Cate Shortland (born 10 August 1968) is an Australian director and screenwriter. She received international acclaim for her 2004 romantic drama film Somersault, her 2012 historical drama film Lore, and her 2017 psychological thriller film Berlin Syndrome. She is best known for directing the 2021 superhero film Black Widow.

Cate Shortland
Shortland at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Catherine Shortland

(1968-08-10) 10 August 1968 (age 56)
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter
Spouse
Tony Krawitz
(m. 2009)
Children2

Early life

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Shortland was born in Temora, New South Wales. She graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, where she received the Southern Star Award for most promising student.

Career

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Shortland has created several award-winning short films: Strap on Olympia (1995); Pentuphouse (1998); Flower Girl (2000); and Joy (2000).

She spent three years directing episodes of the Network Ten television series, The Secret Life of Us.

In 2004, Shortland released her debut feature-length film, Somersault (2004), which was entered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[1] She directed the Australian television film The Silence.[2]

Her second feature, Lore, had its Australian premiere at the 2012 Sydney Film Festival.[3] It won at the Locarno International Film Festival in August 2012 the Prix du Public UBS. In November, the film won the Bronze Horse for best film at the Stockholm International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Australian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.[4][5]

In 2015, Shortland announced she was working on a third feature film, Berlin Syndrome. Based on the book of the same name by Melanie Joosten, the film starred Teresa Palmer as an Australian photojournalist who becomes imprisoned in the apartment of a man with whom she has a one-night stand.[6] The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.[7]

In July 2018, Shortland was announced as the director of the 2021 Black Widow film for Marvel Studios.[8]

Personal life

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Shortland is a convert to Judaism.[9] She married filmmaker Tony Krawitz in 2009,[10] and they have two children.[11]

Filmography

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Short film

Year Title Director Writer
1998 Pentuphouse Yes Yes
1999 Flowergirl Yes Yes
2000 Joy Yes Yes

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer
2004 Somersault Yes Yes
2012 Lore Yes Yes
2017 Berlin Syndrome Yes Additional
2021 Black Widow Yes No

Television

Year Title Director Writer Notes
2001–2003 The Secret Life of Us Yes No 10 episodes
2002–2003 Bad Cop, Bad Cop Yes No 4 episodes
2006 The Silence Yes No TV movie
2012 The Slap No Yes Episode "Rosie"
2014 Devil's Playground No Yes Episode "The Whirlwind and the Storm"
2015 Deadline Gallipoli No Yes Episode 2
2016 The Kettering Incident No Yes Teleplay for episode "The Search"
Additional material for episode "The Mill"
2019 SMILF Yes No 4 episodes
2024 Three Women Yes No Episode 4: "Maggie"

Awards and nominations

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Year Film Notes
2004 Somersault AACTA Award for Best Direction
AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
AWGIE Award for Best Writing in a Feature Film - Original
FCCA Award for Best Director
Inside Film Award for Best Feature Film
Inside Film Award for Best Direction
Inside Film Award for Best Script
Ljubljana International Film Festival Kingfisher Award
Miami International Film Festival Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Director
Miami International Film Festival Special Mention Breakthrough Award
Nominated — Cannes Film Festival - Golden Camera
Nominated — Cannes Film Festival - Un Certain Regard Award
Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated — Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix
2006 The Silence Australian Screen Sound Guild award for Best Achievement in Sound for a Tele-Feature or Mini-Series
Nominated — AFI Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series
Nominated — the 2007 Logie Awards for Silver Logie in Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie.
2012 Lore Abu Dhabi Film Festival - Black Pearl Award for Best Narrative Feature
ADG Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film
AFCA Award for Best Director
AFCA Award for Best Screenplay
AWGIE Award for Best Writing in a Feature Film - Adapted
Beijing International Film Festival Tiantian Award for Best Director
Beijing College Student Film Festival Special Jury Award
FCCA Award for Best Director
Filmfest Hamburg Critics Award
Hamptons International Film Festival - Golden Starfish Award
Locarno Festival - Audience Award
Stockholm International Film Festival - Bronze Horse for Best Film
Tromsø International Film Festival - Aurora Award
Valladolid International Film Festival - Pilar Miró Award for Best New Director
Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated — Asia-Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Director
Nominated — Beijing International Film Festival Tiantian Award for Best Director
Nominated — BFI London Film Festival
Nominated — FCCA Award for Best Screenplay
Nominated — Locarno Festival - Audience Award
Nominated — Sydney Film Festival Prize
Nominated — Thessaloniki International Film Festival - Open Horizons Award
Nominated — Valladolid International Film Festival - Golden Spike for Best Film
2017 Berlin Syndrome Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated — Dallas International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature Competition
Nominated — Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - World Cinema — Dramatic

References

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  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Somersault". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  2. ^ "The Silence". Screen Australia.
  3. ^ "Lore", Sydney Film Festival 2012 Archived 15 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessed 9 June 2012
  4. ^ "Australian film Lore up for an Oscar". Vogue. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  5. ^ Rohter, Larry (4 February 2013). "Viewing the Nazis Through Their Children's Eyes". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin. "Teresa Palmer To Lead Cate Shortland's 'Berlin Syndrome'". Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  7. ^ Debruge, Peter (30 November 2016). "Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2017 Competition, Next Lineups". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (12 July 2018). "'Black Widow' Movie Finds Director in Cate Shortland (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Staring at the scars". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  10. ^ George, Sandy (21 September 2012). "Take Two: Cate Shortland and Tony Krawitz". If Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  11. ^ Tinkham, Chris (22 March 2013). "Cate Shortland Building From the Details". Under the Radar.
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