Clément Virgo
| Clement Virgo | |
|---|---|
Virgo in 2012
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| Born |
June 1, 1966 Montego Bay, Jamaica |
| Occupation | Film director, television director, film producer, television producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Website | www.conqueringlionpictures.com |
Clement Virgo (born June 1, 1966 in Montego Bay, Jamaica) is a Canadian film and television writer, producer and director who runs the production company, Conquering Lion Pictures, with producer Damon D'Oliveira. Virgo is best known for co-writing and directing an adaptation of the novel by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes (2015), a six-part miniseries that aired on CBC Television in Canada and BET in the United States.
Born in Jamaica, Virgo immigrated to Canada at the age of 11. In the summer of 1991, he attended the Canadian Film Centre’s inaugural Summer Lab initiative as a screenwriter, where he developed the screenplay for what would later become his feature film debut, Rude (1995).
At the CFC, Virgo met a strong group of other Canadian filmmakers, including Mina Shum, Stephen Williams (director), Joan Jenkinson, Robert Adetuyi, Beatrice Mosionier and Damon D'Oliveira. Virgo made the stylized award-winning short film, Save My Lost Nigga’ Soul, through the CFC’s Short Film Program. He wrote and directed while D’Oliveira produced the film, which won Best Film prizes at the Toronto, Fespaco and Chicago Film Festivals.
After this success, Virgo and D’Oliveira were invited to participate in the CFC’s film residency program in 1992 (which would later become the Features Program at the Canadian Film Centre). Together, Virgo and D’Oliveira established Conquering Lion Pictures and produced their first feature film, Rude. It had its world premiere at Cannes as part of the Un certain regard program.
Virgo's next films, The Planet of Junior Brown, which earned Virgo an Emmy nomination, and Love Come Down, were followed by Lie with Me, which caused a stir at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival for its artistically daring portrayal of explicit sexual themes. Starring Lauren Lee Smith and Eric Balfour, Lie With Me had its European premiere at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama Section. It has been distributed internationally in over 30 territories, and sold to Showtime in the United States.
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