Simon Target
{{short description|British-Australian filmmaker (born 1962)}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Simon Target
| image = Simon Target, Kraków FF 2022.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Target at Kraków Film Festival, 2022
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1962|01|22}}
| birth_place = Tonbridge, United Kingdom
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British-Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Documentary filmmaker
| years_active = 1986-present
| known_for =
}}
Simon Target ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɑːr|ʒ|eɪ}};{{cite AV media|people=Gili, Jonathan (Director)|date=1979|title=Public School|medium=Motion picture|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|minutes=45}} born 22 January 1962) is a British-Australian filmmaker.{{Cite web |title=Simon Target - The Screen Guide |url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/p/Simon-Target/21480/,%20https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/p/Simon-Target/21480/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Screen Australia |language=en}} He is best known for a series of television documentaries he made for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation which include King's School (on The King's School, Sydney),{{cite web| url = http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc2/200504/programs/DO9713H001D6042005T163000.htm| title = ABC TV Guide| website = Australian Broadcasting Corporation}} Flight for Life (about the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia), The Academy (on the Australian Defence Force Academy),{{cite web| url = http://www.abc.net.au/documentaries/adfa/behind/simon.htm| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20011128193554/http://www.abc.net.au/documentaries/adfa/behind/simon.htm| archive-date = 2001-11-28| title = ADFA| website = Australian Broadcasting Corporation}} and Rough Justice (about the legal profession).{{cite web| url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/27/1053801387725.html| title = Courtroom appeal| date = 29 May 2003}} Uni, his study of a group of dissolute arts students at Sydney University, featured Charles Firth, Craig Reucassel and Andrew Hansen, who formed the comedy group The Chaser.{{cite web| url = https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/forgotten-gems--remembering-uni-20120406-1wg2i.html| title = Forgotten gems ... remembering Uni| date = 8 April 2012}} Hansen later satirised Target in CNNNN, where he played the network's British correspondent who was also called Simon Target.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnnnn.com/cnnnn/about/s713018.htm|title=Cnnnn.com|website=www70.cnnnn.com}}
Recent works
Masha & Valentyna,{{Cite web |title='Squeeze up, there's room for more': Australian film shows how Poland opened hearts and homes to Ukrainian refugees |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/ukrainian/en/article/masha-valentyna-ukrainian-refugee-women-in-poland/5y2aw8qlr |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}{{Cite web |title='Masha i Valentyna' - nowy dokument Simona Target - projekcja filmu w Sydney |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/polish/pl/podcast-episode/masha-i-valentyna-nowy-film-simona-target-projekcja-filmu-dokumentalnego-w-sydney/tjotb1ga9 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=SBS Language |language=pl}} Target's 50 minute documentary about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was broadcast{{Citation |title=Masha & Valentyna |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/masha-and-valentyna/2218100803979 |access-date=2023-10-11 |language=en}} by SBStv on World Refugee Day, June 20 2023, and shown in Australia's Federal Parliament, July 31 2023, in a special screening sponsored by Senator Catryna Bilyk and Senator Linda Reynolds. Warrawong - the windy place on the hill{{Cite web |date=2022-06-15 |title=Warrawong... the windy place on the hill Director Simon Target Talks Filming Isolation, Capturing the Stillness of Remote Australia and More in This Interview - The Curb |url=https://www.thecurb.com.au/warrawong-the-windy-place-on-the-hill-director-simon-target-talks-filming-isolation-capturing-the-stillness-of-remote-australia-and-more-in-this-interview/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.thecurb.com.au |language=en-US}} made in remote NSW during Australia's Covid pandemic restrictions, was selected for competition at Sydney Film Festival and Kraków Film Festival in 2022. It tells the story of an elderly couple reluctant to leave their farm, and launched the inaugural [https://www.gilgaff.com.au Gilgandra Film Festival], April 22, 23.{{Cite web |title=Film fest a hit! |url=https://www.gilgandraweekly.com.au/community-and-business/film-fest-a-hit |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.gilgandraweekly.com.au |language=en}}
Early life and education
Target was born in Tonbridge in the United Kingdom. His mother was Australian water colourist [https://collection.hota.com.au/persons/1283/patricia-prentice Patricia Prentice].{{Cite web |title=A place to paint / Patricia Prentice - Catalogue {{!}} National Library of Australia |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2583972 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=catalogue.nla.gov.au |language=en}} He was educated at Westminster School, London, where he featured in a 1979 BBC television documentary Public School{{Citation |last=Gili |first=Jonathan |title=Public School |date=1979-09-13 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1426938/ |type=Documentary |access-date=2023-10-11 |others=Fran Morrison, Daisy Goodwin, Christopher Potter |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)}} directed by Jonathan Gili. He then read English and Music at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1980 to 1983. He later obtained an MA in Film Production from Britain's National Film and Television School in 1986.{{cite web |url=http://www.aftrs.edu.au/showcase/student-films/video/0_am69l2v5 |title=Race Day at Birdsville Short Film - Australian Film Television and Radio School |website=www.aftrs.edu.au |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120030522/http://www.aftrs.edu.au/showcase/student-films/video/0_am69l2v5 |archive-date=2015-01-20}}
Career
Target wrote and directed the feature film Backsliding,{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101395/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2|title = Backsliding|website = IMDb}} starring Tim Roth, with an original score by Australian composer Nigel Westlake, and the TV series Operatunity Oz{{cite web| url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/opera-out-of-the-ordinary/2006/10/03/1159641329504.html| title = Opera out of the ordinary| date = 5 October 2006}} - a nationwide talent search to find an ‘undiscovered’ opera singer. Target has also directed live opera{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/19/arts/critic-s-notebook-early-music-lovers-go-back-to-their-first-love.html|title = Critic's Notebook; Early-Music Lovers Go Back to Their First Love|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 19 June 1993|last1 = Kozinn|first1 = Allan}} for the stage in England and the United States, with artists such as Simon Keenlyside, Simon Russell Beale and conductor Andrew Parrott.
Other work includes TV series with Donna Hay,{{cite tweet|user=donnahay|author=donna hay|number=433593759301632|date=5 November 2010|title=http://yfrog.com/mulzsgj Very amusing Director Simon Target}} Curtis Stone, Ben O'Donoghue, Kylie Kwong,{{Cite web |date=2003-10-30 |title=Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/kylie-kwong-heart-and-soul-20031030-gdwn6p.html |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Age |language=en}} Ainsley Harriott and Rick Stein. In 2010 he wrote and directed the natural history series Penguin Island,{{Cite web |last= |title=Penguin Island |url=https://360degreefilms.com.au/productions/penguin-island/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=360 Degree Films |language=en-AU}} with Rolf Harris for BBC Television. The series won Target prizes for best script and best direction at science/environmental film festivals in China{{Cite web|url=http://360degreefilms.com.au/penguin-island-brings-home-best-director-at-the-gold-panda-awards|title = Penguin Island brings home "Best Director" at the Gold Panda Awards!}} and Germany,{{cite web |url=http://www.greenscreen-festival.de/yamlt3/ |title=Infos: Greenscreen Festival |accessdate=2012-09-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902023248/http://www.greenscreen-festival.de/yamlt3/ |archivedate=2012-09-02 }} and at [https://www.envirofilm.sk Envirofilm].{{Cite web|url=http://bbonline.sk/ukazky-hlavna-cena-envirofilmu-do-australie/|title=Ukážky: Hlavná cena Envirofilmu do Austrálie|date=21 May 2011}}
Target lives in Sydney, and is married to Polish doctor [https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4818438.Beata_Zatorska Beata Zatorska] with whom he co-wrote the book Rose Petal Jam - Recipes and Stories from a Summer in Poland,{{Cite web |title=Beata Zatorska |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/saturdayextra/beata-zatorska/5686624 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=ABC listen |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.rosepetaljam.net/ |title=Rose Petal Jam |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-date=25 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925014230/http://rosepetaljam.net/ |url-status=dead }} published by Tabula Books, which won the 2012 Gourmand Award.{{Cite web |title=EDGE Media Network :: Food_drink News |url=https://www.edgeonthenet.com/channel.php?ch=style&sc=food_drink |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=EDGE Media Network |language=en-us}} Gerstenberg Verlag published a German language version 'Rosenmarmelade', which also won a Gourmand Award in 2014. Target and Zatorska produced 'Sugared Orange - Recipes and Stories from a Winter in Poland' published by Tabula in October 2013.
Target has made recent film profiles of artist Tim Storrier,{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CutNRDtOKBW/?hl=en | title=Instagram }} iconic Australian actor/director John Bell, and theatre director Simon Stone [https://vimeo.com/user11343729/review/71009278/73c77d60ca (The Talented Mr Stone)]. His feature-length documentary [http://www.facebook.com/ATownCalledBrzostek A Town Called Brzostek]{{Cite web|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/greg-archer/a-town-called-brzostek-am_b_8535638.html|title = 'A Town Called Brzostek' Among the Compelling Documentaries at the 27th Polish Film Festival in America|website = HuffPost|date = 11 November 2015}} won the Ewa Pięta Award for Best Film at the [https://www.facebook.com/Ann-Arbor-Polish-Film-Festival-175708451849 Ann Arbor Polish Film Festival] and the 2015 Humanitarian Award, [http://www.pffamerica.org/en/ PFFA] Chicago. It also won first prize at the Warsaw and Bucharest Jewish Film Festivals, and was selected for the Berlin Jewish Film Festival 2015. Translated into French and Hebrew, the film has been shown in many countries, including in synagogues in Oswięcim (Auschwitz), Paris and London, and to Israeli students in Tel Aviv embarking on tours of Poland.
In 2017, Target travelled to remote parts of Papua New Guinea to make the self filmed feature 'The Polish Missionaries'. The story of Catholic priests and nuns building clinics and schools in an often hostile environment premiered in Sydney Nov 2018{{Cite web|url=https://www.bumerangmedia.com/2018/12/premiera-filmu-simona-targeta-polish.html|title = Premiera filmu Simona Targeta "The Polish Missionaries"}} and in May 2019 at the Kraków Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.krakowfilmfestival.pl/en/world-stories-and-somewhere-in-europe-at-the-59th-krakow-film-festival/|title=World Stories and Somewhere in Europe at the 59th Krakow Film Festival|date=7 May 2019}} It was later shown at the Dwa Brzegi (Two Riverbanks) Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.dwabrzegi.pl/en/events/polish-missionaries-the/ |title=Polish Missionaries, The {{!}} 13. Festiwal Filmu i Sztuki Dwa Brzegi {{!}} Lubelskie |website=www.dwabrzegi.pl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105063045/http://www.dwabrzegi.pl/en/events/polish-missionaries-the/ |archive-date=2019-11-05}} in the medieval town of Kazimierz Dolny. ABCtv screened a narrated and abridged version on its religious affairs program Compass in August 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ABCReligionandEthics/videos/371338523567503/|title=5K views · 71 reactions | Polish Missionaries in PNG | Meet the Polish missionaries who have devoted their lives to helping the people of Papua New Guinea; caring for people with HIV, providing education and... | By ABC Religion and Ethics | Facebook|via=www.facebook.com}}
In April 2016, Simon Target was decorated by the Polish Ministry of Culture.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bumerangmedia.com/2016/05/swieto-3-maja-w-konsulacie-rp.html#more|title=Bumerang Polski: Święto 3 Maja w Konsulacie RP - sprawozdanie i relacja wideo|website=www.bumerangmedia.com|access-date=2016-05-20}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.abc.net.au/documentaries/adfa/ The Academy - official web site]
- {{IMDb name | id=0850413| name=Simon Target}} (incomplete)
- [http://www.opera-australia.org.au/ Opera Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821162158/http://www.opera-australia.org.au/ |date=21 August 2008 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110923184929/http://rosepetaljam.net/Rose_Petal_Jam.html Rose Petal Jam] at Tabula Books
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Category:Australian documentary filmmakers