Writer, director, producer and visual artist Claire McCarthy is an Australian-born, London-based filmmaker. Her most recent film, The Colour Room starring Phoebe Dynevor and Matthew Goode, was released theatrically across Europe and US and on Sky Cinema. The Colour Room was nominated for an Australian Director’s Guild Award for Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget over $1M). Next up, she is co-writing and directing Faithfull based on singer and poet Marianne Faithfull’s autobiography. Claire also has The Personal History of Rachel Du Pree which she has adapted from the novel of the same name and which she will direct with Viola Davis’ JuVee producing. Lashana Lynch and Aldis Hodge are set to star.

Claire was lead director and EP for the series Domina (2020 – Sky/Sky Italia) starring Isabella Rossellini, Kasia Smutniak and Claire Forlani which screens in the US on Epix. She directed all episodes and EP’d The Luminaries, a screen adaptation of the Man Booker Prize winning novel starring Eva Green, Eve Hewson and Himesh Patel (2019 – Working Title/Fremantle/BBC2). Her episode two of The Luminaries earned her an Australian Director’s Guild (ADG) Award in 2021 for Best TV or SVOD Mini Series.

Ophelia, starring Naomi Watts, Daisy Ridley, Clive Owen and George MacKay, premiered at Sundance in 2019 and won Claire “Director to Watch” at Palm Springs. Her award-winning feature, The Waiting City, starring Radha Mitchell and Joel Edgerton, premiered at TIFF and was nominated for three Film Critics Circle Awards, an ADG Award and sold to more than 40 territories.

Claire adapted and directed the centrepiece chapter of Tim Winton’s celebrated novel The Turning as part of a compendium feature. The film premiered at Melbourne International Film Festival and screened in competition at Berlinale and was nominated for seven AACTA Awards, including Best Feature Film. Claire’s segment ‘The Turning’ won the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award for Best Actress for Rose Byrne.

Claire’s debut feature, Cross Life, premiered at Sydney Film Festival, screened at Busan and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

Claire was named “10 directors to watch” by Variety in 2018.

For a full CV please contact info@rgm.com.au.