Cate Shortland studied at Sydney University and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1991. In 2000 she graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School with a Graduate Diploma in Directing. Cate has written and directed four multi award winning short films – Strap On Olympia (Gold Plaque, Chicago International Film Festival 1995), Pentuphouse (Dendy Award, Sydney Film Festival 1999),
Flowergirl (Dendy Award, Sydney Film Festival 2000, Oberhausen 16mm Best Film) and Joy (Best Film, Melbourne International Film Festival 2000). Cate wrote and directed her first feature SOMERSAULT which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section. In 2004, Cate won Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Director and Writer and Somersault was released in over 15 countries. Cate set up and directed a number of episodes of The Secret Life of Us for Network 10/Channel 4 UK. She also directed the 2 x 1 hour mini series TheSilence for ABC TV, produced by Jan Chapman and most recently adapted one of the stories from Christos Tsiolkas’novel The Slap for producers Tony Ayres and Helen Bowden, Matchbox Pictures for ABC TV, which went on to win numerous ACCTA awards including Best Television Drama Series.
