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Beloved Australian independent filmmaker Nigel Buesst died in Melbourne earlier this month aged 86.
The veteran movie movie director was born in Melbourne in 1938 began his celebrated career in Australian cinema in the mid-60s.
No cause of death was given and it is believed Buesst was in poor health for several years following his retirement from the industry in 2014.
Fellow Australian filmmaker Bill Mousoulis confirmed the heartbreaking news of Buesst's passing on social media.
'A giant of the Melbourne independent film community for the past 60 years has sadly passed away,' Bill wrote.
Meanwhile, Aussie director Geoffrey Gardner wrote that Buesst was a 'legendary figure from a time when you spent your own money to make a movie.'
Beloved Australian independent filmmaker Nigel Buesst (pictured) died in Melbourne earlier this month aged 86
Romper Stomper director Geoffrey Wright, who studied under Buesst at university, paid tribute to his former teacher in a statement.
'He had his own style going on as a teacher: meandering, very cynical, with a lot of deadpan humour.
'Emphasised the importance of action in movies, he held up Dirty Harry and Mad Max as the perfect examples of what audiences wanted from an anti-hero.
'Characters with simple, clear motivations expressed through kinetic action on the screen.'
Buesst had an independent spirit and directed many short films using his own money, including the cult 1969 movie The Rise and Fall of Squizzy Taylor.
The film provided a hard-hitting look at Melbourne's infamous gangster Joseph 'Squizzy' Taylor, who terrorised the streets in the 1920s.
His self-funded productions were often made on shoe-string budgets of just several thousand dollars.
They developed a reputation as standing in stark contrast to the higher-budget studio-produced Australian films of the same era.
The veteran movie movie director was born in Melbourne in 1938 began his celebrated career in Australian cinema in the mid-60s
No cause of death was given and it is believed Buesst was in poor health for several years following his retirement from the industry in 2014
He also directed the popular 1970 movie Dead Easy, starring Storm Boy actor Peter Cummins, who tragically predeceased him by just several months.
Buesst also taught cinema studies at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology from 1970 - 1984.
His celebrated career saw his movie Dead Easy win the Best Short Fiction Film category at the 1970 Australian Film Institute Awards.
He also worked with some of Australia's most popular showbiz stars.
They include Mad Max director George Miller and Furiosa actor John Howard.
The cinema-lover was also the co-founder and artistic director of the world-famous St Kilda Film Festival, established in 1986.
His final work was editing a documentary about Dutch-born Melbourne filmmaker Paul Cox in 2014.
Buesst is survived by his ex-wife Jan, his two children and four grandchildren.
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