‘Night Shift’ by Curious director Zia Mandviwalla selected for Cannes International Film Festival
‘Night Shift’, the short film by Curious director Zia Mandviwalla, (left), has been selected for the 2012 Cannes International Film Festival where it will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or for short films against nine other international competitors.
Mandviwalla, who was born in India and immigrated to New Zealand in 1996, was named SPADA’s New Filmmaker of the Year in 2009. Night Shift is her third short film. Her work has screened at film festivals worldwide including London, Pusan and Melbourne and she has won the Best Short Film Script at the 2005 NZ Screen Director’s Guild Awards, Best Director and Best Short Film at Fitzroy Shorts in Melbourne and a grand jury nomination at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York in 2008.
She has also represented New Zealand at the Berlinale Talent Campus and in the same year was invited to the Accelerator program at the Melbourne International Film Festival and has been represented by Curious Film in Australia and New Zealand since 2010.
‘Night Shift’ was produced by Matt Noonan & Chelsea Winstanley. The film tells of Salote, an airport cleaner who tries to makes it through another long night shift. She does her job, tries not to draw attention to herself and gleans her survival from what others leave behind. Amidst the comings and goings, Salote struggles to find her way home.
Says Curious Film’s Noonan: “To be invited to Cannes is something every film maker aspires to and dreams of, this is a tremendous acknowledgement of Zia’s talent and commitment, and also that of her great team of passionate film makers. It’s a beautiful film that I’m very proud to be involved with, I can’t speak highly enough of Zia and the rest of her crew, I’m excited to be part of the team representing NZ in competition at the French Festival in 2012.”
Says Mandviwalla: “The news that we were selected to screen in competition at Cannes took me completely by surprise. I am so very honored and excited to represent New Zealand this year at this incredible and prestigious film festival! Night Shift wouldn’t be the film that it is without the support and hard work of an exceptional cast and crew. This achievement is something I share with everyone who worked on the film.”
2 Comments
Well done to ZIa and well done to Curious! That’s two years in a row for your films at Cannes. Here’s to hoping you scoop another grand prix!!
Congrats Zia. looking forward to see the film and all the best.
Let me have your contact details.