Bruce Beresford was born in Sydney, Australia and worked for the British Film Institute before directing his first feature film in 1972. The Adventures of Barry McKenzie became the first Australian movie to pass $1million at the local box office. He has since directed over 30 feature films in Australia and the United States as well as television and live operas. He was Oscar®-nominated for co-writing Breaker Morant (1980) and directing Tender Mercies (1983). He later directed Driving Miss Daisy (1990), which won the Academy Award® for Best Picture. He has directed many Australian classics including The Getting of Wisdom (1977), The Club (1980), Black Robe (1991) and Mao’s Last Dancer (2007). Beresford was the 2008 APSA International Jury President and in 2018 was nominated for Achievement in Directing for Ladies in Black.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
