Preity G Zinta is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se.. in 1998, followed by a role in Soldier in the same year. These performances earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, and she was later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). She established a career as a leading Hindi film actress of the decade with a variety of character types. Her roles, often deemed culturally defiant, along with her unconventional screen persona won her recognition and several accolades.
Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi film industry has spanned over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist parallel cinema, though her work extended to mainstream films as well as a number of international projects. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several genres. She has won a record of five National Film Awards for Best Actress, in addition to six Filmfare Awards and several international accolades. The Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012.
Deepa Mehta, is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).
Melissa Chessington Leo is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice Awards.
Molly Parker is a Canadian actress, writer, and director. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama Kissed (1996). She subsequently starred in the television thriller Intensity (1997) before landing her first major American film role in the drama Waking the Dead (2000). She gained further notice for her role as a Las Vegas escort in the drama The Center of the World (2001), for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Agamdeep Darshi is a British-Canadian actress.
Water is a 2005 drama film written and directed by Deepa Mehta, with screenplay by Anurag Kashyap. It is set in 1938 and explores the lives of widows at an ashram in India. The film is also the third and final installment of Mehta's Elements trilogy. It was preceded by Fire (1996) and Earth (1998). Author Bapsi Sidhwa wrote the 2006 novel based upon the film, Water: A Novel, published by Milkweed Press. Sidhwa's earlier novel, Cracking India was the basis for Earth, the second film in the trilogy.
Janet Wright was an English-born Canadian actress and theatre director. She was best known for her role as Emma Leroy on the Canadian sitcom, Corner Gas. She performed in many film and television shows, and she also acted in, and directed, dozens of theatre productions in Saskatoon, Vancouver, and at the Stratford Festival.
Dina Pathak was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).
Seema Biswas is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur's film Bandit Queen (1994), for which she won the National Film Award for Best Actress. She won the 2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the 2006 Best Actress Genie Award for her role as Shakuntala in Deepa Mehta's Water (2005). Her other mainstream films include Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), for which she won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress, Bhoot (2003), Vivah (2006) and Half Girlfriend (2017). In addition to films, Biswas has appeared in many television shows.
Deepa Sahi is an Indian actress and producer, best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie Maya Memsaab, opposite actor Farooq Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the movie Tere Mere Phere in 2011.
Heaven on Earth a.k.a. Videsh is a 2008 Canadian film directed and written by Deepa Mehta. Preity Zinta plays the leading role of Chand, a young Indian Punjabi woman who finds herself in an abusive arranged marriage with an Indo-Canadian man, played by theatre actor Vansh Bhardwaj. The film released in India dubbed into Hindi under the title Videsh. Zinta received unanimous acclaim for her performance in both Canada and India.
Shahana Goswami is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of Indian economist and writer Omkar Goswami. She became known for her supporting role in the musical drama film Rock On!! (2008), which won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. She was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Firaaq (2009). She subsequently featured in films such as Heroine and Midnight's Children as well as the series A Suitable Boy (2020). Goswani has since taken on lead roles in the independent films Zwigato (2023) and Santosh (2024).
The winners of the 9th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2008, were announced on January 13, 2009.
Anita Majumdar is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is best known for her role in the CBC television film Murder Unveiled for which she received the Best Actress award at the 2005 Asian Festival of First Films. Her acting credits include film, television, and theatre.
Carmen Moore is a Canadian actress known for her work in television.
Beeba Boys is a 2015 Canadian crime thriller film written and directed by Deepa Mehta. It stars Randeep Hooda as Jeet Johar, a loving single father, a dutiful son, a proud, observant Sikh and a ruthless gangster managing a team of stylish, charismatic but brutal and unforgiving young men. The film is a fictional take based on real incidents, including Bindy Johal.
Andrea Bang is a Canadian actress and screenwriter from Burnaby, British Columbia. She is best known for playing Janet Kim in the CBC comedy Kim's Convenience, for which she was nominated three times at the Canadian Screen Awards. She has appeared in A Million Little Things, Fresh and Running with Violet.
Cherish Violet Blood is a Kainai actress and storyteller from Canada. She is most noted for her performance as Marie in the 2021 film Scarborough, for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.
