Peter Tammer

Peter Tammer
Born
Melbourne, Australia
OccupationFilm director
Years active1964–present

Peter Julian Tammer (b. February 26, 1943) is an Australian film director, and a former lecturer on film at Swinburne Film and Television School and later at its successor at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Career

Peter Julian Tammer (b. February 26, 1943) began working in the film industry when he was 19 years old, in 1962. He worked as a film editor for film companies such as Eltham Films, with Tim Burstall, and later for government organisations such as the Commonwealth Film Unit. He started creating his own independent short films in 1964, such as And He Shall Rise Again (1964, 15 mins) and Beethoven and all that Jazz (1964, 2 mins). Through the 1960s, he connected with other Melbourne independent filmmakers such as Nigel Buesst, Tom Cowan , and Paul Cox.

Together with his wife Monique, Tammer put together a very early programme of independent short films called "A Breath of Fresh Air". In the early 1970s, Tammer was a founding member of the Melbourne Film-maker's Co-op, an important group for independent filmmakers in Melbourne at the time. He was associated with other filmmakers such as Jim Wilson, Fred Harden, Bert Deling, James Clayden, many of whom were now showing films at the Piencotheca Gallery, a precursor to the Melbourne Film Co-op. He also had a productive association with Gary Patterson in the mid 1970s, for the films Here's To You, Mr. Robinson (1976, 52 mins) and How Willingly You Sing (1977, 90 mins, directed by Patterson, with cinematography by Tammer).

Tammer's teaching career began in 1973, when he was appointed a tutor in a film course at Melbourne State College in Carlton. In 1979 , he was appointed lecturer in film at the Swinburne Film and Television School. Among his students were Paul Goldman, Chris Kennedy John Hillcoat, and Evan English, dubbed the "Gang of Four" by Nigel Buesst owing to their pranks, one of which involved "kidnapping a frozen chicken" from Tammer's fridge.

In 1986, Tammer was appointed senior lecturer in Film, and in 1992 the Film and Television School transferred to the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). At the VCA Tammer delivered the newly-created Graduate Diploma of Film and Television Documentary stream. Tammer was an inspirational teacher for many of the students, and he retired from the VCA in 1998.

Tammer continued making his own independent films all through this time, producing a series of award-winning films in the 1980s, including Mallacoota Stampede (1981, 60 mins), Journey to the End of Night (1982, 70 mins), and Hey Marcel ... (1984, 17 mins). A cherished project on the film scholar and actor John Flaus, entitled Flausfilm, was begun in 1988 and finally completed in 2009.

Filmography

Titles directed by Peter Tammer:

(note: these three above films are gathered as "Triptych")

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mousoulis, Bill (Original publication date not known, current page is listed as October 2026.). "Peter Tammer profile". Melbourne Independent Filmmakers. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)
  2. ↑ Cox, Paul, Reflections: An Autobiographical Journey, Currency Press, 1998
  3. ↑ "RetrOZ! PETER TAMMER". Artist Film Workshop. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. ↑ Hodsdon, J. Barrett, Straight roads and crossed lines: the quest for film culture in Australia from the 1960s? [editor: Peter Mudie], 2001
  5. 1 2 For more on the Film and Television School, including references to Tammer's teaching, see the book Paterson, Barbara, Renegades: Australia's first film school: from Swinburne to VCA, Helicon Press, 1996
  6. ↑ "Go-Go Gorilla: Another Time, Another Place: Making My Film at Swinburne". Senses of Cinema. July 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2024. MIFF Premiere Fund/Post-Punk Dossier, Special Dossiers, Issue 51
  7. ↑ See former student Daryl Dellora's reflections in this VCA newsletter Archived 25 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Mousoulis, Bill (01/04/2024). "Archive - 2024 Screenings". Pure Shit: Australian Cinema. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)
  9. ↑ "AFI Awards". MILESAGO. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Peter Tammer - Film Festival awards and certificates". Melbourne Independent Filmmakers. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  11. ↑ "Mallacoota Stampede - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  12. ↑ "Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary". Wikipedia. Retrieved 30/10/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)