Born
in Mosta, Malta, Valerie Buhagiar immigrated to Canada with her parents
in 1964. Pursuing a theatrical career, by the time she was 18 years old,
she had toured China, the United States and Canada as a puppeteer. Graduating
from Toronto’s George Brown College’s Acting Programme in 1986, Valerie's
writing, directing and producing debut was The Passion of Rita Camilleri,
a film winning several awards including the Silver Plaque at the Chicago
Film Festival in 1993. Ms. Buhagiar has won several theatre awards including
two separate Dora Mavor Moore Awards for The Lorca Play and White Trash,
Blue Eyes. This view of Valerie Buhagiar, right, was recently taken at
the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic where a retrospective
of her work as an actor and filmmaker was featured. She is currently the
host of The Showcase Revue. [Photo, courtesy Valerie Buhagiar]