Vincent Ward
Vincent Ward’s films have achieved a wide, eclectic audience whilst earning critical acclaim and festival attention.
His latest feature film Rain of the Children (2008) was picked by the audience, from 250 feature films, to win the Grand Prix at Poland’s largest film festival. The film was also nominated for best director in New Zealand and Australia. What Dreams May Come won an Oscar and was nominated for 2 Academy Awards. The River Queen (2005) won the Golden Goblet in Shanghai.
Ward was an executive producer of The Last Samurai, developing the underlying material for it – he also chose the director.
Wards earlier films Vigil (1984), The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Map of the Human Heart (1993) were the first films by a New Zealander to be officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Between them they garnered close to 30 national and international awards (including the Grand Prix at festivals in Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the United States).
Ward was recognized with an Order of New Zealand Merit in 2007 for his services to the film industry. He is currently in active film development whilst also working as a writer and painter.
