Biography

As an acclaimed, multi-award winning writer and director, Virginia's assured visual style and expressive vision are strongly influenced by her New Zealand origins. Virginia lives in Edinburgh, in 2014 she directed the BAFTA Scotland nominated feature-length archive and music documentary From Scotland With Love (75'). The film was theatrically distributed by Park Circus Sales & Distribution Company and is now being distributed digitally by Journeyman Pictures. The film was originally screened with a live musical performance of the soundtrack for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 and the Barbican, London. It has screened at the Dublin International Film Festival, Buenos Aires IFF, New Zealand IFF, Edinburgh International Arts Festival, Vancouver IFF, Chicago European Union Film Festival amongst others. The film has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the UK press and public alike - 'Brilliantly evokes the flavour of 20th century Scotland' - The Herald; 'Hypnotic' - The Independent; 'Some kind of genius' - The Guardian; 'Spellbinding', The Radio Times.

Virginia's short film Relativity (10') won 'Best Short Film' at the Berlin International Film Festival (2002) and was nominated for the European Film Academy Awards. In Relativity a mother, her daughter and the mother's boyfriend give three different perspectives on one shocking if funny, event in their lives. But which, if any, is the truth? Virginia won a National Film Board of Canada Cross Media Challenge Award (2009) for the My Dangerous Loverboy Film and Cross Platform Project about the sex trafficking of teenagers. Her shorts Deep Freeze, Point Annihilation and Little Lost David were shown at international festivals including The Hamptons, New York, St Petersburg 'Message to Man', St Tropez, London, Verona, New Zealand & Sheffield Doc/Fest.

Virginia has two feature documentaries in development, Mae West: Boxer in a Corset and She Sings of Murder and Love, both supported by Screen Scotland in Development.

Virginia began her film career directing a series of international arts documentaries for the Channel 4 Television Series 'Rear Window' and 'Arthouse'. They included Songs From The Golden City about exiled jazz legends The Manhattan Brothers returning to South Africa to seek justice, featuring Abdullah Ibrahim and Hugh Masekela. Her films have attracted funding from the BFI, SBS (Australia), SABC (South Africa), UK Film Council, National Film Board of Canada, Screen Yorkshire and Creative Scotland.

Her body of work features a distinctive directorial style and strong cinematic vision to explore her signature themes: women, sex, power, love, betrayal, trust and desire.

- IMDb mini biography by: Grant Keir