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Michael Rubbo

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Michael Rubbo
Rubbo in October, 2017
Born
Michael Dattilo Rubbo

(1938-12-31) 31 December 1938 (age 85)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Alma materScotch College
Sydney University
Stanford University
Occupations
  • Director
  • writer
  • producer
SpouseKaterina Rubbo
Children2
AwardsSee below

Michael Dattilo Rubbo (born 31 December 1938) is an Australian documentarian/filmmaker.

Early life

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Rubbo, film maker and artist, was born in Melbourne, the son of Australian microbiologist Sydney Dattilo Rubbo,[1] and artist Ellen Rubbo with whom he had his first exhibition at The Argus Gallery. He is the grandson of the painter Antonio Dattilo Rubbo and is one of four children. He attended the private Scotch College, and studied anthropology at Sydney University. He earned a Fulbright scholarship to study film at Stanford University, California; in 1965, he graduated with a Master's degree in Communication Arts.

Career

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Rubbo approached the National Film Board of Canada about an internship, but they were so impressed by his thesis film, The True Source of Knowledge, they hired him to make films, initially for children. He spent the next 20 years there, as a director, writer, editor and/or producer, mainly of serious films. At the time, the NFB was encouraging an objective approach to non-fiction film, including the use of voice-of-God narration,[2] but Rubbo became an early pioneer in the field of metafilm, creating subjective, highly personal films that were more like personal journals than objective records of reality. His best-known NFB films are Sad Song of Yellow Skin (1972)), Waiting for Fidel (1973), Wet Earth and Warm people, and Margaret Atwood: Once in August (1984).

In between films, Rubbo taught at Australia's National Film School, and was a visiting lecturer at New York University, UCLA, Stanford University, the University of Florida, Harvard University and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. His work has influenced numerous filmmakers, notably Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield,[3] Louis Theroux,[4] Tina DiFeliciantonio[5] and Karen Goodman.[6]

In 1990, he returned to Australia to take the position of Head of Documentaries at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Rubbo's films have won numerous awards. Many have been shown on TV and are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and film schools around the world. His films have been screened at many festivals including the Sydney Film Festival.[7]

Rubbo has also directed and written four children's feature films including The Peanut Butter Solution (1985), Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (1988), The Return of Tommy Tricker (1994), and the Daytime Emmy award-winning film Vincent and Me (1990).

In 2017, he published the book Travels with My Art.[8]

Personal life

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Rubbo and his wife Katerina, a Russian interpreter, teacher and artist,[9] live in Avoca Beach, New South Wales. Rubbo has two grown children, Nicolas Rubbo (living in Canada) and Ellen Rubbo living in Australia.

In 2013, the BBC named the Avoca Beach Theatre as one of the 10 most beautiful cinemas in the world.[10] Rubbo was prominent in the campaign to stop plans to redevelop the theatre. Rubbo is also a prominent advocate for the widespread use of bicycles.


Filmography

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Awards

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Mrs. Ryan's Drama Class 1969 (director)[40]

  • Conference on Children, Washington DC: Certificate of Merit, 1970

Sad Song of Yellow Skin (1970)[41]

Wet Earth and Warm People (1971)[43]

The Man Who Can’t Stop (1973)[44]

  • Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago: Certificate of Merit, 1974

Waiting for Fidel (1974)[45]

  • American Film and Video Festival, New York: Red Ribbon, World Concerns, 1976

Bate’s Car: Sweet as a Nut (1974)[46]

The Walls Come Tumbling Down (1976)[47]

  • American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon Award, Citizen Action, 1978

Where Have All the Maoists Gone? (1978)

Solzhenitsyn’s Children…Are Making a Lot of Noise in Paris (1979)[49]

Daisy: The Story of a Facelift (1982)[50]

The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)

  • Giffoni Film Festival, Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy: Gold Medal, 1986
  • Laon International Film Festival for Young People, Laon, France: Public's Choice Award, 1986

Vincent and Me 1990

  • Daytime Emmy Awards, New York: Outstanding Children's Special, 1991
  • Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival, Milwaukee: WisKid Award, Full-Length Feature, 1991

References

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  1. ^ "Obituary Sydney D Rubbo". Pathology. 2 (1). Taylor & Francis Online: 83. doi:10.3109/00313027009077329. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Michael Rubbo". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. ^ Jones, D.B. "The Documentary Art of Filmmaker Michael Rubbo". prism.ucalgary.ca. University of Calgary Press. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  4. ^ Freeman, Hadley (7 November 2019). "Stabbed Toes and Swallowed Eyeballs..." The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  5. ^ DiFeliciantonio, Tina (2 February 2003). "Playback: Mike Rubbo's 'Sad Song of Yellow Skin'". documentary.org. International Documentary Association. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Meet the Academy Award Nominees..." documentary.org. International Documentary Association. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  7. ^ Bateman, Conor (22 May 2015). "The Human Behavior Experiments". fourthreefilm.com. 4 : 3 Magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  8. ^ Rubbo, Michael (2017). Travels with My Art. Michael Rubbo. ISBN 9780994503640.
  9. ^ "Katerina Rubbo". botanicalartsocietyaustralia.com. Botanical Art Society of Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  10. ^ Blauvelt, Christian. "The 10 most beautiful cinemas in the world". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  11. ^ "The True Source of Knowledge". youtube.com. YouTube. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  12. ^ "The Long Haul Men". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Sir! Sir!". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Mrs. Ryan's Drama Class". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Sad Song of Yellow Skin". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Wet Earth and Warm People". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Persistent and Finagling'". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  18. ^ "OK...Camera". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  19. ^ "The Streets of Saigon". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  20. ^ "The Man Who Can't Stop". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  21. ^ "Bate's Car: Sweet as a Nut". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Waiting for Fidel". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  23. ^ "I Am an Old Tree". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Log House". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  25. ^ "The Walls Come Tumbling Down". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  26. ^ "I Hate to Lose". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Solzhenitsyn's Children ... Are Making a Lot of Noise in Paris". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  28. ^ "Yes or No, Jean-Guy Moreau". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  29. ^ "Daisy: The Story of a Facelift". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  30. ^ "Not Far from Bolgatanga". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  31. ^ "Margaret Atwood: Once in August". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  32. ^ "The Return of Tommy Tricker". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Uni". screenaustralia.gov.au. Screen Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  34. ^ "King's School". screenaustralia.gov.au. Screen Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  35. ^ "The Little Box That Sings". screenaustralia.gov.au. Screen Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Much Ado About Something". kinorium.com. Kinorium. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  37. ^ "All About Olive". aso.gov.au. Australian Screen. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  38. ^ "A Hard Rain". aso.gov.au. Australian Screen. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  39. ^ "Michael Rubbo's Documentary Journey". libguides.aftrs.edu.au. Australian Film Television & Radio School. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  40. ^ "Mrs. Ryan's Drama Class". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  41. ^ "Sad Song of Yellow Skin". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  42. ^ "NFB Production Wins Aussie Award". Retrieved 6 January 2023 – via news.google.com.
  43. ^ "Wet Earth and Warm People". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  44. ^ "The Man Who Can't Stop". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  45. ^ "Waiting for Fidel". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  46. ^ "Bate's Car: Sweet as a Nut". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  47. ^ "The Walls Come Tumbling Down". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  48. ^ "IFFMH Chronicle 1978". iffmh.de. International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  49. ^ "Solzhenitsyn's Children ... Are Making a Lot of Noise in Paris". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  50. ^ "Daisy: The Story of a Facelift". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
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