Sarah Watt

Sarah Watt
Born
Sarah Ann Watt

(1958-08-30)30 August 1958
Died4 November 2011(2011-11-04) (aged 53)
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, animator
SpouseWilliam McInnes
Children2

Sarah Ann Watt (30 August 1958 – 4 November 2011) was an Australian film director, writer, and animator. She is especially known for her 2005 film Look Both Ways.

Early life and education

Sarah Ann Watt[citation needed] was born in Sydney[1] on 30 August 1958.[citation needed]

She completed a Graduate Diploma of Film and Television (Animation) at the Swinburne Film and Television School, Melbourne, in 1990. Her student film Catch of the Day was to reflect the style of future work.[2]

Career

In 1995, she directed a short film, Small Treasures, which won Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival. In 2000, she made a program for the SBS series Swim Between the Flags called "Local Dive". It was made concurrently with another project that she was directing called "The Way of the Birds" based on the 1996 book of the same name by author Meme McDonald. She received the Australian Film Institute's award for Best Director for her 2005 film Look Both Ways.[3]

Watt returned to the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and Television to teach animation, and assisted in the development of many animators, including Academy Award winner Adam Elliot in 1996. Watt was instrumental in the development of scripts for all of her students, but left the school to further develop her own projects, returning on occasion as a script and final production assessor.[citation needed]

Watt was also a published author. She wrote and illustrated the picture book Clem Always Could and co-authored Worse Things Happen at Sea with William McInnes.[4][5]

During the post-production of Look Both Ways, Watt was diagnosed with cancer. Her second film My Year Without Sex was released in 2009.[citation needed]

She died on 4 November 2011 after suffering for six years from breast and bone cancer, aged 53.[3][6]

Sarah Watt was married to actor and writer William McInnes. They have two children, Clem (b. 1993) and Stella (b. 1998).[3][7]

Awards

Won

Nominated

References

  1. ^ Look Both Ways Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Melbourne International Film Festival, 2005.
  2. ^ "A Tribute to Sarah Watt". Senses of Cinema. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Australian filmmaker Sarah Watt dies". Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Retrieved 6 November 2011
  4. ^ Sarah., Watt (2009). Clem always could--. Sydney: Lothian Children's. ISBN 9780734411150. OCLC 433249367.
  5. ^ McInnes, William (2011). Worse things happen at sea. Watt, Sarah. Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Australia. ISBN 9780733628023. OCLC 730043085.
  6. ^ The Age, Saturday 5 November, Tributes and Celebrations, p. 38
  7. ^ "Roads not travelled: Sarah Watt". Steve Dow, Journalist. Retrieved 6 December 2024.