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| image = David Stratton.jpg
| image = David Stratton.jpg
| caption = Stratton in 2012
| caption = Stratton in 2012
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1939|9|10}}
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1939}}
| birth_place = [[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]], England
| birth_place = [[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]], England
| employer = [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]
| employer = [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]
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'''David James Stratton''' {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 10 September 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning [[Film criticism|film critic]], as both a [[journalist]] and interviewer, film historian and lecturer and television personality and producer.
'''David James Stratton''' {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning [[film critic]], as both a [[journalist]] and interviewer, film historian, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023.


==Life and career==
==Early life and education==
Born in [[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]], England, in 1939, Stratton was sent to [[Hampshire]] to see out the [[World War II|war]] years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly and saw a diverse range of films. He attended [[Chafyn Grove School]] from 1948 to 1953 as a [[Boarding school|boarder]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stratton|first=David|title=I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film|date=2008|publisher=William Heinemann|location=Sydney|isbn=9781741666199}}</ref> He saw his first [[World cinema|foreign film]] at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in 1955—[[Cinema of Italy|Italian]] romantic comedy ''[[Bread, Love and Dreams]]''. That was soon followed by [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s Japanese adventure drama classic ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' tracked down in [[Birmingham]]. At the age of 19, he founded the [[Melksham]] and District Film Society.<ref name="rhs">{{cite web
Born in [[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]], England, in 1939,<ref name=fellini/> David James Stratton<ref name=asio>{{cite book | last=Burgmann | first=M. | title=Dirty Secrets: Our ASIO files | publisher=NewSouth Publishing | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-74224-175-3 | url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=x8toAwAAQBAJ | access-date=30 December 2023 | page=}}</ref> was sent to [[Hampshire]] to see out the [[World War II|war]] years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly and saw a diverse range of films. He attended [[Chafyn Grove School]] from 1948 to 1953 as a [[Boarding school|boarder]].<ref name=fellini>{{cite book | last=Stratton | first=D. | title=I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film | publisher=William Heinemann | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-74166-619-9 | url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=KPgXei32evoC | access-date=30 December 2023 | page=}}</ref>
|url = http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Authors/Default.aspx?Page=Author&ID=Stratton,%20David
|title = David Stratton
|access-date = 16 March 2008
⚫
|publisher = Random House Australia}}</ref> David arrived in Australia in 1963, and soon became involved with the local [[film society]] movement. He directed the [[Sydney Film Festival]] from 1966 until 1983. At the time, he was the subject of surveillance by the [[Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]], due to the festival showing Soviet films and his late-1960s visit to [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]]. This information was not made public until January 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-stratton-oblivious-hes-been-cast-as-a-spy-asios-vault-shows-its-odd-choice-of-surveillance-targets-20140103-309hu.html|title=David Stratton oblivious he's been cast as a spy|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]| date=4 January 2014| access-date=4 January 2014|last=Fenely|first=Rick}}</ref>


A highly regarded expert on international cinema, particularly [[Cinema of France|French cinema]], Stratton was President of FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) Juries in [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]] (twice) and [[Venice Film Festival|Venice]].<ref name="rhs"/> He was also a member of the jury at the [[32nd Berlin International Film Festival]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1982/04_jury_1982/04_Jury_1982.html|title=Berlinale 1982: Juries|access-date=2 September 2010|publisher=[[Berlinale]]}}</ref>
He saw his first [[World cinema|foreign film]] at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in 1955, the [[Cinema of Italy|Italian]] romantic comedy ''[[Bread, Love and Dreams]]''. That was soon followed by [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s Japanese adventure drama classic ''[[Seven Samurai]]'', tracked down in [[Birmingham]]. At the age of 19, he founded the [[Melksham]] and District Film Society.<ref name="rhs">{{cite web|url = http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Authors/Default.aspx?Page=Author&ID=Stratton,%20David|title = David Stratton|access-date = 16 March 2008|publisher = Random House Australia}}</ref>


==Career==
⚫
Stratton worked for [[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] from 1980, acting as their film consultant and introducing the SBS Cinema Classic and Movie of the Week for 24 weeks a year. From 1986 onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program ''[[The Movie Show]]'' with [[Margaret Pomeranz]], who was also the show's original producer. Stratton and Pomeranz left SBS in 2004. From 2004 Stratton and Pomeranz co-hosted the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] film show, [[At the Movies (Australian TV program)|''At the Movies'']]. On 16&nbsp;September 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz announced that they would be retiring at the end of the 2014 series. The ABC confirmed that the series would end, with the last episode broadcast on 9 December 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton roll end credits on 28-year film review partnership; ''At The Movies'' will not return to ABC in 2015|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-16/margaret-pomeranz-and-david-stratton-roll-end-credits/5747214|access-date=16 September 2014|work=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|date=16 September 2014}}</ref>
Stratton's career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years.<ref name=hennessy2023/>


⚫
Stratton arrived in Australia in 1963, and soon became involved with the local [[film society]] movement. He directed the [[Sydney Film Festival]] from 1966 until 1983. At the time, he was the subject of surveillance by the [[Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]], due to the festival showing [[Cinema of the Soviet Union|Soviet films]], and his late-1960s visit to [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]]. This information was not made public until January 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-stratton-oblivious-hes-been-cast-as-a-spy-asios-vault-shows-its-odd-choice-of-surveillance-targets-20140103-309hu.html|title=David Stratton oblivious he's been cast as a spy|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]| date=4 January 2014 | access-date=4 January 2014|last=Fenely|first=Rick}}</ref>
⚫
He currently writes reviews for ''[[The Australian]]'' newspaper and formerly did so for the US film industry magazine ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. He also does film reviews for ''[[TV Week]]'', where he has been for a number of years. He lectures in film history at the [[University of Sydney]]'s [[University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education|Centre for Continuing Education]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cce.sydney.edu.au/course/AHWC|title=A History of World Cinema Course with David Stratton|access-date=10 August 2015}}</ref> In 2008 he released his autobiography called ''I Peed on Fellini'', a reference to a drunken attempt to shake director [[Federico Fellini]]'s hand while using a urinal.


A highly-regarded expert on international cinema, particularly [[Cinema of France|French cinema]], Stratton was President of [[FIPRESCI]] (International Film Critics) Juries in [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]] (twice) and [[Venice Film Festival|Venice]].<ref name="rhs"/> He was also a member of the jury at the [[32nd Berlin International Film Festival]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1982/04_jury_1982/04_Jury_1982.html|title=Berlinale 1982: Juries|access-date=2 September 2010|publisher=[[Berlinale]]}}</ref>
⚫
Stratton participated in the [[The Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012|2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll]], where he listed his ten favorite films as follows: ''[[Charulata]]'', ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', ''[[The Conversation (film)|The Conversation]]'', ''[[Distant (film)|Distant]]'', ''[[Distant Voices, Still Lives]]'', ''[[Kings of the Road]]'', ''[[Lola (1961 film)|Lola]]'', ''[[The Searchers]]'', ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'', and ''[[The Travelling Players]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/669|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818153824/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/669|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2016|title=David Stratton|publisher=[[BFI]]}}</ref>

⚫
Stratton worked for [[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] from 1980, acting as their film consultant and introducing the SBS Cinema Classic and Movie of the Week for 24 weeks a year. From 1986 onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program ''[[The Movie Show]]'' with [[Margaret Pomeranz]], who was also the show's original producer. Stratton and Pomeranz (often referred to as "Margaret and David"<ref>{{cite web | last=Evershed | first=Nick | title=At the Movies: Margaret and David’s most divisive films revealed | website=the Guardian | date=16 September 2014 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/sep/16/at-the-movies-margaret-and-davids-most-divisive-films-revealed | access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=What Margaret and David say about 500 Oz Movies | website=Ozflicks | date=13 September 2016 | url= https://ozflicks.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/what-david-and-margaret-say-about-400-oz-movies/ | access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref>) left SBS in 2004. From 2004 they co-hosted the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] film show, [[At the Movies (Australian TV program)|''At the Movies'']]. On 16&nbsp;September 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz announced that they would be retiring at the end of the 2014 series. The ABC confirmed that the series would end, with the last episode broadcast on 9 December 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton roll end credits on 28-year film review partnership; ''At The Movies'' will not return to ABC in 2015|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-16/margaret-pomeranz-and-david-stratton-roll-end-credits/5747214|access-date=16 September 2014|work=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|date=16 September 2014}}</ref>

⚫
Stratton wrote for US film industry magazine ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', and has also written for ''[[TV Week]]''. He lectured in film history at the [[University of Sydney]]'s [[University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education|Centre for Continuing Education]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cce.sydney.edu.au/course/AHWC|title=A History of World Cinema Course with David Stratton|access-date=10 August 2015}}</ref> from around 1988 until December 2023.<ref name=hennessy2023>{{cite web | last=Hennessy | first=Kate | title=David Stratton's closing credits: 'I've done the best I could' | website=[[The Guardian]] | date=22 December 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/23/david-strattons-closing-credits-ive-done-the-best-i-could | access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref>

He wrote film reviews for ''[[The Weekend Australian]]'' for 33 years,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/david-stratton| website= The Australian| title= David Stratton | access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref> from around 1990 until December 2023, when he announced his retirement.<ref name=hennessy2023/>

In 2008 he released his autobiography called ''I Peed on Fellini'', a reference to a drunken attempt to shake director [[Federico Fellini]]'s hand while using a urinal.

⚫
Stratton participated in the [[The Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012|2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll]], where he listed his ten favourite films as follows: ''[[Charulata]]'', ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', ''[[The Conversation (film)|The Conversation]]'', ''[[Distant (film)|Distant]]'', ''[[Distant Voices, Still Lives]]'', ''[[Kings of the Road]]'', ''[[Lola (1961 film)|Lola]]'', ''[[The Searchers]]'', ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'', and ''[[The Travelling Players]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/669|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818153824/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/669|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2016|title=David Stratton|publisher=[[BFI]]}}</ref>


Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz have played an important role in challenging the often heavy-handed decisions of the [[Australian Classification Board]] throughout their career.<ref>[http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=7595&s=features "Lies and Damned Censorship"] by Andrew L. Urban, ''Urban Cinefile'' (3 July 2003)</ref><ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/04/1057179156219.html "Film board chief on the defensive over banned movie"] by Suzanne Carbone, ''[[The Age]]'' (5 July 2003)</ref>
Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz have played an important role in challenging the often heavy-handed decisions of the [[Australian Classification Board]] throughout their career.<ref>[http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=7595&s=features "Lies and Damned Censorship"] by Andrew L. Urban, ''Urban Cinefile'' (3 July 2003)</ref><ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/04/1057179156219.html "Film board chief on the defensive over banned movie"] by Suzanne Carbone, ''[[The Age]]'' (5 July 2003)</ref>

Revision as of 07:44, 30 December 2023

For other people named David Stratton, see David Stratton (disambiguation).

David Stratton
AM
Stratton in 2012
Born1939 (age 85–86)
Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England
OccupationFilm critic (At the Movies)
EmployerAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
Known for
  • Film critic
  • journalist and interviewer
  • television presenter
  • television producer

David James Stratton AM (born 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning film critic, as both a journalist and interviewer, film historian, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023.

Early life and education

Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, in 1939,[1] David James Stratton[2] was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly and saw a diverse range of films. He attended Chafyn Grove School from 1948 to 1953 as a boarder.[1]

He saw his first foreign film at Bath in 1955, the Italian romantic comedy Bread, Love and Dreams. That was soon followed by Akira Kurosawa's Japanese adventure drama classic Seven Samurai, tracked down in Birmingham. At the age of 19, he founded the Melksham and District Film Society.[3]

Career

Stratton's career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years.[4]

Stratton arrived in Australia in 1963, and soon became involved with the local film society movement. He directed the Sydney Film Festival from 1966 until 1983. At the time, he was the subject of surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, due to the festival showing Soviet films, and his late-1960s visit to Russia. This information was not made public until January 2014.[5]

A highly-regarded expert on international cinema, particularly French cinema, Stratton was President of FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) Juries in Cannes (twice) and Venice.[3] He was also a member of the jury at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival in 1982.[6]

Stratton worked for SBS from 1980, acting as their film consultant and introducing the SBS Cinema Classic and Movie of the Week for 24 weeks a year. From 1986 onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program The Movie Show with Margaret Pomeranz, who was also the show's original producer. Stratton and Pomeranz (often referred to as "Margaret and David"[7][8]) left SBS in 2004. From 2004 they co-hosted the ABC film show, At the Movies. On 16 September 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz announced that they would be retiring at the end of the 2014 series. The ABC confirmed that the series would end, with the last episode broadcast on 9 December 2014.[9]

Stratton wrote for US film industry magazine Variety, and has also written for TV Week. He lectured in film history at the University of Sydney's Centre for Continuing Education[10] from around 1988 until December 2023.[4]

He wrote film reviews for The Weekend Australian for 33 years,[11] from around 1990 until December 2023, when he announced his retirement.[4]

In 2008 he released his autobiography called I Peed on Fellini, a reference to a drunken attempt to shake director Federico Fellini's hand while using a urinal.

Stratton participated in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll, where he listed his ten favourite films as follows: Charulata, Citizen Kane, The Conversation, Distant, Distant Voices, Still Lives, Kings of the Road, Lola, The Searchers, Singin' in the Rain, and The Travelling Players.[12]

Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz have played an important role in challenging the often heavy-handed decisions of the Australian Classification Board throughout their career.[13][14]

The documentary film David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, written and directed by Sally Aitken, was released in 2017, and re-edited for television, featuring interviews with Stratton about his life and with actors, directors, producers representing Australian cinema since the 1960s.[15][16] A preliminary version of the film was first released at the 2016 Adelaide Film Festival as David Stratton's Stories of Australian Cinema, a "work in progress screening ... a celebration of 110 years of Australian Cinema history and its creators".[17]

Other appearances

Honours

Publications

  • Stratton, David (1980). The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Tevival. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 9780207141461.
  • — (1990). The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780732902506.
  • — (2008). I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film. Australia: William Heinemann / Random House. ISBN 978-1-74166-619-9.
  • — (2018). 101 Marvellous Movies You May Have Missed. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760870096.
  • — (2021). My Favourite Movies. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781761063268.

References

  1. ^ a b Stratton, D. (2008). I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film. William Heinemann. ISBN 978-1-74166-619-9. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. ^ Burgmann, M. (2014). Dirty Secrets: Our ASIO files. NewSouth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-74224-175-3. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "David Stratton". Random House Australia. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Hennessy, Kate (22 December 2023). "David Stratton's closing credits: 'I've done the best I could'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ Fenely, Rick (4 January 2014). "David Stratton oblivious he's been cast as a spy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Berlinale 1982: Juries". Berlinale. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  7. ^ Evershed, Nick (16 September 2014). "At the Movies: Margaret and David's most divisive films revealed". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  8. ^ "What Margaret and David say about 500 Oz Movies". Ozflicks. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton roll end credits on 28-year film review partnership; At The Movies will not return to ABC in 2015". ABC News (Australia). 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  10. ^ "A History of World Cinema Course with David Stratton". Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  11. ^ "David Stratton". The Australian. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ^ "David Stratton". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Lies and Damned Censorship" by Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile (3 July 2003)
  14. ^ "Film board chief on the defensive over banned movie" by Suzanne Carbone, The Age (5 July 2003)
  15. ^ Cerabona, Ron (18 February 2017). "Film critic David Stratton gets his own movie at last". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. ^ David Stratton: A Cinematic Life (2017) at IMDb
  17. ^ "David Stratton's Stories of Australian Cinema". Adelaide Film Festival. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  18. ^ "David James Stratton – Centenary Medal". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  19. ^ "French Embassy media release 04/2001". Embassy of France in Australia. 22 March 2001. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  20. ^ "David Stratton to receive honorary doctorate". The University of Sydney. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  21. ^ David James Stratton – Member of the Order of Australia, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 26 January 2015
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