Baz Luhrmann (b. 1962), film director, aspired to be an actor, appearing in Winter of Our Dreams (1981) and studying acting at NIDA before turning to directing. In 1986 he and fellow NIDA students devised a successful one-act stage piece called Strictly Ballroom, which toured Australia in an expanded version the following year. After mounting an acclaimed La Bohème for the Australian Opera (a production he would recreate on Broadway in 2002) Luhrmann co-wrote and directed the film version of Strictly Ballroom (1992), which won 8 AFIs, including the Best Director and Best Picture awards. Strictly Ballroom's success in the U.S. landed Luhrmann a three-year deal with Fox. His 1996 hit Romeo + Juliet made more than $US 45 million. It was followed by Moulin Rouge (2001), which premiered triumphantly at Cannes and earned 8 Oscar nominations; Australia (2008) and eight short films for display in the gallery spaces in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Impossible Conversations: Schiaparelli and Prada (2012). His audacious version of The Great Gatsby, filmed in Sydney and the Blue Mountains premiered in mid-2013.
