Born in Papua New Guinea in 1958, Grabowsky was raised in Melbourne where he attended Wesley College. In 1983, he formed the Paul Grabowsky Trio, winner of four ARIA awards and one of Australia’s longest-living and most influential jazz ensembles.  Paul is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, with which he tours both nationally and internationally. His works for the theatre include the operas THE MERCENARY (1997-99) and LOVE IN THE AGE OF THERAPY, which premiered in October 2002 at the Sydney Opera House, with further sell-out performances in January 2003 at the Sydney Arts Festival. His music for the shadow play THE THEFT OF SITA (1999-2000) won a Helpmann award.  Grabowsky is currently a Professor at Monash University, director of the Monash University Academy of the Performing Arts and the Monash Art Ensemble. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to music and arts administration.

“Music as an art form works differently from words or pictures, as it conveys its information in sound, which then triggers various responses in the brain, causing the listener to feel things, experience memories etc.,” Grabowsky explained. “When Jack sends Dina a piece of music as a peace offering and an expression of his feelings for her, I saw this as a golden opportunity.”

“One challenge was creating a musical world to depict Dina’s struggle to overcome her physical situation in order to paint,” Grabowsky continued, “Here I have gone for colour, and a theme with a circular shape, in an attempt to connect with Juliette’s brush strokes. She is in reality a great painter, and was personally responsible for the paintings in the film, so I was keen to celebrate this musically.”

Latitude Productions in association with Lascaux Films present WORDS AND PICTURES, currently available via streaming services and on DVD. The WORDS AND PICTURES – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album will be available digitally on January 27th and on CD March 10, 2015.

ABOUT WORDS AND PICTURES
Those who can, do. Those who can’t…Jack Marcus (CLIVE OWEN) and Dina Delsanto (JULIETTE BINOCHE) both could –once – but now, the writer and artist each face a devastating struggle that challenges their ability to create.
Having shown great promise as an author and poet, Jack is a charismatic English teacher at Croyden, an elite, New England prep school where he lives, breathes and speaks his love of language. The only problem is, he can’t actually write anymore. He’s lost his mojo.Dina is a gifted and acclaimed artist who hasn’t lost her muse. It’s her body that’s betrayed her: rheumatoid arthritis is limiting her physical ability to paint and literally taking the brushes out of her hands. She takes the teaching job at Croyden to support herself and be closer to family, from which she’ll require increasing help.Dina’s reputation has preceded her. She’s known to be a little cold – at her previous school they called her “The Icicle.” But when Jack meets her, a small spark ignites and he is relentless in his attempt to melt her façade. At every opportunity, he tries to engage her in his perpetual word game. But when he learns the art teacher has told their students that words are “traps” and “lies,” he is hurt to the quick and declares full-out war. The gauntlet for a school-wide competition of words vs. pictures is thrown and students and faculty (BRUCE DAVISON) choose their sides.

While his students adore him, the Croyden administration (NAVID NEGAHBAN, AMY BRENNEMAN) is less than impressed by Jack’s recent performance. His own work hasn’t been published in years, the school literary magazine has grown lackluster, and there are reported incidents of Jack being drunk in public – especially problematic in a small-knit community.

While Jack’s magazine and very job are being threatened, the students at Croyden are alive and energized by the war between words and pictures. Dina is inspired as well, and explores new ways of painting adapted to her physical challenges. And it looks like true romance might blossom between Jack and Dina.

But the symbolic debate of words and pictures becomes a very real one when an image emerges that harms a student (VALERIE TIAN). Dina’s illness takes a turn for the worse and her return to painting meets catastrophic results. And Jack’s drinking problem escalates, threatening his career, family and future. Will words or pictures ultimately prevail, or is something else at stake?