Ivan Sen was born in 1972 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia, and has since become a multifaceted filmmaker, excelling in various roles such as director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, composer, and sound designer.
Throughout the late 1990s, Ivan Sen honed his craft by working on numerous short films, ultimately making his feature film debut with Beneath Clouds in 2002. This groundbreaking film earned Ivan widespread acclaim, with Beneath Clouds premiering at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and winning the Premiere First Movie Award at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and the 2002 Best Director Award at the Australian Film Institute Awards.
In addition to his feature work, Ivan Sen has also written and produced a range of award-winning documentaries. His documentary Yellow Fella was showcased in Un Certain Regard at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, while his feature Toomelah, completed in 2011, was selected for the Cannes International Film Festival 2011 - Un Certain Regard. The world premiere of Toomelah at Cannes received a standing ovation, and the film went on to win the Grand Prix at the Pacific Meridian Film Festival 2011 and the UNESCO Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2011.
In 2013, Ivan Sen directed the feature film Mystery Road, starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Tasma Walton, and Jack Thompson. Mystery Road had its international premiere with a "Special Presentation" at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, and Ivan Sen is an Executive Producer on the successful TV adaptation of the film.
Ivan Sen's most recent feature film, Goldstone, was released in 2015 and stars Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Gulpilil, Cheng Pei Pei, and David Wenham.
