Sian Heder is an award-winning American writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and filmmaker born in Cambridge

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

In early 2005, she was one of eight women selected from thousands for the prestigious American Film Institute

American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...

's DWW (Directing Workshop for Women).

Her first short film as writer and director ("Mother") won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Florida Film Festival

Florida Film Festival

The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Showcasing the best American independent and foreign films, the festival has become one of the most respected regional film events in the United States.-Overview:The Festival...

, a victory which automatically qualified the film for a potential Academy Award nomination. Mother was also selected for the May 2006 Cinéfondation

Cinéfondation

La Cinéfondation is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers....

 Competition of the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

, where it won third place in a field of 18 films from around the globe, and the Seattle International Film Festival

Seattle International Film Festival

The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...

, where it received the "2006 Short Film: Narrative Special Jury Prize".

Since then the film has been further selected to appear in competition at Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts and the British Film Institute

British Film Institute

The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's London Film Festival

London Film Festival

The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...

 (among others).

Trivia

• Graduate of Carnegie Mellon University
  Carnegie Mellon University
  Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
  
  , School of Drama. BFA, 1999.
• Currently lives with her husband and collaborator, David Newsom
  David Newsom
  David Newsom is an American actor and fine-arts photographer. He is best known for his various critically acclaimed US television appearances, and for his work in 2005 and 2006 with Viggo Mortensen and Perceval Press.-Photography:...
  
  , in Los Angeles.

External links

• "Mother" Official Website
• Sian Heder at MySpace