Zia Mandviwalla

Fascinated by different cultures and how "human emotion transcends culture", Zia Mandviwalla began making films after studying english and history at university. Indian-born but raised in Dubai, she moved to New Zealand at age 18. Her interest in "the people you walk past and don’t look twice at" is reflected in immigrant stories Amadi and Eating Sausage, plus her 2012 airport tale Night Shift. The latter won multiple awards, and was nominated for best short at prestigous festivals Cannes and Sundance. Mandviwalla has also directed many commercials, and episodes of Netflix shows Chef's Table and Home Game.

Human emotion transcends culture — we all know and understand loneliness, isolation, separation etc regardless of what language we speak or what food we cook at home. For me, the authenticity lies in bringing truthful human experience to the screen. Zia Mandviwalla, in a 4 February 2010 Big Idea interview