About

Cathy Henkel has worked as a documentary producer/director and writer since 1988, and is founding director of Virgo Productions, an award-winning, boutique screen industries company.

Her work is focused on inspiring, positive, global stories with cross-platform delivery, engaging audiences world-wide through cinema, television, online, mobile and education platforms.

Cathy’s credits include The Burning Season (ABC, BBC, CBC, PBS, National Geographic, IF Award for Best Documentary 2008, nominated for an Emmy), I told you I was ill: Spike Milligan (ABC, BBC1, RTE) and The Man who Stole my Mother’s Face (Broadcast in 26 countries, IF Award and Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best Feature Documentary 2004).

Cathy has won numerous other awards including SPA Documentary Producer of the Year (2009), the Brian Beaton Award (2019), an ACS Award, two IF Awards and numerous ADG and AFI nominations. She co-produced and directed Show me the Magic, about acclaimed cinematographer Don McAlpine and Rise of the Eco-Warriors, an action adventure feature documentary set in Borneo, which was re-versioned as a 13 part TV series.

Cathy’s latest film, Laura’s Choice, co-directed with her daughter Sam Lara, premiered at Revelation Film Festival in December 2020 and won the inaugural Innovation in Feature Documentary Award at the Western Australian Screen Culture Awards. It has played at multiple festivals around the world and won numerous awards and nominations.

Cathy is the Director of the WA Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University. The Screen Academy is a leading education provider for the screen industry sector, and works in close collaboration with the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). In 2016, the Screen Academy became a member of the prestigious CILECT association of international film schools.

Cathy has a PhD from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and was appointed as Director of the Screen Academy at ECU in 2014. In 2017, she won an Excellence in Teaching Award at the Vice Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Awards, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. She was the WA Chapter Head for the Australian Director’s Guild from 2016 – 2020 and a board member for the Australian International Documentary Conference from 2017 – 2022.

In 2023, Cathy Henkel received the Stanley Hawes Award, a prestigious lifetime achievement presented by the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) for her contribution to the documentary and factual sector.