Warwick Thornton

Warwick Thornton
Born	Alice Springs, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	film director, screenwriter and cinematographer

Warwick Thornton is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His debut feature film, Samson and Delilah won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Thornton was born and raised in Alice Springs. His mother, Freda Glynn, co-founded and was the first Director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), and was the Director of Imparja Television for its first ten years. For a time she was the only female chair of a television network in the world. In 1993 she, together with Philip Batty, won the $50,000 international prize in communications, the McLuhan Teleglobe Canada Award.

At 13, Thornton was sent to school in Australia's only monastic town, New Norcia, Western Australia, although he later declared he became angry with Christianity and did not consider himself religious.

One of his sisters, Erica Glynn, is also a well-known film writer and director.

Thornton is married to screenwriter and film director, Beck Cole, and they live in Alice Springs. "She's the boss," he laughs. "I ask 'Can I shoot your film babe?' and she says, "Well, if you do the washing up and mow the lawn.' She's bulletproof and much stronger than me." Together they have a daughter, Luka May, while Thornton also has another daughter, Rona, and a son, Dylan, from a previous relationship.

He has two brothers, Scott Thornton, an actor who played the role of Gonzo in Samson and Delilah (2009 film), and Rob Thornton who is an indigenous liaison officer in Cairns Base Hospital, Queensland.

He graduated in cinematography from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Thornton began his career making short films and has achieved success with them at film festivals around the world, including Payback at the Telluride Film Festival and Green Bush and Nana at the Berlin International Film Festival. He describes his decision to become a filmmaker in an interview in 2007:

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