SAMANTHA LANG
Head of Directing
Samantha Lang graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney in 1990 with a Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Visual Communication. During this period Samantha won a scholarship to undertake film studies in Germany and Prague and is fluent in French and German. Samantha then went on to graduate from the Australian Film Television and Radio School with a BA in Directing in 1995.
Her short films include Out, God's Bones,
Malady and Audacious (which won the Dendy Award
for Short Fiction in 1995). Her
television credits
include Third Party (an episode of the Twisted
Tales series), All Saints and two episodes of My
Place, a young people's TV series produced by
Penny Chapman and Helen Panckhurst for the ABC. Sam has also
directed a number of major commercials through Cherub Pictures.
Since graduating from AFTRS Samantha experienced a meteoric rise in notoriety with her first feature, The Well. This was the only Australian feature and the only feature directed by a woman to be chosen for competition at Cannes, 1997. The Well has also received 11 AFI award nominations. Samantha then went on to direct the adaptation of Dorothy Porter's novel The Monkey's Mask which won the Audience prize at the St Tropez Film Festival and screened at many international festivals.
Samantha moved to France while making L'Idole a French language feature film, released in Australia in 2003. The film starred LeeLee Sobieski and James Hong. L'Idole screened at Locarno and Toronto Film Festivals.
In 2004 Samantha made her theatre debut with the confronting play 4:48 Psychosis by the British playwright Sarah Kane which opened to rave reviews at the Stables Theatre. She then went on to conceive and direct Brecht Exploration for the Sydney Theatre Company Education programme. In association with Australian Theatre for Young People Samantha followed up her commitment to storytelling and community development by conceiving a drama/filmmaking program for indigenous students on Palm Island, Queensland.
Sam continues to develop feature films including The Jungle, produced by Amanda Higgs, written by Alice Addison and is currently Head of Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
