Heather Croall

Heather Ann Croall (born ) is an Australian arts administrator and documentary filmmaker. She is best known for leading Sheffield Doc/Fest in Sheffield, England, and Adelaide Fringe, in Adelaide, South Australia. She was CEO and artistic director of the Adelaide Fringe from 2015 - 2026. She was appointed Director of historic home and arts venue Carrick Hill on 20 February 2026. She wrote, directed, and co-produced Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa in 1999, and has co-produced several documentary films, including The Big Melt, From Scotland with Love (2014), and Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise (2015). She co-wrote as well as directed and produced a documentary film made as a tribute to her father, Yer Old Faither, released in 2020.

Early life and education Heather Ann Croall of Scottish parents originally from Glasgow. Her father, John, was a gynaecologist and obstetrician, and her mother, Ruth, had a love for the performing arts.

The family of five migrated as "Ten Pound Poms" to South Australia when Heather was three, and she grew up in the thriving industrial town of Whyalla, South Australia. The family attended many performances of touring musicians, dancers, and other stage performers, and also travelled to Adelaide to see more shows.

In 2003, Croall was appointed as festival director and CEO for the Australian International Documentary Conference, The 2005 event attracted a record number of international buyers. and changed the date of the festival from November to June. She brought in the MeetMarket pitching forum, which in 2011 generated £5.6 million worth of business for producers. By the time of her last festival, industry delegate attendance had grown to over 3,200, and public attendance to over 26,000.

In February 2015, Croall left Doc/Fest to become CEO and festival director of the Adelaide Fringe, She brought in a local version of the Meetmarket idea, called HoneyPot. and the festival continued to flourish even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with over a million ticket sales in 2023.

Filmmaking In 1993, Croall set up a film production company, Re Angle Pictures, to produce and direct documentaries.

Croall wrote, directed, and co-produced Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa, which tells the story of Samoan faʻafafines, or "third gender" people. In an old tradition, boys are raised as girls, playing an important domestic role in Samoan culture. The film screened in many international festivals from 1999 until 2002, The film shows the effect of uranium mining and the 1950s British nuclear testing in South Australia on Indigenous communities in the state. It was made with the assistance of SBS Independent and the Indigenous Unit of the Australian Film Commission, with support from the SAFC, as part of the National Indigenous Documentary Fund Series 5.

In 2012 Croall commissioned and co-produced a project at Doc/Fest especially for the festival, 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.

In 2013 Croall co-produced The Big Melt, a documentary by Martin Wallace and Jarvis Cocker that similarly fused original music with archival footage. It was made to celebrate 100 years of stainless steel in Sheffield, with a live soundtrack scored by Jarvis Cocker, and opened the 20th Sheffield Doc/Fest at the Sheffield Crucible. Love Is All brought together director Kim Longinotto with Sheffield singer/songwriter Richard Hawley, formerly of Pulp, to explore the theme of love. 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.

In 2015 Croall co-produced two films, both for the BBC series Storyville. Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise was directed by Mark Cousins and soundtracked by Mogwai. The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals.

In 2016, she co-produced Girt by Sea for the Perth International Arts Festival on the theme of the Australian coast. Shane McNeil directed, with music by The Panics.

Croall co-wrote, directed, and produced a documentary film about her father and her home town of Whyalla, called Yer Old Faither, which premiered at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival and won the Audience Award, Documentary. It was also selected for screening at the Glasgow Film Festival, and was screened at the Doc Edge film festival in New Zealand.

Other activities and media appearances In 2012 Croall sat on the US Documentary jury at the Sundance Film Festival, and BBC Radio 4's The Media Show (2013). In 2013, she was one of 17 people from the film and television industries to sit on the 25th anniversary advisory committee for POV, a PBS documentary series in the United States. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists named Croall 2013 Ambassador of Women's Films for her work "to boost documentary film and open opportunities for women filmmakers". "for services to film and culture". In 2015 Croall received Sheffield Doc/Fest's Inspiration Award, which has been awarded since 2009 to someone "who has championed causes in the documentary world".

In 2018, she was the recipient of an Ambassador Award from the Governor's Aboriginal Employment Industry Cluster program (a joint initiative by state and federal governments, established in 2010 ), to recognise her contribution to the establishing of the Arts and Culture Cluster, as well as serving as the inaugural chair.

In 2020 Croall won the Leadership Award at the SA Woman Awards and in 2021, she was nominated as Leader of the Year in the South Australian Woman of the Year Awards. Also in 2021, she was awarded the Superhero Award at the Doc Edge Festival in New Zealand, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the documentary industry.

Croall won the Festival Management CEO of the Year 2022 (Australia) as voted by CEO Monthly magazine. In 2023, Croall was listed in the Top 10 Most Admired Women Leaders by Success Pitchers magazine. In the same year, she was named SA Person of the Year at the SA Life Absolute Best Awards.

Croall was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the performing arts, as an administrator, advocate and film maker".

Selected filmography As producer We of Little Voice (2002) From the Sea to the Land Beyond (2012) The Big Melt (2013) Velorama (2014) Love Is All (2014) From Scotland with Love (2014) Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise (2015) The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals (2015) Girt by Sea (2016) Yer Old Faither(2020)

As writer, director, producer Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa (1999) Yer Old Faither (2020)

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