James Ricketson
{{short description|Australian film director (born 1949)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| pre-nominals =
| name = James Ricketson
| post-nominals =
| image =
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = James Staniforth Ricketson{{cite news|url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ricketson-family-express-eternal-gratitude-filmmakers-pardon|title=Ricketson family express 'eternal gratitude' for filmmaker's pardon|newspaper=The Phnom Penh Post|first=Niem|last=Chheng|date=24 September 2018|access-date=15 August 2020}}
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| baptised =
| disappeared_date =
| disappeared_place =
| disappeared_status =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| body_discovered =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| burial_place =
| burial_coordinates =
| monuments =
| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater = Australian Film and Television School
| occupation = Film director
| years_active =
| era =
| employer =
| organization =
| agent =
| known_for =
| credits = {{bulleted list|Third Person Plural (1978)|Candy Regentag (1989)|Blackfellas (1994)}}
| style =
| television =
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| movement =
| opponents = Cambodian Children's Fund
| boards =
| criminal_charge = Espionage
| criminal_penalty = Six years in custody {{no wrap|{{small|(sentenced under Cambodian law)}}}}
| criminal_status = Pardoned
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| mother =
| father =
| relatives = Staniforth Ricketson (grandfather){{cite news|url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2018/02/10/gadfly-the-scarlet-man/15181812005774|title=The scarlet man|publisher=The Saturday Paper|date=10 February 2018|access-date=15 August 2020}}
| family =
| callsign =
| awards = {{bulleted list|AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Blackfellas (1994)|AACTA Award for Best Film, Reflections (1973)|Alan Stout Award for Best Short Film, Reflections (1973)}}
| website =
| module =
| module2 =
| module3 =
| module4 =
| module5 =
| module6 =
| signature =
| signature_size =
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
}}
James Staniforth Ricketson is an Australian film director, known for the feature film Blackfellas. He became more widely known when he was charged with espionage for flying a drone in Cambodia in 2017.
Film career
Ricketson studied at the Australian Film and Television School and has made a number of features and documentaries.David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p136
In 1973 Ricketson filmed and helped to organise Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the two north pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge. A short film of the walk was released on DVD with Man On Wire, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Petit's World Trade Center Twin Towers walk.{{Cite web|url=https://open.abc.net.au/explore/44681|title=ABC OPEN: Man on a Sydney wire {{!}}{{!}} From Project: 500 Words: I Was There|website=open.abc.net.au|language=en-AU|access-date=2018-08-19}}
Ricketson directed the feature films Third Person Plural (1978), Candy Regentag (1989), Blackfellas (1994). His documentaries include Reflections (1973), Roslyn and Blagica Everyone Needs a Friend (1979), Born in Soweto (1994), Sleeping with Cambodia (1997), Backpacking Australia (2001), and Viva (2004).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In 1981 he became one of the founding members of the Australian Directors Guild.{{Cite news|url=http://www.screendirector.org/post/2014/6/1/history-of-the-adg-part-1|title=History of the ADG - Part 1|work=Screen Director|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en-AU}} In the same year he directed one of the four episodes of the award-winning Australian miniseries Women of the Sun. In July 2012 it was announced he was suing Screen Australia.{{Cite news|url=http://mumbrella.com.au/film-maker-james-ricketson-sues-screen-australia-104060|title=Film-maker James Ricketson takes legal action against Screen Australia - Mumbrella|date=2012-07-19|work=Mumbrella|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en-US}}
Trouble in Cambodia
In 2014 Ricketson was fined six-million Cambodian riel (A$1,500) and given a suspended two-year prison sentence by a Phnom Penh court for threatening to broadcast accusations that a local branch of the Brisbane-based Citipointe Church sold children.{{Cite news|url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/filmmaker-%E2%80%98guilty%E2%80%99-conflict-church|title=Filmmaker 'guilty' in conflict with church|last=Ratana|first=Uong|date=2014-04-03|work=Phnom Penh Post|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en}}{{cite web | title=Fact Sheet: James Ricketson and CCF - the facts | website=Cambodian Children's Fund| date=27 September 2018 | url=https://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/fact-sheet-1/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927085835/https://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/fact-sheet-1/ | archive-date=27 September 2018 | url-status=dead | access-date=1 February 2022}}
In June 2017, he was arrested while flying a drone at a Cambodia National Rescue Party rally in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and charged with espionage, a charge he denies.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/11/australian-film-maker-charged-with-espionage-in-cambodia|title=Australian film-maker charged with espionage in Cambodia|agency=Australian Associated Press|date=2017-06-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-07-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} He was held in Prey Sar prison and his trial began in a Phnom Penh court on 16 August 2018, with character testimony from Australian film director Peter Weir.{{cite news |last1=Handley |first1=Erin |title=James Ricketson secures a trial delay until after Cambodian election |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/james-ricketson-secures-a-trial-delay-until-after-cambodian-election-20180716-p4zrro.html |access-date=24 July 2018 |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |date=16 July 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Blomberg |first=Matt |date=2018-08-17 |title=Cambodian judges question accused spy James Ricketson's links to Australian Government |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-17/james-ricketson-filmmaker-cambodia-trial/10129780 |access-date=2018-08-19}} On 31 August he was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australian-james-ricketson-found-guilty-of-espionage-in-cambodia-20180831-p500yp.html|title=Australian James Ricketson found guilty of espionage in Cambodia|first=Erin|last=Handley|date=31 August 2018|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=31 August 2018}} It was announced on 21 September 2018 that Cambodian authorities had pardoned Ricketson for the offence.{{cite web |last=Blomberg |first=Matt |date=21 September 2018 |title=James Ricketson: Cambodia pardons Australian filmmaker jailed for espionage |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-21/australian-filmmaker-james-ricketson-pardoned-for-espionage/10292752 |access-date=21 September 2018 |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}
Selected filmography
- Third Person Plural (1978)
- Candy Regentag (1989)
- Blackfellas (1994)
Awards
- AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Blackfellas (1994)
- AACTA Award for Best Film, Reflections (1973)
- Alan Stout Award for Best Short Film, Reflections (1973)
Personal life
Ricketson is the grandson of stockbroker Staniforth Ricketson. He has a son, Jesse, and is a surrogate father to Roxanne Holmes, whom he met "while researching a film project about street kids" in the 1980s.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-17/fighting-for-james-ricketsons-freedom/10430358?nw=0|title=Fighting for a father's freedom|publisher=ABC News|date=17 December 2018|access-date=15 August 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0725497}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketson, James}}
Category:Australian film directors
Category:Prisoners and detainees of Cambodia
Category:Australian people imprisoned abroad