Maheen Zia – Gardener by day, Filmmaker by night.
Maheen Zia is a filmmaker, permaculture designer and teacher. Her documentary work has aired both locally and internationally on Al Jazeera, Nat Geo, NHK, Geo Television Network, Aaj Television and Samaa Television. In 2008 she received the Berlin Today Award for her short fiction film ‘Match Factor’. In 2015, her first feature length documentary ‘Lyari Notes’ had its World Premiere at IDFA in the Panorama section. The film was supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund, CBA WorldView, Alter-Cine Foundation and co-produced by Al Jazeera where it was aired on Witness in December 2015.
She has produced documentaries for WWF and IUCN Pakistan, Mott MacDonald, ADB, CAREC, Engro Foundation, SPO, Aahung and Newsline Films, amongst others. She is also a Film Independent and U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs 2019-2020 Global Media Makers Fellowship recipient.
She has served as an International Jury Member for the Dhaka International Film Festival, Fajr International Film Festival, Kabul Documentary and Short Film Festival, Hyderabad International Film Festival, Tehran International Short Film Festival, and the Tampere Film Festival. Maheen has a long-standing interest in natural heritage and environmental sustainability and helped set up the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society and Karachi Farmers’ Market. In 2022 she became certified as a permaculture designer by world renowned permaculturist Geoff Lawton. In 2023 she received the British Council’s Gender Ecologies grant for her training and up-skilling project ‘Permaculture Gardens of Resilience.’ For the past few years Maheen has also been collaborating with APMC Karachi to build an archive of recordings of master practitioners of classical music in Pakistan. Her second feature documentary ‘Mela’ following small town performance circuits is also currently in production. When not called away for work, Maheen can be found tending to her wild edible garden in her urban homestead in Karachi, where she shares space with a few humans and an assortment of animals.