Leanne Pooley

Leanne Pooley ONZM is a Canadian filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television and film industry before moving to England where she worked for many of the world's top broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, PBS, Discovery etc.).She returned to New Zealand in 1997 and started the production company Spacific Films.Her career spans more than 25 years and she has won numerous international awards (including the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009).Leanne Pooley was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate in 2011 and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours List 2017.She is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Pooley's latest film is the Animated WW1 Feature "25 April" which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015 and has screened at film festivals around the world. "25 April"was the first New Zealand movie to be in contention for an Academy Award for animation.

In 2013 Leanne directedBeyond the Edge, a 3D feature film about the 1953 Ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay.The film was a runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2009 Pooley made the documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, a theatrical feature about the lives of lesbian, singing, twin sister comedy duo, the Topp Twins. The film has won 21 International Awards including at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Gothenburg International Film Festival, the Seattle Film Festival, New Doc New York, The Nashville Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival among others. It also won Best Feature at the NZ Film & TV Awards, and reached just under $2 million at the New Zealand box office.

Previous documentaries include; Shackleton's Captain, a documentary about Frank Worsley, captain of Shackleton's Endurance, The Man Who Has Everything for the American Discovery Network, Kiwi Buddha as seen on National Geographic and Haunting Douglas, described by Variety Magazine as an "Expertly crafted video portrait of modern dancer/choreographer Douglas Wright". Haunting Douglas earned Pooley the "Best Director" award at the 2005 New Zealand Screen Awards. Pooley made The Promise about the life of euthanasia advocate, Leslie Martin, winning the "Best Documentary" award at the 2006 New Zealand Screen Awards. Her documentary Try Revolution explores how rugby was used to help end apartheid in South Africa and featured among others Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Pooley's production company is Spacific Films based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Leanne serves as a judge for The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; EMMY Awards.She has taught documentary at various universities and filmschools and is an active member of the New Zealand Director’s Guild and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Leanne lives in Auckland with her husband and two children.

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• The Screen Director’s Guild of New Zealand
• The New Zealand Arts Foundation - Arts Laureate 2011