Nadira Ilana

producer. director. writer.

Nadira Ilana is a filmmaker and independent film programmer from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah best known for Freedom Film Fest winning political documentary 'The Silent Riot'. She uses film as a way to explore her indigenous Borneo heritage, impressing on cultural sensitivity and time to tell meaningful stories.

In 2015, Nadira committed to a year-long film residency in rural Sabah as part of an Australian community-participatory project, Big Stories Bongkud-Namaus which culminated to a film premiere of community-made films attended by 1000 people. This was the catalyst for Telan Bulan Films, which has since produced numerous short films and documentaries that have been selected locally and internationally. Among them: Short Shorts Film Festival (Tokyo), Mini Film Fest (Kuching) and SEAxSeattle.

Nadira is a 4-time judge for the BMW Shorties and was Lead Programmer for their first regional film festival, Tayangan BMW Shorties held in collaboration with Urbanscapes 2019. She is an alumni of the Berlinale Script Station, Bucheon Fantastic Film School, Singapore International Film Festival SEA Film Lab and Luang Prabang Film Festival Talent Lab.

The Sabahan filmmaker is a former Panel Advisor for FINAS, the Malaysian national film council. She currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (SCENIC).