Пионера IMAX Джона Вейли наградили первой премией «Жизненные достижения» на форуме Regional to Global

Filmmaker and IMAX pioneer John Weiley will be honoured with Screenworks’ inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at this week’s Regional to Global Screen Forum at Lennox Head. A Northern Rivers local and Screenworks founding board member, Weiley has spent more than six decades testing his limits within screen storytelling. Best known as a writer, producer and director of large-format IMAX and IMAX 3D films, he established the Sydney IMAX theatre, home at the time to the world’s largest cinema screen, and ran production company Heliograph, which created and produced large-format films for three decades. His career spans an apprenticeship with Granada UK’s Mitchell/Swallow unit during the early days of contemporary documentary film, an appointment as the BBC’s youngest producer, and documentaries including Autopsy on a Dream, about the making of the Sydney Opera House, Wild Australia: The Edge and Imagine. Before moving into large-format film, Weiley produced several feature films, including The Coolangatta Gold, Dimboola, Journey Among Women and Dead Easy. Weiley organised and hosted the first gathering of regional filmmakers with support from Screen NSW, leading to the establishment of Screenworks in 2000. In 2002, Weiley was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a rare honour for an Australian filmmaker, in recognition of his body of work in television and his documentary Antarctica, which won the Prix de Jury at La Géode in Paris and grossed more than $100 million at theatres worldwide. Screenworks chair Tracey Mair, who will present the Lifetime Achievement Award on the second day of the forum, said the honour recognised both Weiley’s global impact and his enduring commitment to regional filmmaking. “It is a genuine privilege to recognise John Weiley, a true pioneer and innovator of the Australian screen sector, with our first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award,” she said. “His work has been instrumental in bringing large-format IMAX documentary storytelling to audiences around the world, while his commitment to regional film and TV has benefited generations of filmmakers. John has been an integral part of Screenworks as one of our founding board members, and this award celebrates his extraordinary body of work and enduring screen career.” Regional to Global 2026 features more than 60 speakers across more than 20 main-stage sessions and roundtables, alongside more than 30 one-on-one meetings, running Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10. IF is a media partner of Regional to Global.