Graham Tardif

{{Infobox musical artist | name = Graham Tardif | image = | image_size = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = 1957 | birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | origin = Australia | death_date = | death_place = | genre = | occupation = Composer }}

'''Graham Tardif''' (born 1957) is an Australian screen music composer. He is the composer on ten feature films directed and written by Rolf de Heer. Their most acclaimed collaboration, ''The Tracker'' (2002), resulted in an APRA-AGSC Screen Music Award for "Far Away Home" as Best Original Song Composed for a Feature Film, Telemovie, TV Series or Mini-Series (shared with de Heer) in 2002. ''The Tracker'' also provided wins at Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards (Best Music Score) and IF Awards (Best Music) for the pair.

== History == Graham Tardif was born in 1957.<ref name="Catalogue Bad Boy">{{cite web |url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41274613c |title=Notice bibliographique ''Bad Boy Bubby'' / Rolf de Heer, réal., scénario ; Graham Tardif, comp. ; Nicholas Hope, Claire Benito, Ralph Cotterill... [et al.], act. |website=BnF Catalogue général - Bibliothèque nationale de France |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003050034/https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41274613c |access-date=1 March 2023 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |language=fr }}</ref> He attended Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Sydney. There he met Dutch-born writer, director and producer Rolf de Heer, for whom he composed screen music on ten feature films.<ref name="Starrs">{{cite journal | url=https://www.realtime.org.au/graham-tardif-the-aural-auteur/ | title=Graham Tardif & the Aural Auteur | author=Starrs, D Bruno | journal=RealTime – Australia | page=27 | issue=85 | date=1 June 2008 | via=National Library of Australia | archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20190415044416/https://www.realtime.org.au/graham-tardif-the-aural-auteur/ | archive-date=15 April 2019 | access-date=28 February 2023 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Urban | first = Andrew L. | date = 3 November 2017 | title = From ''The Tracker'' to ''Gladiator'' via ''Romper Stomper'', Twenty Key Scores by Australians | periodical = Screen Hub | url = http://www.screenhub.com.au/news-article/features/film/andrew-l-urban/from-the-tracker-to-gladiator-via-romper-stomper-twenty-key-scores-by-australians-254713 }}</ref><ref name="Hope">{{cite web | url=http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/103201/20100916-1038/archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/04/31/sound_design_rolf_de_heer.html | title=Hearing the Story: Sound Design in the Films of Rolf de Heer | first=Cat | last=Hope | author-link=Cat Hope | website=Senses of Cinema | date=2004 | via=National Library of Australia | archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20100920014647/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/103201/20100916-1038/archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/04/31/sound_design_rolf_de_heer.html | archive-date=20 September 2010 | access-date=28 February 2023 | url-status=live }}</ref> They first worked on de Heer's short film, ''The Audition'' (1979), for his AFTRS diploma.<ref name="Starrs" /> ''Tail of a Tiger'' (1984) had Tardif composing the score for de Heer's first feature film.<ref name="stratton2">David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p342</ref><ref>Scott Murray, "Tail of a Tiger", ''Australian Film 1978-1992'', Oxford Uni Press, 1993 p178</ref> Fellow composer and musicologist Cat Hope analysed Tardif and de Heer's works including ''The Tracker'' (2002) and ''Alexandra's Project'' (2003).<ref name="Hope" /> She observed, "Tardif's minimal electronic score in ''Alexandra's Project'' implies the undercurrent of invisible electro-magnetic signals in an urban landscape, making an ordinary street seem like a harbinger of impending doom."<ref name="Hope" /> Their "most meaningful collaboration" was on ''The Tracker'' where songs were delivered by Indigenous artist Archie Roach, which "not only adds an extra layer of narrative to the film, but also personalises the de Heer/Tardif working relationship and gives it a new voice."<ref name="Hope" />

== Filmography == Credited as composer:<ref name="Aus Screen">{{cite web | url=http://australianscreen.com.au/people/Graham_Tardif/ | title=Graham Tardif | website=Australian Screen | via=National Library of Australia | archiveurl=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20090915184110/http://australianscreen.com.au/people/Graham_Tardif/ | archive-date=15 September 2009 | access-date=28 February 2023 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ASO Credits">{{cite web |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20220820230213/https://aso.gov.au/people/Graham_Tardif/ |title=Graham Tardif on ASO |website=ASO |access-date=28 February 2023 |url=https://aso.gov.au/people/Graham_Tardif/ |archive-date=20 August 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kinorium">{{cite web |url=https://en.kinorium.com/name/637113/ |title=Graham Tardif – Composer – Biography, Photo, Best Movies and TV Shows |website=kinorium.com |access-date=28 February 2023 }}</ref> * ''The Sparks Obituary'' (short, 1978) * ''Tasmania's South West: a Wilderness in Question'' (documentary, 1979) * ''The Audition'' (short, 1979) * ''Tail of a Tiger'' (1984) * ''Thank You Jack'' (TV film, 1986) * ''Incident at Raven's Gate'' (1988) * ''Difficult Pleasure: A Portrait of Brett Whiteley'' (1989) * ''Astonish Me, Graeme Murphy Choreographer'' (1989) * ''Antarctica: Physical Geography'' (short documentary, 1991) * ''Bad Boy Bubby'' (1993) * ''Epsilon'' {{abbr|a.k.a.|also known as}} ''Alien Visitor'' (1995) * ''The Quiet Room'' (1996) * ''Dance Me to My Song'' (1998) * ''Terra Nova'' (1998) * ''The Old Man Who Read Love Stories'' (2001) * ''The Tracker'' (2002) * ''Alexandra's Project'' (2003) * ''Dr. Plonk'' (2007) * ''The King Is Dead!'' (2012) * ''Charlie's Country'' (2013) * ''Still Our Country'' (2014)

==Accolades== {{Awards table|4}} |- ! scope="row" | 1988 | ''Incident at Raven's Gate'' |rowspan="3"| Best Original Music Score |rowspan="3"| AFI Awards | {{nom}} | (shared with Roman Kronen) | <ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article213879063 |title=AFI Awards strong field |newspaper=Filmnews |volume=18 |issue=6 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=1 July 1988 |accessdate=21 November 2021 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article213878291 |title=And the losers are ... |newspaper=Filmnews |volume=18 |issue=10 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=1 November 1988 |accessdate=21 November 2021 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2003 | ''Alexandra's Project'' | {{nom}} | | |- ! scope="row" | 2003 | ''The Old Man Who Read Love Stories'' | {{nom}} | | |- ! scope="row" | 2002 | "Far Away Home" | Best Original Song Composed for a Feature Film, Telemovie, TV Series or Mini-Series | APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards | {{won}} | (shared with Rolf de Heer) | <ref name="SMAWin2002">{{cite web|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/ScreenAwards/History/2002Winners.aspx |title=2002 Winners - Screen Music Awards |publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) |accessdate=27 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308014139/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/ScreenAwards/History/2002Winners.aspx |archivedate=8 March 2011 }}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2002 | ''The Tracker'' | Best Original Soundtrack Album | ARIA Music Awards | {{nom}} | (shared with Rolf de Heer and Archie Roach) | <ref name="ARIA2002">{{cite web|url=http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/year/2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110233233/http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/year/2002 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 2012 |title=ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2002: 16th Annual ARIA Awards |publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)|access-date=10 January 2012}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2002 | ''The Tracker'' |rowspan="2"| Best Music Score |rowspan="2"| Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | {{won}} | (shared with Rolf de Heer) | |- ! scope="row" | 2008 |''Dr. Plonk'' | {{nom}} | | |- ! scope="row" | 2002 | ''The Tracker'' | Best Music | IF Awards | {{won}} | | |- {{end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tardif, Graham}} Category:1957 births Category:Australian film score composers Category:Australian male film score composers Category:Living people