Welcome to the official Adam Elliot Website
'Academy Award ® winning director, Adam Elliot, has become one of the worlds most celebrated animators. For almost a decade, his films, UNCLE, COUSIN, BROTHER and HARVIE KRUMPET, have been viewed by millions of people around the world and have participated in over five hundred film festivals. They have won over one hundred awards, and in 2003, HARVIE KRUMPET, won the Oscar ® for best animated short film, eclipsing the work of the Disney, Pixar and Fox studios. All his films have been eligible for Academy Award ® consideration, and in total have won five Australian Film Institute Awards from six nominations; more AFI Awards than any other Australian director. In total, the films have accumulated over $170,000.00 in prizes and have been translated, sold and distributed to broadcasters, airlines and theatres around the globe. The DVD of his films has been released in Europe, Asia and America, with sales of over 40,000 copies in Australia alone. In 1999 he was made Young Victorian of the Year and has been honoured with many industry distinctions. He has been made an ambassador and patron for various institutions and charities and is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He also travels the world as a juror at international film festivals and is in constant demand as a public and corporate speaker. The appeal of his films is universal. Infused with a balance of humour and pathos, his simple and endearing characters touch a nerve with so many people from all walks of life. Adam has a passion for human observation and his films are highly personal and detailed explorations of the human spirit.

Harvie Krumpet
'Harvie Krumpet' is the biography of an ordinary man seemingly cursed with bad luck. Born with Tourettes Syndrome, Harvie is marginalised from the rest of village and gets used to having stones thrown at him as a child. At the age of eighteen his parents are found frozen to death on their bicycles, just as the Germans invade and force Harvie to flee to Australia where he works in a rubbish dump. Bad luck follows him to Australia where he goes in and out of hospital on a regular basis; from being struck by lightning to having his testicle removed, his misfortune seems unending. He does, however, find love when Nurse Valerie Burstall walks into his ward. They get married and move into Val's flat with her two cats and diseased parrot. They adopt a little girl called Ruby, (when Harvie is diagnosed sterile), and many happy years follow. On Harvie's 65 birthday, Val suddenly dies, leaving Harvie alone in life again. He quickly ages, is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is shifted into a nursing home after a neighbor finds him trying to withdraw cash from the microwave. Instead of withering away, Harvie finds rejuvenation and excitement with a fellow Alzheimer's patient, Hamish McGrumbel. Together they entertain the other residents with their mischievous acts; getting drunk, practical jokes, escaping from the home and naked puppet shows. Despite these high jinks, Harvie's condition worsens and he falls in and out of hallucinations and depression, almost opting for suicide before being saved by a very special woman who enters his life and steers him to a new realization.
Brother
'Brother' is the childhood memory of a little boy afflicted with asthma. Through the narrator, we observe the antics of the two brothers, from swinging on the clothesline, to chasing the chickens, from combusting ants, to pooing in the bath. We learn about 'getting the blame', how to smoke a teabag and that getting head lice can turn you into a leper. We discover the delights of leaving other peoples names in cement and that if the devil doesn't get you then 'karma' will. Above all we watch as a little boy deals with a horrible disease that defers his dream of becoming an acrobatic clown.
Cousin
'Cousin' is the childhood remembrance of a little boy born with cerebral palsy. Being of the same age, the narrator tells of their antics together as children; their attempts to fly off the chickenshed roof, out of control shopping trolley rides and games of violent cricket in the backyard. We meet his newest pets and visit the graveyard of the old ones, as well as glancing his many assorted collections of tee shirts, pet rocks and toenails. We observe how he copes with his disability using safety pins and finger breaking, and follow him to the depths of the ocean where he contemplates his world.
Uncle
'Uncle' is the biography of a humble man, retold and narrated by an anonymous nephew who strings together a collection of his uncle's passions, failings and beliefs. With their first meeting in the Uncle's hardware shop, a lifelong bond is established with the gift of spider bent together with pipe cleaners. Over time the nephew acquaints himself with his uncle's eccentricities, gory bedtime stories, chats with religious salesmen, fertilizing the lemon tree, burning fetishes, snail crushing and odd culinary pursuits. Uncle's two closest companions, his wife and chihuahua, Reg, are briefly mentioned before encountering horrible deaths. As Uncle ages we gain an understanding of his struggle with life and its meaning to him. We observe an unfortunate pyjama incident that signals his retreat into senility to the Ashburn Gentlemen's Hospice. There he spends his final days surrounded by his saddened bedfellows and beefy urinal smells, drinking cups of tea and nibbling on burnt crumpets.
Contacts
Adam Elliot