Eva Justine Torkkola is a writer, director and producer based in Melbourne, Australia with ukrainian/finnish heritage.
2019: Eva graduated from the Masters of Film and Television (Directing - Narrative) at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. In her final year of study, she was selected as one of twenty emerging filmmakers from around the world to attend the International Filmmaking Academy in Italy with masterclass teacher Jane Campion, also featuring Francis Ford Coppola. That year, Eva was also chosen for the international Looking China filmmaking program and was invited to Xi’an to make a documentary.
2020: Eva was a leading lights recipient, chosen as one of forty emerging Australian documentary filmmakers at the Australian International Documentary Conference. Eva was also nominated for an Australian Directors' Guild award for ‘Best Direction in a Student Film’, and an Australian Writers' Guild award for ‘Best Short Film’ for her graduate drama short SOMETHING HAS DIED IN THE FOREST (ЩОСЬ В ЛIСI ЗДОХЛО).
2021: Eva was one of fourteen participants for the Cinespace Package to Pitch program, an Australian masterclass series on pitching for television. Eva was also shortlisted for the Australian Writers’ Guild Monte Miller awards with her short script, Viktor.
2022: Eva was selected by VICScreen as one of three Victorian filmmakers for the Melbourne International Film Festival Accelerator Lab. She was also on the winning team as film director of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Pitch: Focus national short film competition in partnership with sony.
2024: Eva graduated from the Masters of Screenwriting at the University of Melbourne. She was also selected as one of 25 filmmakers from around the world for the Filmmaking Accelerator with Werner Herzog, making a short film under his mentorship in the Canary Islands.
2025: Eva was selected as one of 8 international screenwriters for the NOSTOS Screenwriting Residency in Tuscany with mentor Lorien McKenna, as well as being selected for the Stowe Story Labs Facing In/Facing Out Development Workshop in Galway, Ireland. Eva was also chosen as one of 17 producers for the inaugural 2025 Social Enterprise for Screen, a national masterclass program designed for underrepresented creatives who want to use the power of screen to make the world a better place, supported by Creative Plus Business and Screenrights Cultural Fund.
Eva is currently developing several projects across her slate, including two feature films and two television shows. Prior to film, Eva was an actor in theatre and has a Bachelor of Arts (Acting). She works as a casual acting tutor for the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA Open) in Melbourne and is also currently writing her debut novel.
