Deepa Mehta, (, born September 15, 1950 is an
Indo-Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her
Elements Trilogy,
Fire (1996),
Earth (1998), and
Water (2005); among which
Earth was sent by
India as its official entry for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and
Water was Canada's official entry for
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making it only the second non-French-language Canadian film to put forth for consideration in that category (the first being
Zacharias Kunuk's 2001
Inuktitut-language feature,
Atanarjuat), and the first to receive an Oscar nomination. She also co-founded
Hamilton-Mehta Productions, with her husband, producer
David Hamilton in 1996. She was awarded a
Genie Award in 2003 for the screenplay of
Bollywood/Hollywood. In May 2012, Mehta received the
Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.