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Deepa Mehta is one of Canada's most respected and critically acclaimed filmmakers. Originally from India, Mehta got into the movie business in the 1970s - first as a screenwriter and eventually a director. Over the years, she's made some incredibly thought-provoking films - at times dark and heavy, at times complicated and controversial, at times extremely dangerous.
Take her Oscar-nominated film 'Water', about the treatment of Hindu widows. When she was filming that in India, Mehta received death threats. Eventually, things became so volatile Mehta and her crew left and finished the movie in Sri Lanka.
It's that passion that has driven Mehta her entire career. At the heart of all her films is storytelling. It has to be something she really wants to do. And her latest film is no different. It's a big-screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Booker Prize winning novel 'Midnight's Children.'
It was one of the most buzzed-about films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Mehta read the book, loved it and asked Rushdie if she could turn it into a movie. He sold her the rights for a dollar and together, they wrote the screenplay. Rushdie also spent time on the set and narrates the film.
However, getting it done wasn't easy. While on set in Sri Lanka, production was shut down for a few days after a complaint from Iran - who has a fatwa against Rushdie. But as she always does, Mehta persevered and finished shooting.
'Midnight's Children' opens November 2 in Toronto and Vancouver; November 9 in the rest of the country.
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