Mira Nair talks about her new projects, film on Ugandan girl

Award-winning Indian filmmaker Mira Nair is in the Sultanate to attend the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF) being held until March 31 across various venues.

In an exclusive interview with Times TV, she opened up about her career in the industry spanning over three decades, her upcoming projects and her film, ‘Queen of Katwe’, that was screened during the festival.

The film is a true story based on the life of a girl from Uganda, Phiona, her struggle with poverty and racism and her eventual discovery of a love for chess. The movie that was released in 2016 received critical acclaim globally and was wholeheartedly lauded by the attendees of the festival.

During the Wow Women event held at PACA, a Ugandan woman, who currently works as a journalist, expressed how she and her daughters were moved to tears after watching the movie and how well she could relate to it.

“I need to thank you for making such a film and representing Ugandan women in such a beautiful way. My daughters had tears in their eyes while watching the movie,” she said to Nair, who graciously took the time to respond to her questions during a panel discussion, and expressed joy on having spoken to her.

In the panel, she was accompanied by Yusra Mouzughi from Muscat University and filmmaker Amita Vyas. All three of them spoke about the role of women in the industry and how the society needs to encourage and empower young women globally to come forward and create art.

Vyas’ film “Girl Rising” was also screened at the festival. It is a documentary about nine girls from Haiti, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Peru, Egypt and India.