Ivan Sen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ivan Sen
Born	1972 (age 52–53) Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1995-present

Ivan Sen (born in 1972) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker. This means he is an Australian person whose family has lived in Australia for thousands of years. He is a director, who tells actors what to do, and a screenwriter, who writes the stories. He is also a cinematographer, who films the movie, an editor, a composer (who writes music), and a sound designer. He helped start a company called Bunya Productions. Ivan Sen is well known for his films Mystery Road (2013), its follow-up Goldstone (2016), and the mystery film Limbo (2023).

Early Life and Journey to Film

Ivan Sen was born in 1972 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. His mother, Donella, is from the Gamilaroi people of northern New South Wales. His father, Duro, was born in Croatia.

When Ivan was young, his family often visited his mother's hometown, Toomelah. This was an Aboriginal community where the Gamilaroi people had been forced to move. Toomelah was started in 1937 by the government. It was a place where conditions were often very hard for the Aboriginal people living there. Ivan's mother was even taken away from her family when she was 14 to work on a farm. This was part of a sad time in history known as the Stolen Generations.

Ivan lived in Tamworth, New South Wales for eight years with his mother and two siblings. He made friends with many different children there. Later, his mother moved the family to Inverell for a fresh start. Ivan found this new town more difficult because people were often separated by race and social groups. He became a quiet teenager.

This change led Ivan to discover painting and photography. His stepfather, who worked for a newspaper, gave him an old camera. He taught Ivan about photography and developing film. Soon, Ivan was working for a newspaper. He then studied photography at Griffith University in Brisbane. After that, he went to film school at the same university. A year later, he moved to the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. There, he started to develop his own ideas about filmmaking, which were different from what was usually taught.

Filmmaking Career

In the late 1990s, Ivan Sen made many short films. He also created TV documentaries for channels like SBS and the ABC.

In the 2000s, he made many documentaries, mostly for ABC Television. He worked with producer David Jowsey. David helped Ivan make his first full-length movie, Beneath Clouds, which came out in 2002. This film was partly based on Ivan's own life. It was made with a mixed team, including Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal crew members. The film was a big success around the world. It was shown at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Premiere First Movie Award at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the 2002 Australian Film Institute Awards.

In 2005, Ivan's SBS documentary Yellow Fella was shown at the Cannes International Film Festival in France. This is a very famous film festival.

In 2009, his documentary Fire Talker was shown for the first time at the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival in Sydney. This film was about a famous Aboriginal leader and footballer named Charlie Perkins.

In the same year, Ivan Sen and David Jowsey started their own company, Bunya Productions. They wanted to make their own films. They used money from their earlier TV work to make Ivan's second full-length movie, Dreamland. This film was shown at the 2010 Busan International Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival.

His third full-length film, Toomelah (2011), was also shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The audience loved it and gave it a long standing ovation. The young actors from the film, who were not professional, were treated like celebrities.

Ivan Sen's fourth full-length film, Mystery Road, premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2013. It starred many famous Australian actors like Aaron Pedersen and Hugo Weaving. The film was also shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

His fifth film, Goldstone, is a follow-up to Mystery Road. It opened the Sydney Film Festival in June 2016. It also starred Aaron Pedersen, Jacki Weaver, and David Gulpilil.

In 2018, Ivan Sen was an executive producer for the ABC TV series Mystery Road. This six-part TV show was based on the characters from his movies.

Film Themes and Stories

People who study films often notice that the Australian landscape, land, and places are very important in Ivan Sen's movies. He often shows skies, roads, and low horizons in a special way. This helps him talk about ideas of belonging, being lost, and moving to new places, and how these things connect to who we are. Ivan's family, the Gamilaroi people, were moved from their traditional lands. So, his films often explore what it means to be from different cultures and how history affects people.

His documentary Yellow Fella is about an Aboriginal actor and musician named Tom E. Lewis. Tom's life was similar to a character he played in a movie. He was a young man from mixed backgrounds, trying to find his place between two cultures. In the film, Ivan shows Tom as he travels to find his Welsh father's burial place. This journey also helps Tom find a missing part of his own identity.

Toomelah (2011) tells the story of Daniel, a 9-year-old Aboriginal boy. He lives in the community where Ivan Sen's mother grew up. The film mixes documentary and fiction. It follows Daniel as he tries to understand what his family and friends expect of him. Much of the film's script uses the real words and feelings of the people living in Toomelah. Ivan wanted to show how this place felt stuck, having lost touch with its past and being forgotten by the government.

Recognition and Awards

Ivan Sen has received many awards for his films. In 2016, he was honored with a star on Winton's Walk of Fame in Winton, Queensland. This was to thank him for his contributions to the town, where his films Mystery Road and Goldstone were filmed.

Filmography

Feature drama

• 2023 - Limbo
• 2022 – Expired
• 2016 – Goldstone
• 2013 – Mystery Road
• 2011 – Toomelah
• 2010 – Dreamland
• 2002 – Beneath Clouds

Short drama

• 1999 – Dust
• 1998 – Wind
• 1997 – Journey
• 1996 – Tears
• 1995 – Warm Strangers

TV documentaries

• 2009 – Fire Talker, about Charlie Perkins
• 2007 – Embassy Days
• 2007 – A Sister's Love – a film about the disappearance of Lois Roberts, sister of arts director Rhoda Roberts.
• 2006 – Broken Borders
• 2006 – Aunty Connie
• 2005 – Shifting Shelter 3
• 2005 – Yellow Fella
• 2003 – Who was Evelyn Orcher?
• 2002 – The Dreamers
• 2000 – Shifting Shelter 2
• 1998 – Vanish
• 1995 – Shifting Shelter 1

Awards