Paul Cox

Paulus Henrique Benedictus "Paul" Cox (16 April 1940 – 18 June 2016) was an award-winning filmmaker, who was widely recognized as 'Australia's most prolific film auteur'. "Cox's delicate films have been pockmarked with life's uncertainty. Loneliness within relationships is a staple of the Cox oeuvre, too". David Wenham states, "There is no one like Cox ... He is unique, and we need him, and people like him...He is completely an auteur, because everything you see on the screen, and hear, has got Paul's fingerprints all over it."

Career

Cox was born in Venlo, Limburg, the Netherlands, the son of Else (née Kuminack), a native of Germany, and Wim Cox, a documentary film producer. Cox emigrated to Australia in 1965, by which time he had already established a reputation as a photographer.

His teaching at Prahran College of Advanced Education in the 1970s with Athol Shmith and John Cato influenced a number of photographers and filmmakers, including Carol Jerrems and Bill Henson. Cox collaborated with a number of screenwriters including John Clarke and Bob Ellis.

He published Reflections: An Autobiographical Journey in 1998.

His film-essay The Remarkable Mr. Kaye (2005) is a portrait of his ill friend, the actor Norman Kaye, who appeared in numerous Cox films, such as Lonely Hearts and Man of Flowers.

On 26 December 2009 he received a liver transplant. David Bradbury's 2012 documentary, On Borrowed Time, tells this story against the backdrop of his life and work, through interviews with Cox and his friends and colleagues. Cox has also written a memoir, Tales from the Cancer Ward. Rosie Igusti, a fellow transplant recipient he met there, later became his partner.

Cox's last film Force of Destiny, with David Wenham and Indian actress Shahana Goswami was released in July 2015. Wenham plays a sculptor and transplant patient who falls in love with a patient he meets in the hospital ward.

Cox was named in Phillip Adams' List of 100 National Treasures in April 2015.

Photography

Photography books

• Cox, Paul (1970). Human still lives from Nepal. s.n., (Mentone, Vic. : Alexander Bros.)
• Cox, Paul & Beier, Ulli 1922–2011 (1971). Home of man : the people of New Guinea. Thomas Nelson (Australia), Melbourne
• Beier, Ulli & Cox, Paul, 1940– (1980). Mirka. Macmillan, South Melbourne, Victoria

Selected exhibitions

• 1977 Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney: Photography by Athol Shmith and Paul Cox
• 2009 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne: Paul Cox, 6 Aug – 29 Aug
• 2011 Mars Gallery, Melbourne: Paul Cox
• 2011 Monash Gallery of Art: Age of Aquarius: Photography of Paul Cox, 7 April – 19 June

Filmography

Features

• Illuminations (1976)
• Inside Looking Out (1977)
• Kostas (1979)
• Lonely Hearts (1982)
• Man of Flowers (1983)
• My First Wife (1984)
• Cactus (1986)
• Island (1989)
• Golden Braid (1990)
• A Woman's Tale (1991)
• The Nun and the Bandit (1992)
• Exile (1994)
• Lust and Revenge (1996)
• Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
• Innocence (2000)
• The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2001)
• Human Touch (2004)
• Salvation (2008)
• Force Of Destiny (2015)

Shorts

• Matuta: An Early Morning Fantasy (1965) – 23 min colour film
• Time Past (1966) – 10 min b/w film
• The Prince Henry's Medical Team in Vietnam on YouTube (1966) – 14 min colour film
• The Prince Henry's Story on YouTube (1968) – 17 min b/w film
• Skindeep (1968) – 40 min drama colour 16 mm film
• Marcel (1969) – 7 min b/w 16 mm film
• Symphony (1969) – 12 mins film
• Mirka (1970) – 20 mins film
• Phyllis (1971) – 35 mins colour 16 mm film
• The Journey (1972I) – 60 mins drama film
• The Island (1975) – 10 min colour 16 mm film
• Ways of Seeing (1977) – 24 min film
• Ritual (1978) – 10 min film

Documentaries

• Calcutta (1971) – 30 mins
• All Set Backstage (1974) – 22 mins
• We Are All Alone My Dear (1975) – 22 mins
• For a Child Called Michael (1979) – 30 mins
• The Kingdom of Nek Chand (1980) – 22 mins
• Underdog (1980) – 53 mins
• Death and Destiny (1984)
• Vincent (1987)
• The Hidden Dimension (1997) – 43 mins IMAX film
• The Remarkable Mr. Kaye (2005)
• Kaluapapa Heavan (2007)
• The Dinner Party (2012)

TV

• Paper Boy (1985) (TV)
• Handle With Care (1985)
• The Secret Life of Trees (1986) – 25 min TV film
• The Gift (1988)
• Touch Me (1993) – 30 min TV episode

Awards

• 1984 Vallidolid International Film Festival – Golden Spike: Man of Flowers
• 1984 AFI Award – Best Director & Best Screenplay: My First Wife
• 1986 Flanders International Film Festival – Golden Spur: My First Wife
• 1991 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Feature Film Award for A Women's Tale[14]
• 1992 Flanders International Film Festival – Golden Spur: A Woman's Tale
• 1993 Brisbane International Film Festival – Chauvel Award: for dintiguished contribution to Australian Cinema
• 1994 44th Berlin International Film Festival – Golden Bear (nominated): Exile
• 2000 Taormina International Film Festival – FIPRESCI Prize: Innocence
• 2000 Montréal World Film Festival – Grand Prix des Amériques: Innocence
• 2000 IF Awards – Best Feature Film: Innocence
• 2003 Montréal International Festival of Films on Art – Jury Prize: The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky
• 2004 Montréal World Film Festival – Grand Prix des Amériques: Human Touch