Richard Lowenstein

Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed feature films such as Strikebound (1984), Dogs in Space (1986) and He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001); music videos for bands such as INXS and U2; concert performance films, Australian Made: The Movie (1987) and U2: LoveTown (1989); TV adverts, and the documentaries We're Livin' on Dog Food (2009), Autoluminescent (2011), Ecco Homo (2015) and Mystify: Michael Hutchence (2019).

Richard Lowenstein was born on 1 March 1959 in Melbourne.[ 1] His mother was the author, oral historian, and activist, Wendy Lowenstein (née Katherin Wendy Robertson, 1927–2006).[ 2] His father is Werner Lowenstein, also an activist, who had fled Nazi Germany to United Kingdom and was relocated to Australia in 1940 as one of the Dunera boys.[ 2] The couple married in July 1947;[ 3] and had three children, Peter, Martie and Richard.[ 2] Lowenstein attended Brinsley Road Community School from 1973 to 1974; and graduated from Swinburne Institute of Technology, Film and Television Department in 1979.[ 4]

His short film, Evictions (1979), which won the Erwin Rado Prize – for Best Short Film – at the Melbourne International Film Festival the following year, described Melbourne during the Great Depression.[ 4] [ 5] It was based on his mother's book, Weevils in the Flour (1978). The film detailed police evicting unemployed unionists.[ 6] In 1980 Lowenstein directed a music video, "Leap for Lunch", for the debut single by art punk band, The Ears – he shared a house with their lead singer, Sam Sejavka.[ 7] In 1982 he directed one for "Talking to a Stranger", a single by rock band, Hunters & Collectors.[ 8] [ 9] He followed with "Lumps of Lead" for the same group and "Fraction Too Much Friction" for Tim Finn as his first solo single in 1983.[ 8] [ 9] At the Countdown Music and Video Awards for 1983, he won Best Promotional Video for "Fraction Too Much Friction".[ 10] [ 11] [ 12]

In 1984 he directed his first feature film, Strikebound, a dramatisation of a 1930s coal miners strike, which he wrote based on his mother's book, Dead Men Don't Dig Coal (unpublished), and his own research into unionism in the industry.[ 2] [ 13] [ 14] In June that year he directed his first music videos for INXS with "Burn for You", and followed by "All the Voices" and "Dancing on the Jetty" (both in October).[ 15] At the Countdown Music and Video Awards for 1984 he won Best Promotional Video for "Burn for You".[ 16] He established a long term relationship with INXS and produced, edited or directed more of their music videos over subsequent years, including The Swing & Other Stories: Collection of Contemporary Classics from INXS (1985), a VHS-format video compilation with additional interviews and documentary.[ 17] [ 18] At the Countdown Music and Video Awards for 1985 he shared the award for Best Video for "What You Need" by INXS with Lyn-Marie Milbourn.[ 19] [ 20]

In 1985 he directed White City: The Music Movie, a 60-minute video, for former The Who guitarist, Pete Townshend.[ 5] Geoffrey Giuliano in his book, Behind Blues Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (2002), described "[T]he highlight of the video is the poolside staging of the electric 'Face the Face', in which director Richard Lowenstein effectively captures the excitement of a big-band performance and Townshend's joyous jitterbugging ... in a gold lamé, forties-style tuxedo Lowenstein reveals more story line in these five minutes than the entire video".[ 21] It was released with Townshend's concept album, White City: A Novel, and included him discussing the music.[ 5]

In 1986 he wrote and directed a feature film, Dogs in Space, which highlighted late-1970s Melbourne's little band scene with the lead character Sam (portrayed by INXS' lead singer, Michael Hutchence) based on Lowenstein's experiences with The Ear's Sejavka.[ 7] [ 22] [ 23] At the time, Sejavka was a member of new wave band, Beargarden, and objected to Lowenstein and Hutchence's "noxious caricature" of his earlier personality.[ 22] In 2009 SBS TV's Peter Galvin described the movie as a "cult classic" and "for its fans there's never really been anything quite like [it], before or since".[ 22] Lowenstein recalled the "punk scene was an embarrassment to the Australian music industry back then. In a similar way, Dogs in Space was a total embarrassment to the Australian film industry because it preferred and knew how to handle innocuous candy-coated fare, like The Man from Snowy River".[ 23]

For Irish group, U2, he has provided music videos – "Desire" and "Angel of Harlem" (both 1988) and a concert performance film, U2: LoveTown (1989).[ 24] [ 25] [ 26] In 1991 he applied for funding from Film Finance Corporation Australia to adapt Robin Klein's novel, Came Back to Show You I Could Fly, into the children's film, Say a Little Prayer, which he directed in 1993.[ 1] [ 27] In 1999 he contributed a chapter, "Telexes in Space: A Tale of Two Films", to the collection, Second Take: Australian Film-makers Talk, edited by Geoff Burton and Raffaele Caputo, which provides an explanation of his film-making style.[ 28] Lowenstein co-produced the satirical music series John Safran's Music Jamboree (2002) as well as John Safran vs God (2004) for SBS independent.

He is a partner in the Melbourne-based production company, Ghost Pictures.[ 5] [ 29] He is also a partner in the feature film production company, Fandango Australia Pty Ltd, along with Italian producer – Domenico Procacci, producer – Sue Murray, lawyer – Bryce Menzies and director – Rolf de Heer.[ 5] He filmed the 2006 U2 concert at Melbourne's Telstra Dome. In October 2009 Lowenstein was guest programmer on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's TV music video show, rage.[ 30]

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.[ 10]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.