Filmmaker Deepa Mehta wins Canada's highest civilian award

Amritsar-born Deepa Mehta has won Canada's highest civilian award for her contribution to cinema.She will receive her Order of Canada insignia at an investiture ceremony sometime this year or next.

Amritsar-born Deepa Mehta has won Canada's highest civilian award for her contribution to cinema.She will receive her Order of Canada insignia at an investiture ceremony sometime this year or next.

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The citation forwarded on email by Order of Canada programme analyst Nadia Karmali on Thursday suggests that the award has come to Deepa for her pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. Deepa lives in Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario.

"Award-winning director and screenwriter, she has used cinema to challenge cultural traditions and brought stories of oppression, injustices and violence to the fore," reads the citation, adding that she is an inspiration for aspiring filmmakers everywhere.

Her films, notably epic trilogy Fire, Earth and Water, and her adaptation of Midnight's Children have opened at several major international film festivals.