Vita & Virginia

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

First we learned in Wild Nights With Emily that Emily Dickinson was gay and sent sexy love letters to her brother’s wife (so much for that spinster image we were all taught,) and now, in Vita & Virginia, we learn that Virginia Woolf’s love affair with another woman inspired her classic novel, Orlando. What else didn’t they teach us in school? Next you’ll be telling me that Shakespeare was bisexual.

In 1920s London the paths of poet, novelist and wealthy socialite Vita Sackville-West and of famed writer Virginia Woolf cross. The women are instantly drawn to each other, and although both are already married (to men no less) they embark on a passionate affair. Like with Wild Nights With Emily, Vita & Virginia is based on the love letters that Woolf and Sackville-West sent to each other. The effect of this relationship was profound on Woolf and it inspired her to write one of her most popular novels, Orlando, the adventures of a gender-changing poet who lives for centuries.

Vita & Virginia was directed by Chanya Button from a script she co-wrote with Eileen Atkins, adapted from Atkins’ 1992 stage play of the same name. The film stars Gemma Arterton as Vita Sackville-West and Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf. Isabella Rossellini also stars in the film as Lady Sackville.

Vita & Virginia premiered on September 11, 2018 as a special presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in the UK on July 5, 2019 and will be released in the US on August 23, 2019 by IFC Films. It will also be available in the US on VOD on August 30, 2019.