Fresh from working together on the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Paper Planes, actor Terry Norris and director/writer/producer Robert Connolly explore the unique relationship and dynamics between an actor and director. Presented by MIFF Accelerator, this session explores how actors choose their roles and collaborate with directors and how directors gain the trust and openness required of the actor. To what extent do the actor and/or director create the character? How do both navigate the dynamics and dramas of auditions, script read-throughs, rehearsal rooms and on-set?

In a career stretching back to the 1960s, Norris has acted alongside the likes of Sam Worthington (Paper Planes), David Wenham (Force of Destiny), Guy Pearce (Jack Irish), Eric Bana (Romulus, My Father), Susan Sarandon (Irresistible), Frances O'Connor (Three Dollars), Julia Blake (Innocence), William Hurt (The Sun and the Moon) and many more.

One of Australia's best-known and busiest filmmakers, Connolly anchored last year's MIFF Premiere Fund-supported portmanteau film Tim Winton’s The Turning, executive produced last year's MIFF Premiere Fund-supported These Final Hours and directed fellow MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Balibo (2009). He has also produced such films as Romulus, My Father (2007) and The Boys (1998), while his TV directing work includes The Slap (2011) and Underground: the Julian Assange Story (2012).