GEOFF BURTON

#1: From a documentary [AFTRS, 1993]

#2: With co-dir Kevin Dowling [right] - "The Sum of Us" [1993]

GEOFF BURTON ACS

Born: 1946, Windsor, NSW, Australia, as Geoffrey Burton.

Career: Years ten to fourteen were spent in a Cinema Paradiso lifestyle as twice weekly Burton helped the ageing local cinema operator lug weighty film canisters up to a lofty bio-box. In return he gained free admission to every session, inevitably developing an all-consuming passion for cinema. In 1963 he accepted a Film Trainee position at ABC-tv in Sydney, soon graduating into cinematography and starting a life-long relationship with the documentary genre. Moved to London, UK, towards the end of the 60's and worked for the BBC, mostly on their mammoth Time-Life co-production, 'The British Empire'. On the series completion he re-located to Geneva and from there free-lanced as a documentary director/cinematographer. Back in Australia in 1972 Burton returned briefly to ABC-tv as a drama cinematographer before leaving to join the renaissance of the Australian feature film industry. [From the ACS website.]

Ph commercials dir by Ron Way, a.o.

Also active as director and producer.

Was Head of Cinematography at the Australian Film Television and Radio School [AFTS/AFTRS] [1980-82] where he championed the inclusion of documentary shooting as part of the curriculum. Was co-editor of the books 'Second Take: Australian Film-Makers Talk' [1999] & 'Third Take: Australian Film-Makers Talk' [2002].

Was inducted into the ACS 'Hall of Fame' in 2005.

Appeared in the doc's 'The Making of Blue Fin' [1978] & 'Kodak Cinematography Master Class Series: Location Lighting with Geoff Burton' [1993; d: Ray Argall; ph: Chris Fraser; 29m].

In 2006, Geoff Burton established the vineyard GunDog Estate when the family acquired a small ten-year-old vineyard in the Canberra region [Gundaroo, NSW, Australia]. It was during the early years of his career when traveling extensively overseas that he came to discover the delights of fine food and wine. Living and working as a freelance film maker in Europe turned him into an obsessive Francophile with a passion for the wines of the Rhone Valley and Bordeaux regions.

#2: At his vineyard [2007]

Awards: As doph: ACS 'Milli' Award 'Australian Cinematographer of the Year' [1978] for 'Storm Boy'; AFI [Aus] Award nom [1980] for 'Stir'; AFI [Aus] Award nom [1990] for 'Flirting'; AFI [Aus] Award nom [1991] for 'Aya'; ACS [NSW State Award] Gold Award [2003] for 'After the Deluge'.

As dir/scrpl: Cleveland IFF 'Best Film' [1995; shared] for 'The Sum of Us'; Australian Writers' Guild Award nom [2002; shared] for 'A Fine Body of Gentlemen'; Australian Writers' Guild Award nom [2004] for 'The Fall of the House'.

Website: Burton's Vineyard

FILMS
1970	Mortimer [Theo Van Leeuwen] 16mm/c; doc/55m
1973	Lurugu [Curtis Levy] c; doc/56m
1973	Close Your Eyes and Hold Your Stomach [Curtis Levy] 16mm/c; doc/39m; cph: Don McAlpine
1973	Bellbrook [Robynne Murphy] 16mm/c; doc/17m; prod AFTS
1974	Sunday Too Far Away [Ken Hannam] c
1974	The Morning Star Painter [Curtis Levy] 16mm/c; doc/28m
1975	The Fourth Wish [Don Chaffey] c
1975	Sons of Namatjira [Curtis Levy] 16mm/c; doc/48m
1975	Malbangka Country: An Outstation Story [Curtis Levy] b&w; doc/31m
1976	Storm Boy [Henri Safran] c
1976	The Picture Show Man [John Power] c
1977	Shadow Sister [Frank Heimans] 16mm/c; doc/52m
1977	A Mill of Hooks [Sandra Richardson] c; doc/27m; cph: Matthew Flanagan
1977	A Drop of Rough Ted [David Roberts] 16mm/c; doc/75m; a 95m version was released as 'Outback' (1981)
1977	The Last Tasmanian: A Story of Genocide [Tom Haydon] 16mm/b&w-c; doc/104m
1978	Blue Fin [Carl Schultz & Bruce Beresford] c; addph: Bill Grimmond & John McLean
1978	Clem and Faye [Curtis Levy] c; doc/11m; ep series 'Our Multicultural Society'
1978	The Sound of Love [John Power] c
1978	Japan, Nearby [Frank Heimans] 16mm/c; doc/43m
1979	War Without Weapons [Curtis Levy] 16mm/c; doc/27m; cph: Malcolm Richards & Dean Semler; part of series 'Aspects of Australia'
1979	The Eleven Powers/The 11 Powers [Frank Heimans] 16mm/c; doc/48m; cph: David Perry
1979	The Primitive [Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala] ?
1979	The Thompsons - Migrating to the City [Meg Stewart] 16mm/c; doc/11m; ep #9 of doc series 'Our Multicultural Society' (2nd series)
1979	Stir/The Promotion of Mr. Smith [Stephen Wallace] c
1980	The Painter: Wunuwun in Sydney [Curtis Levy] c; doc/?m
1980	The Tree [Ian Stocks] c; short/24m
1980	The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir in Paris [Richard Wherrett] 16mm/c; short/24m; prod AFTS
1980	Our Partner in the Southern Hemisphere [Frank Heimans] 16mm/c; doc/18m
1981	Outback [David Roberts] 16mm/c; doc/95m; extended version of 'A Drop of Rough Ted' (1977); part of the doc was shown as ep of tv-series 'World Around Us' (1982)
1981	The Winds of Jarrah [Mark Egerton] c
1981	I, Myself [Ian Munro & Sandra Richardson] 16mm/c; 7-part doc series: 'Shane' (9m), 'Tracey and Trevor' (9m), 'Stephanie' (10m), 'Honie' (10m), 'The Gang' (9m), 'Sean and Joel' (10m) & 'Dean and Donna' (10m; ph: G. Burton); other ph: Kerry Brown & Joe Pickering
*1982*	High Time [Keith Gow] unfinished feature; some footage (in c) exist
1982	Midnite Spares [Quentin Masters] c; 2uc: Bill Grimmond
1982	The Secret Discovery of Australia [Michael Caulfield & Geoff Burton] 16mm/b&w-c; doc/48m; + co-prod
1983	Lawrence of Arabia: The Master Illusionist [Geoff Burton & Michael Caulfield] c; doc/120m
1983	A Street to Die [Bill Bennett] c
1984	The Boy Who Had Everything/Winner Takes All [Stephen Wallace] c; 2uc: Tom Cowan & Steven Mason
1985	I Can't Get Started/Act Two [Rodney Fisher] 16mm/c
1985	Don't Call Me Girlie [Stewart Young & Andrew Wright] b&w-c; doc/69m; cph: Erika Addis
1986	The Time Guardian [Brian Hannant] c
1987	The Year My Voice Broke [John Duigan] c
1987	Dead Calm [Phillip Noyce] p/c; opening seq ph (+ 2uc); ph: Dean Semler
1988	88.9 Radio Redfern [Geoffrey Burton & Sharon Bell] 16mm/c; doc/56m; addph: Richard Bennett, David Foreman & Kim Batterham
1988	Romero [John Duigan] c
1988	The Street of Dreams [Martin Sharp] c; doc/108m; cph: Russell Boyd, Tom Cowan & Michael Edols
1988	Xero [John Duigan] c
1989	Aya [Solrun Hoaas] c
1990	Flirting [John Duigan] c
1990	Garbo - Garbage Men at Work [Ron Cobb] c; 2uc: Vladimir Osherov
1991	Wide Sargasso Sea [John Duigan] c; North England ph: Gabriel Beristáin; uwph: Gary Capo
1991	The Nostradamus Kid [Bob Ellis] c
1992	Frauds [Stephan Elliott] c

With Tracey Moffatt [right] & prod des Stephen Curtis [left] - "BeDevil"

1992	BeDevil [Tracey Moffatt] c
1993	Sirens [John Duigan] c; 2uc: Kathryn Milliss
1993	The Sum of Us [Kevin Dowling & Geoff Burton] c
1994	Hotel Sorrento/Sorrento Beach [Richard Franklin] c; became doph after ph Ellery Ryan turned down the film
1995	Brilliant Lies [Richard Franklin] c
1996	Paws [Karl Zwicky] c; 2uc: Steve Newman
1997	Wanted [Howard Hung-Soon Chung] c
1998	Sick Puppy [Bruce Hancock] c; short/7m
1999	Blindman's Bluff [Rachel Ward] c; short/21m
2006	Lucky Miles [Michael James Rowland] s16-35bu/c
2008	Blessed [Ana Kokkinos] 16mm/c
2010	After the Credits [Josh Lawson] c; short/15m

TELEVISION
1967	Contrabandits [Ken Hannam, a.o.] 29-part series/film+v/b&w, 1967-68
1968	The Drover's Wife [Gian-Carlo Manara] tvm/b&w/45m/16mm; cph: Lex Alcock
1969	I'm Dealing in Emotions... [prod: Tom Manefield] doc/b&w/46m/16mm; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1969	A Palace... A Fortress... A Tomb [Neil Munro] doc/b&w/48m/16mm; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1969	It's Amazing What You Can Do with a Pound of Mince [David Steven] doc/b&w/48m/16mm; cph: Bill Steller; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	If You Spread Your Legs and Arms Wide... You're Going to Fall Like a Bowler Hat [Stephen Ramsay] doc/b&w/44m; cph: Ken Penfold
1970	At Londonderry [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/44m/16mm; cph: Phil Murray; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	Everybody Wants a Plug... [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/57m/16mm; cph: Ron Bollman; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	My Brown Skin Baby... They Take 'im Away [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/43m/16mm; part 1 of 2-part ep of doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	Who Am I... What Am I [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/44m/16mm; part 2 of 2-part ep of doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	All My Memories Are in Newtown [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/42m/16mm; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	Knock On Every House Door [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/48m/16mm; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	You Can't Have a Child That Looks Ugly [Bill Steller] doc/b&w/45m/16mm; cph: Phil Murray; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1970	'Every Flower Has a Seed...': Don Burrows [Gian-Carlo Manara] mus doc/b&w/40m; cph: Heinz Fenke, a.o.
1970	I've Never Had Cause to Pull the Trigger [Russell Toose] doc/b&w/45m
1970	The British Empire: Echoes of Britannia's Rule [ep #9 (55m) 'Beyond the Black Stump' dir by Tom Haydon] 13-part doc series, 1972; cph: Ron Lowe & Peter James; for BBC-tv
197?	It's a Big Day in Any Girl's Life [David Stiven] doc/b&w/54m/16mm; cph: Bill Steller; ep doc series 'Chequerboard'
1971	A Big Hand for Everyone [Michel Pearce] doc/b&w/46m; part of series 'See It My Way'
1971	What for Marianne? [Wolfgang Storch] tvm/50m
1972	Like a Summer Storm [John Power] doc/b&w/64m; cph: Bill Constable
1973	Escape from Singapore [John Power] dram doc/90m/16mm
1974	Coming in Five [Dale McCrea] doc/17m
1974	Billy and Percy [John Power] tvm
1974	Russell Braddon, Epitaph to a Friendship [Tom Haydon] doc/50m; cph: Tim Seseman, Ray Henman & Tony Wilson; ep series 'One Pair of Eyes'
1975	Ben Hall [Don Chaffey, Carl Schultz, a.o.] 13-part series; other ph: Peter Hendry
1975	The Last Rites [Brian Bell] tvm/65m
1975	They Don't Clap Losers [John Power] tvm
1975	Armchair Cinema [ep #6 'Tully' dir by James Gatward] series; cph: Brian Probyn
1975	The Long Long Walkabout [Tom Haydon] doc/60m; cph: Tony Wilson
1977	Born to Run/Harness Fever [Don Chaffey] tvm; addph: Bill Grimmond
1980	The Sri Lanka Series [Sharon Bell & Geoff Burton] 3-part ('Four Women', 'Fishermen of Duwa' & 'Dancers Were Only Allowed to Dance') doc series; for SBS-tv
1983	Out of the Fiery Furnace [Christopher McCullough] 7-part (x 60m) doc series: 'From Stone to Bronze', 'From Swords to Ploughshares', 'Shining Conquests', 'The Revolution of Necessity', 'Into the Machine Age', 'From Alchemy to the Atom' & 'The Age of Metals: Can It Last?'
1984	The Cowra Breakout [Chris Noonan & Phillip Noyce] 10-part (x c. 50m) series; DVD version (270m)
1984	Winners [ep #3 (48m) 'Quest Beyond Time/Future Quest' dir by Stephen Wallace] 8-part series, 1986
1985	I Own the Racecourse [Stephen Ramsey] tvm
1985	Land of Hope [Chris Adshead & Gary Conway] 10-part series
1986	Vietnam [John Duigan & Chris Noonan] 10-part miniseries/b&w-c

[Right] with Dennis Miller - "The Dirtwater Dynasty"

1987	The Dirtwater Dynasty [Michael Jenkins & John Power] 5-part miniseries
1987	Something Is Out There [Richard Colla] 2-part miniseries; cph: Laszlo George; followed by 13-part (2 unaired; 5 ep were not produced) series; for NBC-tv
1987	Emma: Queen of the South Seas [John Banas] 4-part miniseries
1988	Shadow of the Cobra [Mark Joffe] 4-part miniseries
1989	Bangkok Hilton [Ken Cameron] 6-part miniseries
1990	The Last Crop [Sue Clayton] tvm/57m
1990	More Winners [ep (48m) 'The Journey/Touch the Sun: The Journey' dir by Jane Oehr] 6-part series/16mm
1992	Riding the Tiger [Curtis Levy] 3-part doc series: 'Freedom or Death' (55m), 'Kings and Coolies' (52m) & 'The New Order' (53m)
1993	The Gadfly [Lewis Fitz-Gerald] docudrama/58m
1993	Sloth [P.J. Hogan] tvm
1993	Seven Deadly Sins [ep 'Envy' dir by Stephen Wallace] 7-part miniseries; other ph: Louis Irving
1994	Flight Over the Equator [Geoff Burton] doc special/91m/s16; cph: Kathryn Milliss; for Discovery Channel
1994	Spellbinder/Dwa swiaty [ep #2 & 11 dir by Noel Price] 26-part teen-oriented drama/science fiction series, 1995; other ph: Martin McGrath (cph ep #1-17, 22-23 & 26 + addph #18, 21 & 24-25) & Danny Batterham (ph #18-21 & 24-25 + cph #1, 3-10, 12-17, 22-23 & 26)
1995	Invitation to a Wedding [Curtis Levy] doc/53m; ep series 'True Stories'
1996	[Peter Benchley's] The Beast [Jeff Bleckner] 4-part miniseries
1996	Whipping Boy [Di Drew] tvm
1997	The Hostages [Catherine Millar] tvm/s16
1997	Reprisal [Robert Marchand] tvm/s16
1997	Without Warning [Catherine Millar] tvm/s16
2000	The Actor and the President/Vijaya's Story [Geoff Burton] doc/b&w-c/52m; cph: Leilani Hannah & Asoka Jayasekera
2002	After the Deluge [Brendan Maher] 4-part miniseries; 2uc (+ c.op 'b' cam): Leilani Hannah
2002	A Fine Body of Gentlemen [Geoff Burton] doc/55m; cph: Glenn Hanns; + co-scrpl
2004	Hell Has Harbour Views [Peter Duncan] tvm
2004	Bob Ellis - A Wise Old Romantic Fool [presenter: George Negus] doc/26m (with footage [archive ?] shot by G. Burton); for ABC-tv (Aus)

FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR [and producer]
1973	Prudence Aged 19 [doc/b&w/50m/16mm] ph: ?
1976	Break of Day [Ken Hannam] co-assoc prod; ph: Russell Boyd
1980	The Sri Lanka Series [co-dir: Sharon Bell; + ph] see Television
1982	The Secret Discovery of Australia [co-d; + co-prod/ph] see Films
1983	Lawrence of Arabia: The Master Illusionist [co-d; + ph] see Films
1988	88.9 Radio Redfern [co-d; + ph] see Films
*199?*	Songlines [feature] project based on novel by Bruce Chatwin
1993	The Sum of Us [co-d; + ph] see Films
1994	Flight Over the Equator [+ cph] see Television
1998	Aftershocks [tvm] ph: Leilani Hannah
1998	Bastards from the Bush [: A Journey with Bob Ellis and Les Murray] [tv-doc/55m] ph: Leilani Hannah; ep ABC-tv (Aus) series 'Inside Story'
1999	Sydney: A Story of a City [co-d: Bruce Beresford; IMAX/c; short/41m] ph: Andre Fleuren
1999	Conversations with a Dead Poet [: Alan Wearne Recalls John Forbes] [tv-doc/54m; + co-scrpl] ph: Leilani Hannah
2000	Australians at War [other d: Steve Best, Michael Caulfield, Tim Clark & David Goldie; 8-part doc tv-series/b&w-c, 2001; + co-scrpl] ph: Peter Coleman & Pieter de Vries
2000	The Actor and the President/Vijaya's Story [+ cph] see Television
2002	A Fine Body of Gentlemen [+ co-scrpl/cph] see Television
2003	The Fall of the House (The Story of Eugene Goossens) [DigiBeta/c; docudrama/b&w-c/62m & 85m; + scrpl] ph: Kathryn Milliss
*2005*	Mr. Midnight the Movie: My Haunted Holiday [feature] scheduled to start shooting in June; status unknown
2006	Mohammad Hossain's Intensive Care [doc/52m; + scrpl] ph: Joel Peterson

With doph Joel Peterson - photo by Ian Barry

"Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley's Battle for Coal"

2008	Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley's Battle for Coal [tv-docudrama/b&w-c/52m/dv; + co-scrpl] ph: Joel Peterson; ep #10 of Film Australia's (Screen Australia) 'Making History'-series
2009	Lost in Flanders [co-dir: Stuart Scowcroft; doc/b&w-c/52m] ph: Joel Peterson
2011	Careless Love [John Duigan; feature] co-prod; ph: Kathryn Milliss