--- name: "Stephan Elliott" canonical: "https://film.one/person/stephan-elliott" fi1m_id: "stephan-elliott" imdb_id: "nm0254632" tmdb_id: 27889 wikidata_id: "Q2094420" roles: ["Director"] born: "27 August 1964" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-17T22:01:59.097130+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Stephan Elliott ## Identity Stephan Elliott - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/stephan-elliott - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** stephan-elliott - **IMDb ID:** nm0254632 - **TMDB ID:** 27889 - **Wikidata ID:** Q2094420 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Elliott, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2094420, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254632/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/27889 Director. Born 27 August 1964 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 27 August 1964, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Elliott, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2094420, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254632/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/27889 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-priscilla-queen-of-the-desert.md) (81) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Stephan Elliott > Stephan Elliott is at his best when the extravagant clothes and rude jokes leave room for tired people doing a job. We rate the warmth of *Priscilla* more highly than his determination to keep every exchange funny. An opera performance on a bus roof gives a fair idea of what Stephan Elliott can do. In *The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert* (1994), cinematographer Brian J. Breheny gives that ridiculous staging the serious attention it needs. We laughed with pleasure at a show mounted where nobody sensible would put one. The film earns our affection between the numbers, too, as Elliott finds the routine irritations of a working life beneath the extravagant clothes. His drag performers can be funny simply because they are tired of having to entertain. His feature debut, *Frauds* (1993), preceded the breakthrough of *Priscilla* by a year. *Welcome to Woop Woop* (1997) drew criticism for crudeness and uneven tone, familiar risks for a director so fond of excess. The Hollywood thriller *Eye of the Beholder* (1999) took him away from that comic territory. *Easy Virtue* (2008) turned to Noël Coward, while *Swinging Safari* (2018) found its comedy in 1970s Australia. Those changes of material matter, though *Priscilla* remains our reason to recommend him. What makes *Priscilla* worth returning to is how often Elliott allows the actors to do less. Terence Stamp plays Bernadette, a middle-aged trans woman and drag performer, with the impatience of someone for whom putting on a show has become work. His restraint gives the serious passages weight without turning Bernadette into a lecturer. Hugo Weaving’s Tick keeps the feeling credible, while Guy Pearce’s Adam puts an eager, needling energy into the bickering. We believe they have said these things to one another before. Elliott’s weakness is his reluctance to let a joke pass without making sure it registers. Even in *Priscilla*, some lines strain, and the sentiment can become too insistent. Yet the quieter moments suggest a director who understands the fatigue of being entertaining, and who can make us care about people once the number is over. That is the side of his work we would like him to trust more. Start with *Priscilla*, and give Stamp’s pauses as much attention as the clothes. ## Biography Stephan Elliott is an Australian film director and screenwriter. Born on 27 August 1964 in Sydney, New South Wales, he began his career as an assistant director in the Australian film industry in the 1980s. His first feature, the black comedy *Frauds* (1993), screened at Cannes. He wrote and directed *The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert* (1994), which also screened at Cannes and brought him international recognition. Subsequent films include *Welcome to Woop Woop* (1997), *Eye of the Beholder* (1999), *Easy Virtue* (2008) and *A Few Best Men* (2012). He has also written the stage adaptation of *Priscilla*. *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert* (1994), Fi1m 81, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-priscilla-queen-of-the-desert.md) ## Complete filmography (18) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Swinging Safari* (2018), Director, Writer - *Horizon* (2016), Director - *Rio, I Love You* (2014), Director, Writer - *A Few Best Men* (2012), as Tie Guy · Director - *Easy Virtue* (2008), Writer, Director - *WillFull* (2002), as Customs Official - *Eye of the Beholder* (1999), Director, Screenplay - *Welcome to Woop Woop* (1998), as Truck Driver (uncredited) · Director, Additional Writing - *The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert* (1994), Director, Writer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-priscilla-queen-of-the-desert.md) - *Frauds* (1993), Director, Writer - *Dear Cardholder* (1989), Second Assistant Director - *Afraid to Dance* (1989), Second Assistant Director - *The Right Hand Man* (1987), Second Assistant Director - *Jilted* (1987), Second Assistant Director - *Room to Move* (1986), Third Assistant Director - *The Coca-Cola Kid* (1985), Third Assistant Director - *Priscilla Queen of the Desert 2*, Director, Writer, Producer - *Black Oasis*, Director ## Gallery - ![Stephan Elliott](https://film.one/media/person/85931/gallery-8e5fa55e2727.jpg) Stephan Elliott — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Stephan_Elliott.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![w:Olivia Newton-John and w:Stephan Elliott at A Few Best Men film premiere In Sydney 2012](https://film.one/media/person/85931/gallery-4df3434bd465.jpg) w:Olivia Newton-John and w:Stephan Elliott at A Few Best Men film premiere In Sydney 2012 — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Olivia_Newton-John_and_Stephan_Elliott_%286707577587%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![w:Olivia Newton-John and w:Stephan Elliott at A Few Best Men film premiere In Sydney 2012](https://film.one/media/person/85931/gallery-e05742493fbf.jpg) w:Olivia Newton-John and w:Stephan Elliott at A Few Best Men film premiere In Sydney 2012 — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Olivia_Newton-John_and_Stephan_Elliott_%286707579601%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/stephan-elliott