Heather Croall

Croall was born in Blackpool in 1967 and lived in Sheffield until the age of five, when her family emigrated to South Australia.[2]

In 1993 Croall set up a production company, Re Angle Pictures, to produce and direct documentaries. Her 1999 film Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival.[3] She continued her career at the South Australian Film Corporation, and also produced digital and documentary strands at the Adelaide Fringe.[3] In 2001, she developed Crossover, an organisation which works with new media and documentaries.

From 2003 Croall worked for the Australian International Documentary Conference, where she became festival director and developed the MeetMarket pitching event.[1]

Croall has co-produced a number of films, in which directors edit together archive footage on a particular theme, soundtracked by original music.

• In 2012 Croall co-produced the first project to be made by Doc/Fest especially for the festival,[14] From the Sea to the Land Beyond. This is a documentary made up of archive footage from the British coast, directed by Penny Woolcock with an original soundtrack by British Sea Power.[15]

• In 2013 she co-produced The Big Melt, a documentary by Martin Wallace that similarly fused original music with archive footage. It was made to celebrate 100 years of stainless steel in Sheffield, with a live soundtrack scored by Jarvis Cocker. She also followed up From the Sea to the Land Beyond with its Australian equivalent, Girt by Sea, which was made for the Perth International Arts Festival on the theme of the Australian coast. Shane McNeil directed, with music by The Panics.[16]

• For 2014 Croall co-produced three films, again fusing archive footage with new, original soundtracks. Velorama told the story of a century of the bicycle. It was commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, and directed by Daisy Asquith with a soundtrack by Bill Nelson and Chumbawamba.[17] Love Is All brought together director Kim Longinotto with Sheffield singer/songwriter Richard Hawley, formerly of Pulp, to explore the theme of love.[18][19] And From Scotland with Love was commissioned as part of the Cultural Festival accompanying the 2014 Commonwealth Games, directed by Virginia Heath with a soundtrack by King Creosote.[20]

• In 2015 Croall co-produced two films, both for Storyville. Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise[21] was directed by Mark Cousins and soundtracked by Mogwai (who released the music as the album Atomic). The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals[22] was directed by Benedikt Erlingsson with music from Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Kjartan Dagur Holm.

In 2015 Croall received Sheffield Doc/Fest's Inspiration Award.[23] The Alliance of Women Film Journalists named Croall 2013's Ambassador of Women's Films for her work "to boost documentary film and open opportunities for women filmmakers",[24] and in 2011 Croall was named a trailblazer by Realscreen.[25]

She has appeared on BBC Two's The Review Show[26] and BBC Radio 4's The Media Show.[27]

• Adelaide Fringe official website
• Sheffield Doc/Fest official website