Jocelyn Moorhouse

Jocelyn Moorhouse
Jocelyn Moorhouse at the premiere of 2015 film, The Dressmaker, at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, September 2015
Moorhouse at the premiere of The Dressmaker at TIFF, September 2015
Born (1960-09-04) 4 September 1960 (age 64)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
SpouseP.J. Hogan
Children4
AwardsAustralian Film Institute Award for Best Direction
1991 Proof
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay
1991 Proof
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film
1994 Muriel's Wedding

Jocelyn Denise Moorhouse (born 4 September 1960) is an Australian screenwriter and film director.[1][2] She is best known for directing films Proof, How to Make an American Quilt, A Thousand Acres and The Dressmaker.

Moorhouse has also collaborated with her husband, film director P. J. Hogan on films such as Muriel's Wedding (1994) and Mental (2012).

Early life

Moorhouse was born in Melbourne, Victoria.

Moorhouse did her HSC year in 1978 at Vermont High School where her mother taught art, which is the same high school that Gillian Armstrong attended a few years earlier. She then enrolled in the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

Career

It was while studying at AFTRS that Moorhouse completed her first short film entitled Pavane in 1983. She graduated from AFTRS in 1984 and started work as television script editor.

She created a 12-part series called c/o The Bartons for ABC Television in 1988, which was based on one of her short films at AFTRS called The Siege of the Bartons' Bathroom. Some of the other television shows she worked on included The Flying Doctors, Out of the Blue, A Place to Call Home, and The Humpty Dumpty Man.[3]

Moorhouse made her feature film debut in 1991 with Proof.[4] The idea for the film came from her interest in blindness and photography. She initially intended it to be a short film, but not being able to secure the funding for a short, she decided to make it into a feature film instead.[3] It took five years to go into production, but when it did it had a budget of $1.1 million. The film ended up taking six weeks to shoot in Melbourne during the winter of 1990.[5]

The success of Proof brought Moorhouse bigger and better opportunities. She followed up with her first "Hollywood blockbuster" with How to Make an American Quilt in 1995. Anne Bancroft, Winona Ryder, Kate Nelligan, Dermot Mulroney, and Alfre Woodard all had roles in the film, which was met with mixed reviews.[5][6]

Her next feature film was A Thousand Acres in 1997, an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jane Smiley. The film is about the relationship between a father and three daughters when tragedy is introduced into their lives. It starred Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jason Robards and was also met with mixed reviews.[5][7] In 1999 both Hogan and Moorhouse through the Hogan Moorhouse Pictures company signed deal with Sony.[8]

In 2012, Moorhouse directed the play Sex with Strangers for the Sydney Theatre Company, which was well reviewed by online magazine Crikey.[9]

The Dressmaker (2015) stars Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth, and Hugo Weaving. The film was based on the novel by Rosalie Ham and is about a dressmaker who returns to her home in Australia to take care of her ailing, mentally unstable mother.[10]

Moorhouse directed Troppo, an eight-part television crime drama series set in North Queensland, for ABC Television in 2021. The series debuted in February 2022.[11]

Collaborations

Moorhouse was producer of her husband's films Muriel's Wedding in 1994[12] and Mental in 2012,[13] and was screenwriter for his 2002 film Unconditional Love.[5]

Personal life

Moorhouse is married to film director P. J. Hogan. They have four children, two of whom are autistic.[14][15]

In April 2019, Moorhouse spoke on the ABC Television program Australian Story about how their relationship had developed and how having the children had affected their personal and professional lives, including a move back to Australia from the US.[16][17]

Her memoir, in which Moorhouse writes about her career as well as her personal and family life, Unconditional Love: A Memoir of Filmmaking and Motherhood, was published in April 2019.[18]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Pavane Writer, Director
1986 The Siege of Barton's Bathroom Writer, Director
1991 Proof Writer, Director [2][19]
1994 Muriel's Wedding Producer
1995 How to Make an American Quilt Director [20][21]
1997 A Thousand Acres Director [22]
2002 Unconditional Love Writer, Producer
2012 Mental Producer
2015 The Dressmaker Writer, Director [23][24]
2024 The Fabulous Four Writer, Director [25]

Awards And Nominations

Year Award Category Title Result Notes
2015 Mill Valley Film Festival Audience Award The Dressmaker
FCCA Award Best Director Nominated
AFCA Award Best Director Nominated
AFCA Award Best Screenplay
AACTA Awards People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film
AACTA Awards Best Direction Nominated
1994 AACTA Awards Best Film Muriel's Wedding Won
1991 São Paulo International Film Festival Critics Award Proof Won
Tokyo International Film Festival Bronze Award Won
Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Won
Cannes Film Festival Golden Camera Won [2]
British Film Institute Sutherland Trophy Won
AACTA Awards Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted Won
Best Direction Won

Books

  • Unconditional Love: A Memoir of Filmmaking and Motherhood (2019)[18][26]

References

  1. ^ Buckmaster, Luke (23 April 2019). "From Proof to Muriel's Wedding: Jocelyn Moorhouse on the films that broke Russell Crowe and Toni Collette". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Simpson, Blaise (17 April 1992). "For Director, the Proof Is in the Acclaim : Movies: With 'Proof,' Jocelyn Moorhouse becomes the latest female director from Australia to make her mark abroad". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "The Australian Women's Register".
  4. ^ Maslin, Janet (20 March 1992). "Review/Film Festival; Acerbity and Escapism In 'Proof,' From Australia". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c d Rebecca Flint Marx (2014). "The New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014.
  6. ^ "How to Make an American Quilt". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ "'A Thousand Acres': Sow-Sow Potentially Fertile Farm Drama Plowed Under By Stale Conventions". Daily News. 1997.
  8. ^ Carver, Benedict (29 January 1999). "Oz pix pair wed best friend Sony". Variety. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  9. ^ "REVIEW: Sex With Strangers: Wharf 1, Sydney". Crikey. 4 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  10. ^ "The Dressmaker Financed". Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Queensland crime drama Troppo coming to ABC". Screen Australia. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Muriel's Wedding". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  13. ^ Miraudo, Simon (3 October 2012). "Interview: PJ Hogan (Mental)". Quickflix. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  14. ^ THR Staff (6 January 2016). "Watch THR's Full, Uncensored Actress Roundtable With Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson and More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  15. ^ Neill, Rosemary (26 September 2015). "Dressmaker director Jocelyn Moorhouse on Kate Winslet and Eucalyptus". The Australian. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  16. ^ Hassell, Greg (15 April 2019). "Filmmakers Jocelyn Moorhouse and PJ Hogan juggle movies and having children with autism". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Australian Story (iview)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  18. ^ a b Buckmaster, Luke (23 April 2019). "From Proof to Muriel's Wedding: Jocelyn Moorhouse on the films that broke Russell Crowe and Toni Collette". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Review/Film Festival; Acerbity and Escapism In 'Proof,' From Australia (Published 1992)". 20 March 1992. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  20. ^ "How to Make an American Quilt | Film | The Guardian". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  21. ^ "FILM REVIEW;Marriage, Betrayal and Turning Points (Published 1995)". 6 October 1995. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  22. ^ "FILM REVIEW; King Lear (Just Call Him Larry) In Iowa (Published 1997)". 19 September 1997. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  23. ^ Buckmaster, Luke (17 October 2015). "The Dressmaker review – a batty, fancy-frocked revenge story". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  24. ^ "Review: In 'The Dressmaker,' a Femme Fatale Wants Vengeance (Published 2016)". 22 September 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  25. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (11 May 2022). "Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler & Megan Mullally To Star In Wedding Comedy 'The Fabulous Four' — Cannes Market Hot Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  26. ^ Mooorhouse, Jocelyn (16 April 2019). Unconditional Love: A Memoir of Filmmaking and Motherhood. Text Publishing. ISBN 9781925773484.