Tuesday, 08 July
10pm

Welsh-born Peter Greenaway is best known for his filmmaking during the 1980s and 90s, directing visually sumptuous films such as The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover, Belly of an Architect and A Zed and Two Noughts. His films have polarised viewers, garnering international accolades and audience walk-outs. A fearless visionary and provocateur, he rejected narrative storytelling in favour of his trademark exploration of sex and death.

Visiting Australia as the keynote speaker for the 2008 Australian International Documentary Conference, Greenaway spoke to Virginia Trioli about his body of work, and also what he's been up to since his last major feature film release in Australia.

In 2002 he declared cinema dead. "Well, I'll give you a date, it's the 31st of September 1983, which is the date now that most people reckon that the zapper or remote control was introduced into living rooms of the world…"

Since declaring cinema dead, his focus has increasingly turned to multi-faceted projects. His series of films involving The Tulse Luper Suitcases feeds into a highly evolved online interactive game that then forms the visual palette for his Vjing gigs at events across Europe.

His most recent film release Nightwatching (2007) delves into the story behind Rembrandt's famous painting The Night Watch, but is only part of a wider juggernaught that includes an opera, a documentary and an art installation.

As he admits, his first love is painting and he still paints and exhibits when he can, although one wonders when this most prolific and diverse artist ever gets the time!

Artscape: Peter Greenaway In Conversation will be repeated on ABC2 - Sunday, July 13 at 7:00pm