Ben Lewin

Ben Lewin (born 1946) is an Australian film and television director. He has also written the screenplays for some of his films.

Ben Lewin
With Judi Levine at Sundance Film Festival
Born	1946 (age 78–79) Poland
Nationality	Australian
Occupation(s)	Director, screenwriter

Early life and education

Ben Lewin was born in Poland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia.^[1] At the age of six, he contracted polio, which resulted in his having to use crutches for the rest of his life.^[2] Lewin attended the University of Melbourne where he studied law.

In 1971, he left his job as a barrister^[3] in Australia after being given a scholarship to study film at National Film and Television School in England.^[1] After school, Lewin remained in England, where he worked in television.^{[citation needed]}

Work in film

Lewin has since made feature films in Australia, England, France, and America. Some of his notable films are The Dunera Boys (1985), Georgia (1988), and The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991).

Lewin gained further notice for writing and directing the romantic comedy film Lucky Break (1994), released outside of Australia as Paperback Romance. It was a critical success in Australia and launched/revived the careers of Gia Carides and Rebecca Gibney, the latter of whom was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress by the Australian Film Institute for her performance in the film.

He wrote and directed The Sessions (2012), adapted from an essay by American poet Mark O'Brien about working with a sex surrogate partner to deal with his paralysis.

Lewin also directed the films Please Stand By (2017), The Catcher Was a Spy (2018), and Falling for Figaro (2021); for this last, he wrote the screenplay with Allen Palmer. ^[4]