Zev Howley

Zev Howley
b. 1970, Melbourne, Australia.

BIOGRAPHY: Zev Howley's parents, John and Rachell Howley, were actively Involved in building St Kilda's arts community in the early '80s.

Growing up in the Acland St Art Gallery which was formerly a St Kilda Brothel named Tickeld Pink, Zev was inspired by the life of art and culture around him. Many well known people would come to the art gallery, people like Bob Hawke, Mirka Mora, Peter Russell Clarke, Marcel Marceau. It was a really exciting time

Zev started acting at 15 and took part in various theatre productions at St Martins Youth Art Centre. In 1995 he studied video production at R.M.I.T.

After a year at Optus Local Vision, a community TV network - in which Zev won an award for best all rounder for his commitment while working on many shows - he went on to co-produce a documentary called Theatre of Hope in 1997/98. This documentary addressed issues such as mental illness. This was part of a successful educational package sponsored by City of Port Phillip and the Australia Council, and launched by Debra Byrne.

From 2000 – 2006 Zev collaborated with other filmmakers including Lesley Sharon Rosenthal. Zev assisted Lesley on her award-winning documentary short Boobalah Bagela and the internationally screened production Hamisha Viking.


	on location for Sarah's Jihad

Zev has produced and directed many documentaries of his own including Working for the Man – From Drags to Riches (2001) Raiders of a Lost Art (screened at the St Kilda Festival 2002), City of Goths (2002) and Who is the Sonic Manipulator? (2005), screened at The Big West Festival and the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2006. Also another short documentary called A Tribute to Jerri (2007).

Zev assisted Jamie Wilson with his film Opposites Attract which was screened at The Sydney Rd Film Festival in 2007.

Soursob Bob's "Centrelink" screened at Sound St kilda 2009 and was screened on Rage, Zev was D.O.P on that music clip.

Zev's first short fiction film – Sarah's Jihad (2009) was screened at The Melbourne Underground Film Festival in August (2009) and Electric Shorts (2009).

Sarah's Jihad also screened at Tom Vogel's West Side Shorts and Ivan Malekin's Short Cut Film night in 2010, where it won the Audience Choice Award. It also won Best short drama of the year at Comfortable Shorts - a Melbourne monthly short film night in 2011.


	team on The Last Supper of the Damned

He then wrote and directed Broken Superman (2012), which won Best Film at Melbourne’s Connect Film Festival and also screened in Los Angeles.

Walkman (2015) won Best Film of the Year at Comfy Shorts. In 2016, it was selected to screen at Cannes Short Film Corner, and was a finalist at the IndieWise Convention in Florida.

In 2016, Zev completed The Enlightened State of Tara, a documentary which had a hugely succesful screening at Lido Cinemas in Melbourne. In addition, it was screened at the Indian World Film Festival and was a Semi Finalist at the Hollywood Independent International Documentary Film Festival.

Later that year, Zev collaborated with writer/producer Dion Voss on an independant feature film, The Last Supper of the Damned. This was Zev’s directorial debut on a feature. It gained official selection at a variety of international film festivals and was a Best Feature (Drama) nominee at the Genre Celebration Film Festival, Finalist at Frostbite International Online Film Festival and Winner of the 2016 Orson Wells Award.

In 2018, Zev completed two more films: horror short, The Calling, which was a Semi Finalist at People of Passion Film Festival 2019; and I think she said her name was, which was selected for Electric Shorts 2018 and won Best Fantasy Short Film at People of Passion Film Festival 2019.

CRITICAL OVERVIEW: Being a filmmaker allows me to bring many art forms together rolled into one.


	Who is the Sonic Manipulator?

I especially enjoy working with actors watching them interact with each other and bring their own interpretation to a particular scene or character.

I particularly enjoy social dramas and films that touch the heart and mind.

I also am a fan of science fiction films.

One of my favourite films of all time is American History X. I really thought it was a powerful and moving story.

Some other favourite films include Good Will Hunting, Schindler’s List, The Matrix, Star Wars, Million Dollar Baby, Grand Torino, Pulp Fiction, Carrie, Goodfellas, Kingdom of Heaven, There's Something About Mary, Lantana, Terminator 2, Burn After Reading, Requeim for a Dream.