Director
Peter Weir
Born 21 August 1944 · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Peter Weir (born 1944) is a retired Australian director. He rose to prominence in the Australian New Wave of the 1970s, then built a Hollywood career moving between genres, from thrillers to dramas to comedies. He is admired for atmospheric, thoughtful films that often explore clashes between worlds.
Key films
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Eerie mystery that brought him international attention and became a landmark of Australian New Wave cinema.
Gallipoli (1981)
Anti-war drama about Australian soldiers in World War I; a major Australian success starring Mel Gibson.
Witness (1985)
His breakthrough American film, a thriller set among the Amish that earned him a first Best Director nomination.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Hugely popular boarding-school drama that brought him another Best Director nomination.
The Truman Show (1998)
Satirical sci-fi drama about media and reality, widely regarded as one of his most inventive films.
Key awards
- 2022: Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement
- Six Academy Award nominations across his career, including several for Best Director
On Cinespective
Full filmography · 41
- 1968The Life and Flight of the Reverend Buck Shotte · as BuckActor
- 1968Count Vim's Last Exercise · as Mr. ThinActor
- 1968Count Vim's Last ExerciseDirector
- 1968The Life and Flight of the Reverend Buck ShotteDirector
- 1969Stirring the PoolDirector
- 1969Man on a Green Bike · as Technology/Mayor of CadmiumActor
- 1970Three to Go: MichaelDirector
- 1971HomesdaleDirector
- 1971Homesdale · as Robert 2Actor
- 1971Three to GoDirector
- 1972Incredible FloridasDirector
- 19723 Directions in Australian Pop MusicDirector
- 1972Adults Learning: The Computer CentreDirector
- 1972Adults Learning: The Billiard RoomDirector
- 1972Adults Learning: Boat BuildingDirector
- 1972Adults Learning: The Field DayDirector
- 1974The Cars That Ate ParisDirector
- 1974Whatever Happened to Green Valley?Director
- 1975Picnic at Hanging RockDirector
- 1975A Recollection... Hanging Rock 1900 · as SelfActor
- 1977The Last WaveDirector
- 1979The PlumberDirector
- 1979Heart, Head & HandDirector
- 1980Walkabout to Hollywood · as SelfActor
- 1981GallipoliDirector
- 1982The Year of Living DangerouslyDirector
- 1985WitnessDirector
- 1986The Mosquito CoastDirector
- 1989Dead Poets SocietyDirector
- 1990Green CardDirector
- 1993FearlessDirector
- 1998The Truman ShowDirector
- 2003Master and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldDirector
- 2004The Hundred Days · as SelfActor
- 2004A Dream Within a Dream: The Making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' · as SelfActor
- 2005How's It Going to End - The Making of 'The Truman Show' · as SelfActor
- 2005Entrenched: The Making of Gallipoli · as HimselfActor
- 2010The Way BackDirector
- 2012Dubai Winter Diary VI: Light and Reflections · as SelfActor
- 2019Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound · as SelfActor
- 2023Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford · as SelfActor
Filmography data from TMDB. The profile text is a draft written for Cinespective.