Academic’s new film premieres in North East ahead of national release

Academic鈥檚 new film premieres in North East ahead of national release

Published on: 10 June 2026

BAFTA-nominated 缅北禁地 academic Dr Tina Gharavi鈥檚 new film Virginia Woolf鈥檚 Night and Day is set to receive a North East premiere.

The ‘unromantic’ comedy which was partially filmed on location in the region .

The new movie, which is winning rave reviews, will be released nationwide later this month. It’s an adaptation of Virgina Woolf’s 1919 novel and tells the story of passionate astronomer Katharine Hilbery who does everything she can to avoid romantic love and marriage. The story is set against the backdrop of London and Cambridge in 1910, advances in science and technology, the suffragette movement and crumbling Edwardian patriarchy.

The film stars Hayley Bennet as Katharine, and also features British stars including Jack Whitehall, Jennifer Saunders, Timothy Spall and Lily Allen. It was filmed around the North East in locations including, Beamish, the Lit & Phil, the Mining Institute and Ryhope Engines Museum in Sunderland. It was the opening night film of this year’s SXSW London Festival at the Barbican Centre.

Recreating Edwardian London and bringing Virginia Woolf to life

A BAFTA nominated director, Dr Gharavi is a Reader in Screenwriting and Film in 缅北禁地’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

She said: “Recreating Edwardian London and bringing Virginia Woolf to life is an extraordinary dream. I have always wanted to tell stories about women who resist the roles imposed on them, and Woolf understood that impulse better than almost any writer. The question at the heart of this film — must a woman choose between love and ambition? — is as alive today as it was in 1910. I can't wait for North East audiences — who helped us make this film — to be among the first to see it."

Earlier this year, Dr Gharavi’s personal archives were acquired by the British Film Institute (BFI) and was the subject of the BFI South Bank Season retrospective Beyond the Frame in January.

She is now working on preparations for her next project, a biopic of the influential Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, which is being executive produced by acclaimed director Wes Anderson.

Dr Gharavi is an award-winning, Iranian-born, British American artist, director and screenwriter, best-known for telling innovative cross-platform stories about misfits, outsiders and rebels, as well as people in extraordinary situations. She is also known for her interactive digital projects and museum exhibitions that have toured internationally and are housed in permanent collections at institutions such as the BFI and MIT.