John Duigan is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical films The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting, and the 1994 film Sirens, which stars Hugh Grant.
Biography
Duigan was born in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England to an Australian father, and emigrated to Australia in 1961. He is related to many Australian performers, being the brother of novelist Virginia Duigan and uncle of Trilby Beresford. Duigan studied at the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Ormond College and graduated in 1973 with a master's degree in Philosophy. While at university, he worked extensively as an actor and director in theatre, and acted in a number of films. He began directing films in 1974, with early successes including Mouth to Mouth, winner of the Jury Prize at the Australian Film Institute Awards, Winter of our Dreams, for which he won an Australian Writers' Guild award for Best Screenplay, and the multi-award-winning mini-series Vietnam. His 1981 filmWinter of Our Dreams was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. Subsequently, Duigan worked in the United States and Europe, returning to Australia to make Sirens, winner of Best Film at the St. Petersburg Film Festival. In the United States, he directed Romero, starring Raul Julia, which won the Humanitas Award, and Lawn Dogs, winner of numerous prizes in European festivals. In England he directed The Leading Man, from a screenplay by his sister Virginia, The Parole Officer with Steve Coogan, and in Canada/France/UK Head in the Clouds with Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz, winner in Canada of four Genie Awards and Best Film at the Milan International Film Festival. Between 2005 and 2010, he took time off from the film industry to work on a book on secular ethics, returning to Australia to direct Careless Love in 2011/12. On the March 16, 2020, episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, actress Thandie Newton discussed a relationship she had with Duigan both during and after the making of the film Flirting. She described the relationship as sexually abusive, with Duigan taking advantage of her young age and his position of power. Newton was only 16 when the 39-year-old Duigan pursued her. She said that the filmmaker groomed her and made her keep the abusive relationship a secret, traumatizing her personally and professionally. Newton attempted to keep Duigan's name from being mentioned on WTF but responded affirmatively when asked if the director in question had directed Flirting.
