CURIOUS FILM’S DIRECTOR ZIA SET FOR CANNES

Curious Film writer/director Zia Mandviwalla’s short film Night Shift has been selected out of 4,500 film entries for the 2012 Cannes International Film Festival where it will compete in the prestigious Palme d’or short film category. It marks the second year of Cannes recognition for Curious Film, with writer/director Stephen Kang selected for the Semaine de la Critique Grand Prix in 2011.

Vying for first place up against nine other international contenders, Night Shift tells the story of airport cleaner Salote, who tries to make it through another long shift. She does her job, does not draw attention to herself, and carves out her survival from what commuters leave behind. Amidst the comings and goings, Salote struggles to find her way back home.

Night Shift is the award-winning director’s fourth short film. Mandviwalla was named SPADA’s New Filmmaker of the Year in 2009, and over the past few years she has won Best Short Film Script at the NZ Screen Director’s Guild Awards, Best Director and Best Short Film at Fitzroy Shorts, Melbourne, and a Grand Jury nomination at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York. Her work has screened at global festivals in London, New Zealand and Pusan.

“The news that we were selected to screen in competition at Cannes took me completely by surprise,” says Mandviwalla. “I am so very honored and excited to represent New Zealand this year at this incredible and prestigious film festival,” she adds.

“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.”

Produced by Curious Film founder and executive producer Matt Noonan along with Chelsea Winstanley (based in Auckland), Night Shift was funded through the New Zealand Film Commission’s (NZFC) Premiere Shorts programme. Executive producers are Maile Daugherty and Michael Bennett from A Collective Intake of Breath.

“To be invited to Cannes is something every film maker aspires to and dreams of and this is a tremendous acknowledgement of Zia's talent and commitment, plus that of her great team of passionate film makers,” says Noonan. “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 and I'm excited to be part of the team representing NZ in competition at the French Festival in 2012,” he adds.

Selection for Cannes in an incredible achievement for any filmmaker, confirms NZFC Short Film manager Lisa Chatfield. “Zia’s film is utterly compelling and will be a strong contender for the main short film award,” she says.