Deepa Mehta

Torontobased writer director and producer Deepa Mehtas father was a film distributor who owned a number of movie theatres in India As a child Mehta watched hundreds of movies in her fathers theatres but did not have an early interest in becoming a filmmaker She studied philosophy at the University of New Delhi but after graduating she went to work for a company that made educational and documentary films for the Indian government Mehta had the opportunity to direct her first film a documentary about a child bride based on the experience of a fifteen yearold girl who had worked in Mehtas family home It was at this time that Mehta met Paul Saltzman a young Canadian filmmaker who was doing research in New Delhi They married moved to Toronto in 1973 and with Mehtas brother Dilip started Sunrise Films In 1974 Mehta made her Canadian directorial debut with an acclaimed documentary emAt 99 A Portrait of Louise Tandyem Together Saltzman and Mehta undertook a documentary film series emSpread Your Wingsem about the inventiveness and dedication to crafts of young people around the world In 1985 Deepa Mehta directed emTraveling Lightem a television documentary about her brother Dilip a renowned photojournalist This film was nominated for three Gemini awards and was a finalist award at the 1987 New York International Film and Television Festival Saltzman and Mehta divorced in 1990 Their daughter Devyani Saltzman is a writer Deepa Mehtas feature emSam amp Meem won a Golden Camera Special Mention at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival emFireem opened the Perspective Canada Program at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival where it tied with emFly Away Homeem for the Air Canada Peoples Choice Award It was one of twentynine films selected from more than 1400 entries for the prestigious New York Film Festival At the Vancouver International Film Festival emFireem won the Federal Express Award for Best Canadian Film as chosen by the audience At the Chicago International Film Festival it won two Silver Hugo Awards for Best Direction and Best Actress In Mannheim emFireem won the Jury Award and in Paris it was voted Favorite Foreign Film emWaterem was chosen to open the 2005 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival Work on that film began in 2000 but she was forced to abandon the project after Hindu fundamentalists prevented her from shooting in Varanasi India Then in 2004 she decided to go ahead with the film but with a totally different cast and in a different location emWaterem was nominated for a best foreignlanguage Oscar in January 2007 Her 2016 film emAnatomy of Violenceem will have its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival brbrAlso see Deepa Mehta talks about a relnofollow relnofollow hrefhttpsvimeocom137792725 targetblankThe making of Midnights ChildrenabrAlso see a hrefhttpwwwnorthernstarscamehtadeepainterviewBollywood North An interview with Deepa MehtaabrAlso see a hrefhttpswwwnorthernstarscadeepamehtasfunnyboyoncbce280a8Deepa Mehtas Funny Boy on CBCabrbr