event was the biennial Wal Cherry Lecture, coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Flinders Drama Centre celebration and named in honour of its founder, Wal Cherry. The State Library of South Australia holds records of Hicks' life and work, including papers relating his work on many feature films and documentaries (original script drafts and development, correspondence, production files, publicity and marketing files, press cuttings, etc.), from 1970 to 2011. The accompanying catalogue description says: "His documentaries and feature films have helped inspire a new generation of Australian filmmakers and actors by telling unique, Australian stories which define us as a people". Film and TV awards Awards for Shine included: • Jury Award for best film, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival • Toronto International Film Festival, best picture • Citroen Audience Award, Rotterdam International Film Festival • Directors' Week Award, Fantasporto, best director and best film • Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (with Jan Sardi) • Golden Globe Award nomination, best director of a motion picture • Writers Guild of America Screen Award nomination (with Jan Sardi) • Writers Guild of America, best original screenplay written directly for the screen • BAFTA Award nomination (with Jane Scott), best film • David Lean Award for Direction nomination, (BAFTA) • Nine nominations in the AFI Awards. Other film/TV awards: • 1993: Emmy Award, outstanding individual directorial achievement, for Submarines, Sharks of Steel: The Hidden Threat • George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award, for Discovery Channel documentaries ==Personal life==

Hicks married film producer Kerry Heysen when they were both students. ==Legacy==

In 2024, Hicks donated his personal archive of film memorabilia and documentation to the State Library of South Australia, including such items as hand-drawn sketches of movie scenes, storyboards from completed films, and the glasses and costume worn by Geoffrey Rush in Shine. A large exhibition of the items is planned for 2026. ==Filmography==

Film Documentary film TV movies TV series • Finders Keepers (1991) • The Great Wall of Iron (1991) • Women Artists of Australia (1981) ==References==