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(L-r) Scott Murray, John B. Murray, his second wife Annie and daughter Sue.

John B. Murray, one of the pioneers of the modern Australian cinema, died yesterday in Melbourne after a massive stroke. He was 88.

The writer/producer/director and distributor was one of the guiding lights of the industry from the 1960s.

He was the first director of the Film, Radio and Television Board at the Australian Council for the Arts, which later became the Australia Council and subsequently was transferred to the Australian Film Commission when it was established in 1975.

Former Australian Film Commission CEO Kim Williams tells If: “He made a very substantial contribution and should be remembered especially for his courage in establishing the early video access centres around the country.

“He also got the the Chauvel and Longford cinemas going in Sydney and Melbourne under the then AFI, with their Australian programming and as venues...

Gerald Corbiau, director of arthouse hit Farinelli, is set to direct Le Diable Au Corps, an opera film that's being written expressly for the screen, rather than adapted from an existing opera. It's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it pays off for them.Fay Weldon is writing both opera libretto and screenplay, which is based on Raymond Radiguet's 1923 novel of the same name (roughly translated, that's "Devil In The Flesh"). The story is set in a quiet town outside Paris, on the eve of World War I, and sees a schoolboy, Raymond, and a 19 year-old woman, left behind when her husband heads off to the front, begin an affair. The leads have yet to be cast, but Raymond's parents will be voiced by Jose Van Dam and Frederica von Stade.The songs and music have been composed by France's Alain Jomy. Opera-lovers should keep an eye out for this in 2010, we're guessing.