Peter Lindsay Weir (Photo ©Piotr Drabik) was born on August 21, 1944, in Sydney, Australia.

Peter Weir studied arts and law at the University of Sydney, where his interest in cinema started. In the mid-60s he ended up dropping out of school and started working for a television station in Sydney. Initially, he was a production assistant but over time started shooting some short movies.

In 1966 Peter Weir married Wnedy Sites. The two of them had a daughter, Ingrid, who was born in 1973.

Subsequently, Peter Weir started working for the then Commonwealth Film Unit, then become Film Australia, shooting many documentaries and more short films. In 1971 he shot his first real movie, the black comedy “Homesdale”, which was still of limited length, lasting about 50 minutes.

The first full-length feature film directed by Peter Weir was “The Cars That Ate Paris” (1975), another black comedy about the inhabitants of a country town who live on the profits of fatal car accidents they deliberately cause.

The big success came for Peter Weir with the movie “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975). This drama veiled in a mystery set in 1900 was acclaimed at the international level by critics and audiences.

“The Last Wave” (1977), of which Peter Weir was both director and screenwriter, is a supernatural thriller in which the protagonist has omens of an impending disaster while working as a defense attorney for a group of Aboriginals accused of murder.

In “Gallipoli” (1981), Peter Weir shows the bloody battle of Gallipoli in World War I. It’s the first movie in which the director had Mel Gibson in his cast, followed in 1982 by “The Year of Living Dangerously”, of which Weir was also a screenwriter, set in Indonesia in 1965, shortly after reaching independence.

The successes led Peter Weir to direct Hollywood productions. In 1985 he shot “Witness”, the first movie in which he directed Harrison Ford. He received his first nomination for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Director as well as other for other categories and eventually the movie won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Film Editing.

In 1986, Peter Weir shot “The Mosquito Coast” with Harrison Ford once again among its cast. The movie, unconventional like its protagonist, had limited commercial success but over time a cult has grown around it.

In 1989, Peter Weir shot “Dead Poets Society”, which brought nominations for Golden Globes and Oscars for the director and for Robin Williams as best actor and ended up winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Weir received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and other awards in various countries.

Peter Weir totally change the genre by producing, directing, and writing the screenplay for “Green Card” (1990), a romantic comedy. Although controversial among critics, it won the Golden Globe for best film in the category “Musical or Comedy” and Gérard Depardieu won the Best Actor award in that category.

Peter Weir got back to dramatic plots with “Fearless” (1993), inspired by the real events of United Airlines Flight 232. In this case, critics reviewed the film positively and Rosie Perez received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress but it wasn’t a great commercial success.

In the mid-90s, Peter Weir started slowing down his activity, which already hadn’t been particularly intense for several years. In this way, he could better select projects that stimulated the most.

In 1998, Peter Weir finally returned to movies with “The Truman Show”, perhaps his best-known film. Jim Carrey, hitherto known as a comedian, received the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, Ed Harris received Best Supporting Actor and the movie also received one for Best Original Score. Weir was awarded the BAFTA for Best Director. The movie won several other awards in various countries.

In 2003, Peter Weir produced, wrote the screenplay, and directed “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, set during the Napoleonic Wars. The movie won the Oscar for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing. Weir won the BAFTA for Best Director and the movie won several other awards in various countries.

The most recent movie by Peter Weir is “The Way Back” (2010), of which he was a producer, screenwriter, and director. This drama which tells the story of a group of prisoners who escape from a gulag received good critical reviews but wasn’t a commercial success.

Given Peter Weir’s recent habits, we can hope that in the next few years, he’ll give us at least another movie. In his career, he created many outstanding works, it would be nice if he found some other interesting project.