Anna Maria Monticelli

Monticelli was born in 1952 in Tangiers in Morocco. In her childhood, she lived in five European countries, where, fluent in four languages, she was a translator for her French-Italian father and Spanish mother. The family emigrated to Australia when Monticelli was in her primary school years.^[2][3]

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Using the professional name 'Anna-Maryka', Monticelli started out as a model in Sydney, gracing the covers of Australian Playboy, Cleo and Vogue and appearing in television commercials.^[3] She then began hosting a weekly ethnic morning television show on the ABC, while studying evening drama classes.^[3]

Monticelli went on to become an actress, with numerous roles in television series and films, both in Australia and the US.^[4] Some of her early film roles include 1981 New Zealand thriller Smash Palace with Terence Donovan,^[5] 1982 drama film Heatwave alongside Judy Davis^[6] and 1982 suspense thriller The Dark Room.^[7] She also appeared with Wendy Hughes in 1984 film My First Wife, playing the role of Hilary.^[8]

Further recognition came when Monticelli won the 1984 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Anna in post-war drama film Silver City.^[9][10][11] Having originally used her married name 'Anna Jemison' professionally, she reverted back to her maiden name, Monticelli as she accepted the award.^[2]

In 1985, Monticelli appeared in American drama thriller Nomads, as Veronique, wife of Jean Charles Pommier, played by Pierce Brosnan.^[12] That same year, she also played Anne Winter, alongside Bryan Brown in The Empty Beach^[13] and appeared in family film Archer’s Adventure, opposite Nicole Kidman in one of her earliest roles.^[14]

Monticelli's television credits began with a guest role in 1981 sports drama series Sporting Chance with Noni Hazlehurst^[15] In 1984, she had an ongoing role as Eva Tarrant in Carson's Law, opposite Lorraine Bayly.^{[citation needed]} In 1994, she appeared in the children's sci-fi adventure series Sky Trackers, in the regular role of Marie Colbert, alongside her husband Steve Jacobs.^[16] Further television credits include Family and Friends, Rafferty's Rules, Home and Away, The Girl from Tomorrow, the Mission Impossible television reboot^[17] and 1988 adventure miniseries, Emma: Queen of the South Seas, with Steve Bisley.^[18]

However, Monticelli's true passion lay in writing. Her first writing credit was 2001 feature film La Spagnola, which she also produced.^[4] After 28 failed approaches to producers who were too discouraged by the multilingual plot, Monicelli decided to produce the film herself, with husband Steve Jacobs assuming his first director's role.^[2] The film saw her nominated for a AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2001^[19] and a Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards for Best Original Screenplay in 2002.^[2][20] It was also Australia’s official entrant in the Foreign Language Category at the 2002 Academy Awards. It went on to receive several international awards and was widely distributed.^[4]

Monticelli's critically-acclaimed second film, Disgrace (2008), starring John Malkovich, was a screen adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name by J. M. Coetzee.^[4] The film won an array of awards, including the International Critic’s Award for Best Film at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival,^[4] Best Feature Film Adaptation at the 2008 AWGIE Awards^[4][1] and Best Screenplay at the 2010 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.^[4] It was also shortlisted for Best Literary Adaptation of 2009 at the Frankfurt International Book Fair and the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.^[4] The film made the "10 Best Films of 2009" with Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun, The New York Times and Stephen King for Entertainment Weekly.^[4]

Monticelli most recently produced the comedy film I’ve Always Wanted to Direct,^[4] which was shot just before Covid stopped the industry in its tracks.^[21] She also wrote her first play, Zugzwang.^[4]

Monticelli was first married to Channel Seven deputy news director Rick Jemison,^[3] before their separation in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985, together with American director John McTiernan, Monticelli had a daughter, Bella, who is also a director.^[22] McTiernan had directed Monticelli in the film Nomads.^[12]

Monticelli is married to actor and director Steve Jacobs.^[23] The couple met first met on the set of 1984 film Silver City in 1984, in which Jacobs also had a small part. They also appeared together in an episode of Mission Impossible and then fell in love on the set of Sky Trackers.^[21] Together, they formed Australian based company, 'Wild Strawberries' in the mid-1990s.^[24] The couple have lived in Palm Beach, north of Sydney, for over 40 years.^[21]

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Type
1981	Smash Palace	Jacqui Shaw / Alan's wife	Feature film
1982	Heatwave	Victoria West	Feature film
	The Dark Room	Nicky / Ray's mistress	Feature film
1984	My First Wife	Hilary	Feature film
	Silver City	Anna	Feature film
1985	After Hours	Sandra Adams (first film credit as Anna-Maria Monticelli)	Film short
	The Empty Beach	Anne Winter	Feature film
1986	Nomads	Veronique 'Niki' Pommier	Feature film
1994	Life Forms	Mel	Film short
2004	The Brother	Catherine	Film short

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Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Type
1981	A Sporting Chance	Guest role	Episode 3: "Whatever Happened to Stephen Doyle?"
1982	For the Term of His Natural Life	Alicia	Miniseries, 1 episode
1984	Special Squad	Teresa Parrissa	Episode 3: "Code of Silence"
	Carson's Law	Eva Tarrant	21 episodes
1985	Archer (aka Archer's Adventure)	Anna Swift (first TV credit as Anna-Maria Monticelli)	TV film
	Five Mile Creek	Guest role	1 episode
	Handle with Care	Kate	TV film
1987	The Edge of Power	Gail Traynor	TV film
	Play School	Guest Presenter	2 episodes
1988	Rafferty's Rules	Diana Newby	1 episode
	Emma: Queen of the South Seas	Princess Le'utu	Miniseries, 2 episodes
	Mission: Impossible	Lydia	Episode 4: "The Condemned"
1989	G.P.		1 episode
	Living with the Law		1 episode
1990	Family and Friends	Luciana Rossi
1990; 1993	English at Work	Herself	4 episodes
1991	A Country Practice	Guest role	2 episodes
	Chances	Bella	1 episode
1992	The Girl from Tomorrow II	Freya	1 episode
1993	Eggshells		1 episode
1994	Under the Skin		2 episodes
	Sky Trackers	Marie Colbert	26 episodes
1995	Singapore Sling: Road to Mandalay	Tamara	TV film
2002	Home and Away	Helen Poulos	3 episodes
	White Collar Blue	Mrs. Cable	TV pilot / film

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As writer / producer

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Type	Ref.
2001	La Spagnola	Writer / producer	Feature film
2008	Disgrace	Writer / producer	Feature film
c.2020	I’ve Always Wanted to Direct (aka Siempre He Querido Dirigir)	Producer	Feature film	[4]

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