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Peter Weir

Peter Lindsay Weir, AM (/wɪər/; born 21 August 1944) is an Australian film director. He played a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema (1970-1990) with his films such as the mystery drama Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), the mystery drama-thriller The Last Wave (1977) and the historical drama Gallipoli (1981). The climax of Weir's early career was the $6 million multi-national production The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), starring Mel Gibson, playing opposite top Hollywood female lead Sigourney Weaver. Weir then directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office hits—including the Academy Award nominated films such as the thriller Witness (1985), the drama Dead Poets Society (1989), the romantic comedy Green Card (1990), the social science fiction comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the epic historical drama film Master and Commander (2003), which starred fellow Australian Russell Crowe.