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Ward is actively developing new feature film projects whilst also focusing on public gallery art projects. In an 8-month period he had three solo exhibitions of large-scale painting, print, photographic and cinematic installation work. In 2011 he presented Breath an exhibition of paintings, photographs and cinematic installations at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth. This was followed by the 2012 Auckland twin solo exhibitions Inhale and Exhale at the Gus Fisher Gallery and TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, respectively. He launched a third book, Inhale | Exhale, to coincide with his twin Auckland shows (Ron Sang Publishing). His art work is featured throughout its 180 large-format pages. Ward has been invited to the 9th Shanghai Biennale 2012. He was New Zealand's first entrant to the Biennale with one of the very few solo pavilion shows, Auckland Station: Destinies Lost and Found, held in an historic former church on The Bund.

In 2010 he published Vincent Ward: The Past Awaits, part mid-career chronicle and part large-format film photo book. The book collects together poignant images from all of his feature films, including Vigil, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey, Map of the Human Heart, What Dreams May Come, River Queen and Rain of the Children, as well as earlier films and others developed but never made. Interwoven with the images in The Past Awaits is also a fascinating part-memoir in which he explains why these films were made, and examines the themes that interest and motivate him. "This book is about the search to stay whole through making films, of being inspired by the people I have worked with and made films about, and how by seeing these lives it is perhaps easier to see more clearly into my own." German filmmaker Wim Wenders said:

Rain of the Children followed in 2008, wherein Ward retells the story of Puhi, the elderly Māori woman who was the subject of his earlier documentary In Spring One Plants Alone. Chosen by the audience from among 250 feature films, Rain of the Children won the Grand Prix at Era New Horizons Film Festival. The film was nominated for best director and won best composer at the Qantas Film and TV Awards in New Zealand. Vincent Ward was also nominated for best director at the Australian Directors Guild Awards.

In 2005, he returned to New Zealand and made River Queen. The film won respectable audiences at home, but initial reviews crossed the gamut, and tales of the troubled winter shoot dominated the film's release.

The 2003 epic, The Last Samurai was inspired by a project developed by Ward. The film was in development for nearly four years and after approaching several directors, including Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Weir, he became executive producer. In the end, the job of director went to Edward Zwick.

During seven years in and out of Hollywood, Ward developed multiple projects, and took some small acting roles. He signed on to direct What Dreams May Come (1998), after adding the plot idea that gives the film its unusual painterly look. Released in the United States on 2,600 screens, the tale of a man (Robin Williams) searching for his departed wife in heaven and hell scored mixed reviews and poor box office, but won a 1999 Academy Award for its special effects.

Map of the Human Heart (1993) charts the ebbs and flows of a relationship between an Inuit boy, a Métis girl and a visiting British cartographer. Screened as a work in progress at Cannes in 1992, it was later nominated for best film at the Australian Film Institute Awards. American critic Roger Ebert praised its unpredictability, sense of adventure—and "two of the most astonishing romantic scenes I've ever seen in a movie".

In 1990, Ward and John Fasano wrote a script for Alien 3, a proposed sequel to the film Aliens. They were the fourth and fifth of ten different writers to tackle the Alien 3 project. Much of the plot and several of the characters from Ward's script were fused with the prison setting from David Twohy's proposed script to form the basis of Alien 3 as it was ultimately made. Ward's screenplay was written after Twohy's proposed script was rejected, and was followed by the first draft of what would become the final shooting script, written by Walter Hill and David Giler.

Ward's films have earned critical acclaim and festival attention whilst reaching an international audience. Vigil, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Map of the Human Heart (1993) were the first films by a New Zealander to be officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Between them they garnered close to 30 national and international awards (including the Grand Prix at festivals in Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the United States).

Ward's planned follow-up was The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988), which utilises "medieval" blue and orange tones to capture a group of 14th-century Cumbrian villagers after they tunnel through the earth, and find themselves in modern-day Auckland. Ward described the film to The Evening Post as "a muscular adventure story, a quest film"—and also as a collision, a "juxtaposition of two time periods which enables you to see your own time through fresh eyes".

His debut feature-length movie, Vigil (1984), follows "a solitary child who imagines, fantasises and dreams". Partly inspired by Ward's partly rural upbringing in the Wairarapa, it was shot in the Taranaki after exhaustive searches for the right location, and the right person (Fiona Kay) to play the central girl. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey won major awards at both the Australian and New Zealand film industry awards and has a freshness, depth and vitality that keep them alive, well and attracting audiences today.

At the age of 21, in 1978, he shot A State of Siege, a medium-length film that adapted a novel by his countrywoman Janet Frame. Ward has described Siege as his first "public" film. At least five predated it. While working towards a Diploma in Fine Arts (with Honours) at Ilam in Christchurch, he'd found his interest drifting from painting and sculpture towards filmmaking and animation.

In 1978–81, he made the documentary In Spring One Plants Alone, which won the 1982 Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel (Paris), and a Silver Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival. It tells the story of an old Māori woman named Puhi and her schizophrenic son Niki. Ward had stayed with them in and off while learning more about Māori traditions.

Vincent Ward ONZM (born 16 February 1956) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and artist, who was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007 for his contribution to film making. His films have received international recognition at both the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival and they are acclaimed for their strong, iconic imagery. The Boston Globe called him "one of film's great image makers", while Roger Ebert, one of America's foremost film critics, hailed him as "a true visionary."

Ward was born on 16 February 1956 in Greytown, New Zealand. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream and also trained at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the age of 18, while still at art school, he began writing and directing.