For the Love of Directing [Film Festival Masterclass]
Event Details:
Date: Sunday, March 7th
Time: 4pm PT / 7pm ET
Duration: 1 hr
Location on the Festival Map: ‘The Hall’
Speakers: Lena Khan
In partnership with South Asians In Entertainment
This Session
Best Practices in Directing with the director of newly released Disney's Flora & Ulysses
Speaker Bio
A writer and director, Lena debuted her first longform movie The Tiger Hunter in 2016. The film, starring Danny Pudi, Karen David and Jon Heder, follows an Muslim-Indian immigrant on his journey to discover where he fits in 1970s America.
February 19 was the release of Lena’s first film she directed for Disney, Flora & Ulysses - based on Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery-winning book. The film stars actors Ben Schwartz, Bobby Moynihan, Danny Pudi, Alyson Hannigan and theater actress Matilda Lawler as 10-year-old Flora.
Lena is currently directing multiple episodes of the Netflix’s hit series by Mindy Kaping, Never Have I Ever, starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan and Richa Moorjani.
Lena gained experience at companies like Participant Media (Syriana, The Kite Runner) before focusing on directing her own work. She has directed commercials, films and music videos for international artists such as Maher Zain and her videos have been broadcast on TV across the world and received over 20 million hits on YouTube.
Lena graduated summa cum laude from the prestigious UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, after which she spent years gaining experience at renowned film companies. Lena has gained extensive knowledge of what qualities a film needs to be successful, and brings those aspects into co writing and directing The Tiger Hunter.
Lena has been profiled in USA Today, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, and various other media outlets; won Sony Entertainment Television’s South Asian Excellence Award for contributions to entertainment, and now dedicates herself to making films that call attention to social issues through fun and engaging entertainment.
About South Asians In Entertainment (SAIE)
SAIE (and it’s womxn-forward community, South Asian Women In Entertainment SAWIE) are dedicated to using the voices of South Asian’s in entertainment and their experiences, knowledge and power to uplift each other and the next generation of talent in the entertainment industry through education, partnership, and mentorship.
About The South Asian Film Fest of America
Showcasing diversity, creativity and a multi hyphenated identity, the South Asian Film Festival of America (#southasianfilmfest) is an international screening and awards platform for South Asians to showcase their films and digital work. We're a culture-impact film festival for the new generation of South Asian creatives to share their experiences and narratives through feature films, short films, web-series, and music videos with global audiences. We welcome stories from and inclusive of individuals with South Asian heritage, the diaspora, immigrants, and from the sub-continent itself.
**This event is included in the following tickets:
South Asian Film Fest [All Masterclasses]
South Asian Film Fest [ALL Screenings + Q&As + Masterclasses]
Head to The Hall
for this session