David Stratton was born in 1939 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK. At the age of nineteen he founded the Melksham and District Film Society. He emigrated to Australia in 1963, where he quickly became involved in the local film scene He was the Director of the Sydney Film Festival for seventeen years.
During his career at SBS David was the feature film consultant, presenter of movies, and of course co-host of the highly successful The Movie Show with Margaret Pomeranz for a record eighteen years. Since 1983, David has been a film critic for Variety (published in Los Angeles), a commissioner of the Australian Film Commission, a film critic for The Australian and a lecturer in film history at the University of Sydney. He is also the author of THE LAST NEW WAVE and THE AVOCADO PLANTATION.
David has served on several internation film festival juries, including the Berlin International Jury (1982); the Montreal International Jury (1982); and the Venice International Jury (1994). He was also President of FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) Juries in Cannes (twice) and Venice. He is a past president of the Film Critics Circle of Australia.
David’s long list of awards and achievements include:
- 60th Anniversary Medal by the Festival du Film de Cannes (2007)
- The Chauvel Award by the Brisbane International Film Festival (2007)
- Raymond Longford Award of Australian Film Institute (2001)
- Commander of Order of Arts and Letters by French Government (2000)
David is currently the co-host of At The Movies on ABC TV.
