Jan Sardi

Jan Vittorio Sardi AO (born 1953) is an Australian screenwriter. He is known for his screenplay for the 1996 film Shine and Mao's Last Dancer (2009).

Early life

Jan Vittorio Sardi was born in 1953 on the island of Elba, Tuscany, Italy. His family migrated to Australia.

Career

Sardi wrote and directed the 2004 film Love's Brother. He adapted the novel by Nicholas Sparks for The Notebook (2004).

Sardi also adapted Li Cunxin's memoir for the film Mao's Last Dancer (2009) and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2015 miniseries The Secret River, based on the novel by Kate Grenville.

Other activities and roles

Sardi has served on the board of Film Victoria (now VicScreen), 1987-1989 and 2007-2015, and was president of the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) from 2011 to 2015. He was also on the National Executive Council of AWG 1988-1991, 1999-2002, and again from 2010 (until at least 2020), and was a member of the Victorian Committee of the AWG in the 1980s-1990s. He was chair of the Authorship Collecting Society in 2020 and a member of Scripted Ink.

He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Recognition and awards

In 1997, Sardi was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay), for Shine.

Film Victoria established an annual award named the Jan Sardi Award, for achievement in screenwriting, in 2016.

In 2020 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, "for distinguished services to the film and television industries as a screenwriter and director".

Other recognition and awards include:

For Shine (1996-7):

For Love's Brother (2004):

For other films and TV series:

Selected filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2007169". Australian Government. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
  2. ↑ "Jan Sardi". AustLit. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 Tinti, Maurizia (11 June 2020). "Jan Vittorio Sardi's film and TV work recognised in the Queen's Birthday honours list". SBS Language. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Jan Sardi". Melbourne Writers Festival. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "A Selection of Top Grossing Australian Screen Writers" (PDF). Screen Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Jan Sardi". Pathways. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "2016 Screen Leader Awards honour five industry practitioners". VicScreen. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "Film Victoria recognises achievements of exceptional Victorian screen leaders". VicScreen. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2026.