Michael Rowe (director)

Biography
Michael (Leslie) Rowe (born in 1971 in Ballarat, Australia) is a film director and screenwriter. He studied English post-colonial literature at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. His artistic career first began as a poet, winning the Melbourne Fringe Festival Poetry Prize. He then moved to theatre, writing three plays. In 1994, at the ripe age of 23, he traveled to Mexico and made the country his adopting home.

In 1998, while in Mexico, he begins a career as a journalist all the while studying screenwriting at a Vincente Leñero workshop. In 2005, one of his first scripts, Naturaleza Muertas wins at the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía. In 2006, he directs his first short film, Cacahuates. Silencio follows suit in 2007. Though English is his native language, the bulk of his film work is done in Spanish.

In 2010, Michael directs Año Bisiesto (Leap Year), which garners him the prestigious Caméra d’Or prize for best first time feature film director at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is further well received by critics.

In 2013, it is announced that Michael is working on his English feature debut, starring Melissa George and slated for production in Montreal, Canada. The film is a co-production between Quebec production house, Possibles Media, run by Serge Noël and Australia's Freshwater Pictures.

Theatre

 * Impudence and Innocence (1993)
 * Reprise for Godot (1993)

Feature Films

 * Leap Year (2010)
 * Manto Aquifero (2013)