Introduction
Ben Lewin is an Australian director.
Early life and education
Ben Lewin was born in Poland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia. At the age of six, he contracted polio which caused him to use crutches for the rest of his life. Lewin attended the University of Melbourne where he studied law. In 1971, he left his job as a barrister in Australia after being given a scholarship to study film at National Film and Television School in England. After school, Lewin remained in England where he worked in television.
Work in film
Lewin has since made feature films in Australia, England, France, and America. Some of his notable films are The Dunera Boys (1985), Georgia (1988), The Favour, the Watch, and the Very Big Fish (1991), and most recently The Sessions (2012), for which he also wrote the screenplay, based on an essay by Mark O'Brien.