Spotlight Events feature conversations with high-profile film and television industry professionals who share helpful advice and insights on their career experiences and creative processes.

Mira Nair rose to fame with her Academy Award nominated first feature, Salaam Bombay! Since then, she has created groundbreaking, cross-cultural films including Mississippi Masala, which premiered at Sundance in 1992 and screened again as part of the 40th anniversary program, and Monsoon Wedding, a huge box-office success for which Nair was the first woman to win Venice Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Lion. Her other fiction films include The Namesake, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Vanity Fair, and Queen of Katwe. She recently directed Monsoon Wedding The Musical, which opened in New York City in May 2023 and is bound for Broadway. 

Nair is known for her intimate portrayals of characters and relationships not often seen on screen. She has directed several documentaries and is a prominent social activist. In 1988, Nair founded Salaam Baalak Trust for Indian street children. In 2004, she created the Maisha Film Lab in 2004, a free school to train filmmakers in Africa. She splits her time between Uganda and New York and has enjoyed a long and meaningful collaboration with producer Lydia Dean Pilcher. 

For this Spotlight Event, Nair will discuss working with actors, finding magic on set, and working internationally.