John Heyer facts for kids

John Whitefoord Heyer (born September 14, 1916 – died June 19, 2001) was an Australian documentary filmmaker. Many people call him the "father of Australian documentary film" because he helped shape this type of movie-making in Australia.

John Heyer spent most of his career making and directing documentaries that were often paid for by companies. He worked from the 1930s until he passed away. His most famous film was The Back of Beyond (1954). Many of his other films also won awards at festivals around the world.

He cared about every part of making a film. This included the first ideas and research all the way to showing the film to people. He learned a lot from the British way of making documentaries. But he also created his own special style, known for being very artistic and beautiful.

Heyer was a big part of the documentary film world in Australia in the 1940s and 1950s. He was one of the first producers at the Australian National Film Board. He also led the Shell Film Unit in Australia. He was even the President of the Sydney Film Society and helped start the first Sydney Film Festival.

In 1956, he moved to England. There, he kept making films for Shell and later for his own company. Even though he died in England, he always stayed in touch with Australia. He made films in both countries throughout his life.

John Heyer's Early Life and Family

John Heyer was born in Devonport, Tasmania. His father was a doctor. He went to school at Scotch College in Melbourne. In 1942, he married Dorothy Agnes Greenhalgh (1916–1969). She was known as Janet Heyer. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine (also called Anna), and a son named Frederick.

The Heyer family moved to England in 1956. John lived there for the rest of his life. However, he often came back to Australia. Sometimes he spent a lot of time there researching and making films.

Janet Heyer passed away in 1969. John Heyer died in 2001 in London, England.

Starting a Film Career

John Heyer first trained to be a scientific instrument maker. But he learned about sound recording and film projection in night school. In 1934, he got a job at Efftee Studios. He worked with sound engineers, editors, and camera operators. When Efftee closed in 1935, he joined Cinesound Productions.

In these early years, he worked on feature films like Heritage and Forty Thousand Horsemen. He also made commercials, training films, and documentaries. His first documentary was New Pastures (1940). During this time, he worked with famous Australian directors and camera experts. These included Charles Chauvel and Frank Hurley.

In 1944, he joined Ealing Studios. He worked with Harry Watt on The Overlanders. This film helped him realize his idea of making the Australian landscape a key part of Australian movies. He believed the government should help make films. So, when the Australian National Film Board started in 1945, he became its first senior producer. During this time, he produced films like Native Earth and The Cane Cutters.

As a young man in the 1930s, John Heyer wanted to learn about films from other countries. He became good friends with another young filmmaker, Damien Parer. They read film magazines that discussed European and Russian filmmakers. They also watched Soviet films like The Battleship Potemkin.

Heyer always supported films and the film industry. He helped grow the film society movement in Australia in the 1940s and 1950s. He was president of the Australian Council of Film Societies. He also helped set up the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals.

Working with Shell Films

Heyer left the government film unit in 1948 to lead the Shell Film Unit in Australia. Shell asked him to make a documentary that would show the true spirit of Australia. This film would also connect Shell with Australia. The movie was The Back of Beyond (1954). It quickly became very important in Europe and Australia. It won awards at many international festivals, including a top prize at the 1954 Venice Biennale. A famous British filmmaker, Edgar Anstey, said it was "among the half-dozen best documentaries made anywhere since the war."

In 1956, he became the Executive Producer for Films and Television at Shell International in London. In the 1950s and 60s, he made or directed over 60 films for Shell. One of these was The Forerunner, which won awards at Cannes, Venice, London, and Turin Film Festivals.

Heyer believed that making a film was only the first step. He thought that getting films to people was very important for documentaries. Shell helped with this by having film libraries and vans with projectors. Heyer said this was one reason he moved from the Film Board to Shell.

John Heyer Film Company

In 1967, John Heyer left Shell. He started his own company, the John Heyer Film Company. Through this company, he made many documentaries. One was The Reef for the Australian Conservation Foundation.

In 1977, John Heyer did a lot of research to find the area where the Pandora shipwreck was. He started an expedition to find it. Another filmmaker, Ben Cropp, learned about Heyer's plan. Cropp decided to start his own search. He found the Pandora wreck on the Great Barrier Reef just before John Heyer did.

Later Years and Film Style

Heyer lived in England for the rest of his life. But he kept a place in Australia and often traveled between the two countries. In his later years, people often asked him to speak at conferences. He shared his knowledge about making documentary films.

Even though he mostly made documentaries, he always wanted to film Xavier Herbert's book Capricornia. He was not able to make this film before he died in 2001.

Experts have written a lot about Heyer's film style. They say his work with Harry Watt on The Overlanders (1944–1945) was important. Also, his training at the Australian National Film Board influenced him. He was also interested in British, Russian, and American documentaries from the 1930s and 1940s.

All these things helped create Heyer's unique style. His films often showed a love for everyday people and a desire to rebuild after the war. But they also had beautiful pictures. The images were often put together quickly to create a strong feeling. The music and sound also controlled the speed of the film.

His most important films include The Cane-cutters and The Valley is Ours. These were made for the Australian National Film Board. Both were shown at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival. His award-winning film The Back of Beyond is another great example. These films show how Heyer used international documentary ideas but made them special for Australia.

In 1982, Heyer said that a documentary film helps people understand a topic. It should show the meaning or importance of something. He believed it should be very creative. He also said that whether it uses "reality" or not isn't the most important thing. The main goal is to achieve its purpose. This means Heyer thought documentaries should tell the truth about their subject. But they could use any tools, like acting out scenes, drama, history, or science. He showed this idea successfully in The Back of Beyond in 1954. This belief stayed with him throughout his career.

Awards and Special Recognition

John Heyer's films won over 20 awards at different international film festivals. Here are some of the awards and honors he received:

• 1954: Grand Prix Assoluto at the Venice Biennale for The Back of Beyond
• 1958: AFI Award: Silver Medallion for The Forerunner
• 1958: Kodak Festival Award at the Melbourne Film Festival for The Forerunner
• 1970: OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his work in the film industry.
• 1983: His films were shown in special retrospectives at the Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals.
• 1997: OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for being a pioneer in Australian documentary film.
• 1999: Stanley Hawes Award for his contributions to Australian documentary.