Peter Weir

Directing

Peter Weir

Born 1944-08-21 · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Peter Lindsay Weir AM (born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Gallipoli (1981), Witness (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), Fearless (1993), The Truman Show (1998), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), and The Way Back (2010). He has received six Academy Award nominations, ultimately being awarded the Academy Honorary Award in 2022 for his lifetime achievement career. Early in his career as a director, Weir was a leading figure in the Australian New Wave cinema movement (1970–1990). Weir made his feature film debut with Homesdale and continued with the mystery drama Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), the supernatural thriller The Last Wave (1977) and the historical drama Gallipoli (1981). Weir gained tremendous success with the multinational production The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). After the success of The Year of Living Dangerously, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films covering most genres–many of them major box office hits–including Academy Award-nominated films such as the thriller Witness (1985), the drama Dead Poets Society (1989), the romantic comedy Green Card (1990), the social science fiction comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the epic historical drama Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). His final feature before his retirement was the well-received The Way Back (2010). Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Weir, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford poster
7.7

An in-depth look at an incredible moment in film history when Steven Spielberg and George Lucas assembled an amazing creative team to collaborate on another cinematic benchmark featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with Spielberg, Lucas, Harrison Ford, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, James Mangold, and many others as well.

Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford

2023

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound poster
6.9

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

2019

Dubai Winter Diary VI: Light and Reflections poster
NR

Gérard Courant's "Filmed Diary" of December 14, 2011, produced in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Between December 7 and 15, 2011, Gérard Courant was invited by the Dubai International Film Festival, in the United Arab Emirates. It was an opportunity for him to film many "Cinematons" of personalities from the Arab world and to continue his "Film Notebooks" from which he brought back 7 episodes.

Dubai Winter Diary VI: Light and Reflections

2012

Entrenched: The Making of Gallipoli poster
8.0

A documentary about the making of Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), originally released on the 2005 special edition DVD released by Paramount.

Entrenched: The Making of Gallipoli

2005

How's It Going to End - The Making of 'The Truman Show' poster
7.0

The making of 'The Truman Show'.

How's It Going to End - The Making of 'The Truman Show'

2005

No artwork available
NR

This Australian television musical follows Mr. Maloon, a traveler on a heavily laden green bicycle, as he passes through a series of stylized communities, encountering the mayors of three distinct worlds—mediaeval, futuristic, and 1930s-inspired—whose lives are unsettled by his presence.

Man on a Green Bike

1969

The Hundred Days poster
7.2

Making-of documentary for "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"

The Hundred Days

2004

Walkabout to Hollywood poster
NR

Produced and directed this documentary for BBC in the 1980’s, about David Gulpilil, acclaimed Australian Aboriginal actor, dancer and musician. The film shows how Gulpilil is always working to bridge the gap between the tribal Aboriginal and Western worlds. He divides his time between a traditional tribal lifestyle and his artistic work, which has included major film roles, collaboration with contemporary dance and music groups and teaching Aboriginal dance and culture. Bill and David travel to Hollywood where David was the most popular Australian in the world at that time, with FOUR films playing in America – WALKABOUT, STORM BOY, THE LAST WAVE and MAD DOG MORGAN. After relating to both the black and native American cultures and filming a quick scene for a big Hollywood picture, he pines to head back through the Outback to his beloved Arnhem Land. Edited by Simon Dibbs and shot by Ray Henman.

Walkabout to Hollywood

1980

The Life and Flight of the Reverend Buck Shotte poster
NR

An early short film directed by Peter Weir in 1968, centered on the life of a bird enthusiast who becomes a Christian evangelist, and described in archival sources as a surrealistic documentary.

The Life and Flight of the Reverend Buck Shotte

1968

Homesdale poster
5.4

At a remote guest house known as Homesdale, a group of visitors find themselves subjected to strange rituals, psychological games, and increasingly cruel entertainments devised by the lodge’s staff. As the weekend unfolds, the tensions and obsessions each guest has brought with them begin to surface.

Homesdale

1971

A Recollection... Hanging Rock 1900 poster
6.0

A documentary exploring the fascinating subject of the film, its production history and success. The documentary, which was produced by Patricia Lovell, features interviews with different cast and crew members.

A Recollection... Hanging Rock 1900

1975

Count Vim's Last Exercise poster
NR

An early short film by Peter Weir, produced between 1967 and 1968 for a Channel Seven staff revue and later screened in underground film programs.

Count Vim's Last Exercise

1968

A Dream Within a Dream: The Making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' poster
8.0

A Feature Length Documentary On The Making Of The Film Featuring Exclusive Interviews With Peter Weir, Hal & Jim Mcelroy, Patricia Lovell and much more

A Dream Within a Dream: The Making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'

2004

Behind the camera

Dead Poets Society poster
8.3

At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.

Dead Poets Society

1989

The Truman Show poster
8.2

In a picture-perfect seaside town, an insurance salesman begins to realize that his entire existence may be staged and observed by a vast unseen audience as part of a long-running real-time reality TV show.

The Truman Show

1998

The Year of Living Dangerously poster
6.7

A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.

The Year of Living Dangerously

1982

The Year of Living Dangerously poster
6.7

A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.

The Year of Living Dangerously

1982

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World poster
7.2

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

2003

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World poster
7.2

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

2003

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World poster
7.2

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

2003

The Way Back poster
7.0

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

The Way Back

2010

The Way Back poster
7.0

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

The Way Back

2010

The Way Back poster
7.0

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

The Way Back

2010

Witness poster
7.1

While protecting an Amish boy—the sole witness to a brutal murder—and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life comes under threat.

Witness

1985

Green Card poster
6.1

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves.

Green Card

1990

Green Card poster
6.1

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves.

Green Card

1990

Green Card poster
6.1

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves.

Green Card

1990

Gallipoli poster
7.1

Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Gallipoli

1981

Fearless poster
6.9

After surviving a plane crash that kills many others, Max Klein develops a sense of invulnerability, leading to radical, compulsive actions. Can a psychologist and a fellow guilt-ridden survivor bring him down to earth?

Fearless

1993

Picnic at Hanging Rock poster
7.2

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1975

The Mosquito Coast poster
6.4

An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.

The Mosquito Coast

1986

The Mosquito Coast poster
6.4

An inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.

The Mosquito Coast

1986

The Last Wave poster
6.7

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

The Last Wave

1977

The Last Wave poster
6.7

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

The Last Wave

1977

The Cars That Ate Paris poster
5.6

After surviving a car accident, a young man finds himself trapped in the isolated town of Paris, where the local economy depends on deliberately causing crashes and salvaging the wreckage. As he becomes entangled in the town’s routines, tensions between its residents and a rebellious group of youths begin to surface.

The Cars That Ate Paris

1974

The Cars That Ate Paris poster
5.6

After surviving a car accident, a young man finds himself trapped in the isolated town of Paris, where the local economy depends on deliberately causing crashes and salvaging the wreckage. As he becomes entangled in the town’s routines, tensions between its residents and a rebellious group of youths begin to surface.

The Cars That Ate Paris

1974

Incredible Floridas poster
4.7

This short film documents Australian composer Richard Meale’s homage to the young French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Meale composed a music piece for woodwind, percussion and strings which he titled “Incredible Floridas."

Incredible Floridas

1972