Roger Donaldson

Roger Donaldson
ONZM
Donaldson in 2023
Born
Roger Lindsey Donaldson

(1945-11-15) 15 November 1945 (age 79)
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Nationality
  • Australian
  • New Zealand
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, producer
RelativesChris Donaldson (son)
India Donaldson (daughter)

Roger Lindsey Donaldson ONZM (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian and New Zealand film director, screenwriter, and producer. His 1977 debut film, Sleeping Dogs, is considered landmark work of New Zealand cinema, as one of the country’s first films to attract large-scale critical and commercial success.[1] He has subsequently directed 17 feature films, working in Hollywood and the United Kingdom, as well as his native country.

Donaldson’s best-known films include the historical drama The Bounty (1984), the neo-noir No Way Out (1987), the romantic comedy Cocktail (1988), the Cuban Missile Crisis docudrama Thirteen Days (2000), the science-fiction horror film Species (1995), the disaster film Dante's Peak (1997), the Burt Munro biopic The World's Fastest Indian (2005), and the historical thriller The Bank Job (2008).[2]

Donaldson has worked twice each with actors Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Madsen. He is a recipient of three New Zealand Film and Television Awards. He is also an AACTA Award and Palme d’Or nominee. At the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Donaldson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.[3]

  1. ^ Screen, NZ On. "Roger Donaldson | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Roger Donaldson - Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.