Name: Afia Nathaniel

Recipient Year: 2025

Description: Raised between Lahore and air force bases, Afia grew up with a deep love for fighter jet planes, long road trips and discovering worlds hiding in plain sight. Afia’s debut feature DUKHTAR – a road trip thriller - premiered to a rousing reception at Toronto in 2014 and was Pakistan’s Oscar submission. DUKHTAR played to critical acclaim in over 20 countries to rave reviews, labelled as “exquisite” by NYT, and became the Critics’ Pick (Village Voice) and the People Magazine’s Pick of the Week. Afia’s latest short film DON’T BE LATE, MYRA – a survival thriller set in Lahore – is now Oscar-qualified and has had a decorated festival run in the US, UK and Germany. Through her films, Afia explores pressing social justice issues of our times which a critic lauded as “a stunning, emotive work that takes to task oppressive patriarchy”. In 2022, Afia directed two episodes of Chicago Med for NBCU and became the first Pakistani-American female director to be hired by a US network/studio for one-hour dramas.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afianathaniel/