Mia Maelzer

Mia Maelzer’s not just another face in the crowd—she’s got some serious chops. People mostly recognize her from The Field, that short film by Sandhya Suri that’s actually in The Criterion Collection now (yep, that’s a pretty big deal). The Field didn’t just sit quietly, it stormed through the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 and bagged the Best International Short Film Award, plus it made its first appearance at Telluride. Oh, and BAFTA 2019? Yeah, it got a nod there too. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles handed it the grand jury prize in 2019, so it’s fair to say Mia’s performance made waves. She’s not just floating on natural talent either. She put in the hard work at the National School of Drama (graduated in 2016), and her training’s all over the map—American acting with David Lee Strasberg in New York, European approaches with Ariane Mnouchkine in Paris, plus traditional Indian classics with Rita Ganguly and even ancient Koodiyattam with G. Venugopalan. Basically, she’s got range for days. UNESCO’s tipped its hat to her, recognizing her impact on world cinema. She’s even popped up in Beyond the Clouds with Majid Majidi—not just acting, but running the show behind the scenes as Acting Coach and Casting Assistant. Other credits? Tikli and Laxmi Bomb on Netflix, Ek Betukey Aadmi Ki Afra Raatein (she’s pulling double duty as both lead and art director), and a string of festival nods for experimental stuff like TikTok. Before all that, she was winning folks over in the commercial scene with Shadi Ke Side Effects and Target Kolkata. Mia’s career? Not slowing down anytime soon.