Michael James Rowland (b. 1964, Australia) worked as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts (1987–94). He completed his studies at the Australian Film and Television School in Sydney in 1997, graduating with the short film Flying Over Mother (1996), which was acclaimed at festivals all over the world. Rowland has continued to make shorts over the last seven years, when he also wrote screenplays and directed features, documentaries and commercials. On the latter he worked with renowned cameraman Russell Boyd (Oscar for Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World). Rowland has written three books which he also illustrated. He adapted the best known of them, The Existentialist Cowboy's Last Stand (1995), for a short film which won the Silver Hugo at the Chicago festival. The film Lucky Miles is his feature debut.
MFF Karlovy Vary