Curious Film director Zia Mandviwalla’s ‘Night Shift’ to screen at Sydney Film Festival, June 16
Curious Film director Zia Mandviwalla’s film Night Shift is back from competing at Cannes and is now showing at this year’s Sydney Film Festival on June 16, 2012.
It marks the second year of Cannes recognition for Curious Film (with writer/director Stephen Kang selected for the Cannes Semaine de la Critique Grand Prix in 2011).
Night Shift tells the story of an airport cleaner named Salote and follows her on one of her long nightly shifts. She carries out her duties whilst trying to draw minimal attention to herself, as she 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.
Says Mandviwalla: “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 Matt Noonan (founder and executive producer of Curious Film) along with Chelsea Winstanley, 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.
Curious Film has another three films also screening at this year’s Sydney Film Festival. The films include: the Australian premier of Policeman, an Israeli film by director Nadav Lapid (which showed on June 7); French film Polisse by writer/director Maiwenn; along with the world premiere of Miro Bilborough’s debut feature Being Venice.
Sydney Film Festival
Screening Times:
Night Shift: June 16 @ 1.35pm
Polisse: June 12 @ 8.45pm and June 13 @ 6.30pm
Policeman: June 7 @ 6.30pm and June 13 @ 2.15pm
Being Venice: June 15 @ 7.15pm and June 16 @ 2.30pm