Keynote Speakers
Ien Ang is Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies and currently an
Australian Research Council Australian Professorial Fellow at the Centre
for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney. She is one of the
leaders in cultural studies worldwide, with interdisciplinary work
spanning many areas of the humanities and social sciences. Her books,
including Watching Dallas, Desperately Seeking the Audience and On Not
Speaking Chinese, are recognised as classics in the field and her work
has been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Japanese,
Italian, Turkish, German, Korean, and Spanish. Her most recent book,
co-authored with Gay Hawkins and Lamia Dabboussy, is The SBS Story: The
Challenge of Cultural Diversity (UNSW Press, 2008)
Ien's work deals broadly with patterns of cultural flow and exchange in
our globalised world, focusing on issues such as the formation of
audiences and publics, the politics of identity and difference,
migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism in Australia and Asia, and
issues of representation in contemporary cultural institutions.
A celebrated author and cultural critic, and currently Chair of Australian
Studies at Harvard, Nicholas Jose was born in 1952, in London. He grew up in
Broken Hill, Traralgon, Perth and mostly Adelaide, South Australia. A
graduate of the Australian National University, Canberra, and Magdalen
College, Oxford, he has travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. From 1986
to 1990 he worked in Shanghai and Beijing where he was Cultural Counsellor
at the Australian Embassy from 1987-1990. This first sparked his interest in
literature and translation. From 2002 to 2005 Nick Jose was President of
Sydney PEN. He held the Chair of Creative Writing at the University of
Adelaide from 2005-08. In July 2008 he joined the Writing and Society
Research Group at the University of Western Sydney, with a Chair in Writing.
He joins the English Department at Harvard University as Visiting Chair of
Australian Studies 2009-10. He is General Editor of the Macquarie PEN
Anthology of Australian Literature (2009).
Nicholas Jose's most recent book is a novel, Original Face (2005). Black
Sheep: Journey to Borroloola, a memoir, appeared in 2002. Other books
include the novels The Red Thread (2000), The Custodians (1997), The Rose
Crossing (1994), Avenue of Eternal Peace (1989; new edition 2008)and Paper
Nautilus (1987; new edition, 2006), two collections of short stories, and
Chinese Whispers, Cultural Essays published in 1995..
Jonathan is the director and writer of the critically acclaimed Australian feature film, Van Diemen's Land, that will screen on the first evening of the conference. At the conference
Jonathan grew up in Tasmania where, in the early days of British settlement the convict Alexander Pearce and his comrades were kept captive on Sarah Island. Jonathan has held a long time ambition to bring this story to the screen and embarked on study at the VCA School of Film and Television (University of Melbourne) to develop the necessary skills, including moonlighting on Paul Cox’s latest film Salvation as the Assistant Editor.
Jonathan’s VCA graduating film Hell’s Gates was a preview to this feature and has earned success in its own right screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Showcase for Australian contemporary cinema at the Australia America Society in New York and in competition at the 31st edition of the Rencontres Henri Langlois International Film Schools Festival.
An experienced actor, Jonathan has performed with many Tasmanian and Victorian companies including the Melbourne Theatre Company, Arena Theatre, Jigsaw, Terrapin Puppet Theatre and ensemble outfit The Keene Taylor Project - that premiered the works of playwright Daniel Keene. His film and television credits include: The Independent, Tom White, Em4Jay, Blue Heelers, John Safran Vs God, Stingers and City Homicide.
AWARDS
2007 Village Roadshow Award for BEST FILM (Hell’s Gates)
2007 Film Victoria Award for BEST 3rd YEAR PRODUCTION (Hell’s Gates)
2007 National Film and Sound Archive Award for BEST DIRECTOR (Hell’s Gates)
2007 Emerging Film Maker 2008 – Melbourne International Film Festival (Hell’s Gates)
2008 Best Student Film – Melbourne International Film Festival (Hell’s Gates)
2008 Brian Robinson Script Award (Hell’s Gates)
FILMOGRAPHY
2009 VAN DIEMEN’S LAND 104mins
2007 HELL’S GATES (VCA)* 21mins
2006 FOUR LEGS IN THE MORNING (VCA) 3mins
2006 SAILOR BOY (VCA) 11mins
2005 GRISTLE (VCA) 3mins
2005 SKELETONS (VCA) 6mins
2001 INCASE 7mins
*(VCA) denotes short films completed as part of the Victorian College of the Arts Bachelor of Film & Television course.
