He graduated in cinematography from the Australian Film , Television and Radio School . Thornton began his career making short films and has achieved success with them at film festivals around the world , including '' Payback '' at the Telluride Film Festival and '' Green Bush '' and '' Nana '' at the Berlin International Film Festival . He describes his decision to become a filmmaker in an interview in 2007 : Where I grew up in Alice I was a DJ for a radio station ( CAAMA ) . The station began a film unit and so I watched people pack cameras and equipment into cars and take off to make films . I was alone at the radio station and I thought that I really wanted to go with them . That ’s how it started , I made a film called '' Green Bush '' which is basically about that time . Eventually I went to AFTRS in Sydney and got really involved as a Director of Photography . I ’ve been in the business for 9 years now.In 2009 Thornton wrote , directed and shot his first feature film '' Samson & Delilah '' , which won awards including the Camera d’Or for best first feature film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival . The following year he filmed the documentary series '' Art Soul '' about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists , which was written and narrated by curator Hetti Perkins . The installation '' Mother Courage '' ( inspired by Bertolt Brecht ’s 1939 character ) was commissioned by dOCUMENTA and ACMI , and first exhibited in 2012
2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
Warwick Thornton