Naman Shrestha
Between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos killed several men while working as a sex worker in the state of Florida. When the authorities connected the murders to her, they arrested her at a local bar for a separate crime. In the following days, she made a chilling confession to the police and admitted to killing the men in self-defense. The crimes and background of the female serial killer are the primary subjects of Netflix’s ‘Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers,’ a true crime documentary film, which also features footage of her exclusive interview with an Australian filmmaker named Jasmine Hirst.
Jasmine Hirst Maintained a Decade Long Correspondence With Aileen Wuornos
While Aileen Wuornos was incarcerated for the murders of several men in Florida, an Australian filmmaker named Jasmine Hirst was intrigued by the serial killer. The two women exchanged multiple letters with each other and became pen pals, which led to Aileen giving her an exclusive interview while on death row in Florida in 1997. During their conversation, the convict told her what happened and what led to the killings. After the interview, she began working on a documentary on Aileen Wuornos. The footage of the interview has also featured on Investigation Discovery’s documentaries.
Jasmine Hirst is a New York-based Photographer, Videographer, and Artist Today
Born in 1963 in Brisbane, Australia, Jasmine Hirst graduated from the National Art School with a degree in Photography and Painting, before attending the University of New South Wales, where she pursued a master’s degree in Photography. However, way before getting her degrees, she had been working as an artist since 1981. In fact, during the 1980s, she also exhibited her artwork at Syme Dodson Gallery, Holdsworth Contemporary Galleries, Performance Space, and Arthaus Gallery in Sydney. After graduating in 1994, she continued working as a freelancer, taking up photography, videography, and editing gigs. Over the years, her films have made it to the collection of the New York Film-Makers’ Coop of the New American Cinema Group.
On top of that, they have also been screened at various venues, including London’s The Horse Hospital Gallery, the Sydney Underground Film Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and Lincoln Center in New York. The talented filmmaker has numerous short films to her credit, including ‘You Can Execute Her But You Can’t Kill Her,’ ‘Sexual Homicide Detective,’ ‘Trailers,’ ‘City of Night,’ and ‘Artists – Depression, Anxiety & Rage.’ Having worked with Lydia Lunch for several years, she has also directed a music video for her and Family in Mourning — “Last Time We Met.” Besides that, Jasmine is also a photographic artist whose art has been exhibited worldwide in places like the Casa Del Pane in Milan, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Springel Museum in Hanover, Illuminated Metropolis Gallery in New York, the Mori Gallery in Sydney, and AMP/Art Market Provincetown.
Currently based in New York City, Jasmine continues to collaborate with Lydia, whom she first encountered before a show in Australia in the 1990s. Since 2019, she has been serving as a videographer for ‘The Lydian Spin Podcast.’ The filmmaker and videographer has also collaborated with several New York artists and musicians, like Chris Rael, Penny Arcade, Maleroom, Jennifer Blowdryer, George Scherer, and more. Apart from that, Jasmine also has experience working as an art therapist for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Assault in Wollongong, Wards of the State, and the NSW Department of Community Services. In September 2025, she served as the photographer at an event at The Bowery Electric, hosted by Liz Lamere, her regular collaborator. Although not much is known about her personal life, it seems that Jasmine leads an active social life and owns a cat named Panther, with whom she lives in her New York City house.
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