v.t. nayani

v.t. nayani is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller, whose work explores how we continuously come of age. she started her journey as a classically trained Bharathanatyam and Indo-contemporary dancer, as well as a writer and performer in theatre. she now works primarily as a director, writer, and performer, and her practice spans across cinema, television, and multimedia production.

nayani is an alumni of Film Independent's Episodic Directing Intensive ('25) and Episodic Lab ('24), EFM's Fiction Toolbox Program ('25), The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Directors Program for Women (‘22), The Canadian Film Centre's Directors' Lab (‘21), as well as BIPOC TV & Film's Showrunner Bootcamp ('22) and Directors’ Masterclass (‘23). nayani is also a past participant of CBC's Workshop for Diverse Creators, HotDocs’ Doc Accelerator Program, Reelworld Film Festival's Emerging 20 Program, and BlackStar Film Festival's William & Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar. as an artist, nayani has been championed by local and global platforms including Telefilm Canada, The Gotham, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Netflix, L’Oréal Paris, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, AWID, Women Deliver, and Women of the World. notably, she is a recipient of the UN Women Yvonne M. Hebert Award for media artists.

nayani's award-winning feature directorial debut This Place, co-written with Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs and Golshan Abdmoulaie, had its World Premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (Discovery Programme). the film has since screened at Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival (International Premiere), Freiburger Lesbenfilmtage (European Premiere), Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival (U.S. Premiere), FRAMELINE: San Francisco LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Outfest LA Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Vancouver Queer Film Festival (Winner, People’s Choice Award: Canadian Feature), NewFest: The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Seattle Queer Film Festival, and IFFI Goa (Asian Premiere). the film was released theatrically in 2023 and is now available in multiple territories.

in addition to her artistic practice, nayani remains committed to supporting her creative community. in 2021, she was invited to be a commissioning editor for Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival's 25th anniversary anthology (re)Rites of Passage: Asian Canada in Motion. she has also worked as a workshop programmer and facilitator, mentor artist, and juror for various festivals, organizations, and arts institutions. in 2023, nayani was an invited jury member for the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), helping select the Best Canadian Feature Film Award, as well as the Amplify Voices Awards for Best BIPOC Feature Film and Best BIPOC First Feature Film. in 2024, she served on the International Jury for the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival. presently, she is supporting as a mentor for NewFest and Concord's 2025 Sound & Scene Short Film Initiative.

outside of her creative work, nayani is an experienced public speaker, as well as certified full-spectrum doula and hatha yoga instructor, having completed her training with Shafia M. Monroe at the International Center for Traditional Childbearing and Heather Greaves at Body Therapies Yoga Training. she also completed her Bachelor of Journalism (Radio & Television Broadcasting) at Toronto Metropolitan University and her M.A. Interdisciplinary Studies at York University.

nayani is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC Ontario), Film Independent, The Gotham, Film Fatales, WIFT-Toronto, Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM), and the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID). currently, she is developing a slate of film, television, and multimedia projects, including her sophomore feature FORGIVENESS HAS MANY NAMES and the original series SHAME, co-created with Paige Wood, in which she will also star.