Director

Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian auteur who's basically done it all—films, opera, theater, music production—and done it spectacularly. Born Mark Anthony Luhrmann, he's become the most commercially successful Australian director of his generation, with four of his films ranking in the top ten highest-grossing Australian films worldwide. He burst onto the scene with the Red Curtain Trilogy (Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge!), which established him as a visionary filmmaker with an unmistakable style. Beyond cinema, he's tackled everything from producing Grammy-nominated soundtracks to directing opera productions for both Opera Australia and Broadway, proving he's truly a multimedia creative force. What sets Luhrmann apart is his maximalist, sensory-overload approach to filmmaking—think gorgeous production design, killer soundtracks, and emotional intensity cranked to eleven. He treats every project as a total artistic statement, deeply involving himself in writing, directing, design, and music curation. While his early Red Curtain films revolutionized how contemporary stories could be told, his later work expanded his reach with prestige projects like Australia, The Great Gatsby, and the Netflix series The Get Down. Most recently, he proved he hasn't lost his touch with Elvis (2022), a biopic that captured the King's mystique through his signature baroque visual language. Whether he's adapting classics, reimagining historical figures, or creating original stories, Luhrmann consistently delivers cinema that's unapologetically bold and unforgettable.