Logging in over 200 hours as a director on Australian TV during the 1970s on series including "Against the Wind" and "The Sullivans," Wincer made his feature directorial debut with the thriller "Snap Shot" (1979). He followed up with the genuinely offbeat tale of a Rasputin-like power, "Harlequin" (1980). His best known early film, though, was the acclaimed horse racing drama "Phar Lap" (1984), vividly documentarian in its style. Wincer also did well producing the gripping, well-received adventure saga "The Man from Snowy River" (1982).