Shona Dutta Charlton is a British writer-director with 20+ years of experience across short films, feature documentaries, and broadcast television. After graduating from Film School in New Delhi, she directed documentaries for Star TV Asia, DD National and PSBT – among them ‘The Vanishing People’, the only film ever made about a remote Andaman island tribe. She has received the Hubert Bals Fund from the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Charles Wallace Arts Trust Grant, and the RAPA Award, and has held senior roles at Discovery Networks International and the BBC. Her short films have accumulated 8 wins and 8 nominations at international festivals, including BAFTA- and Academy Award-qualifying events. Recent works include ‘The Ghost in the Kamera’ (2018), ‘The Guard’ (2019), and ‘The Sacrifice’ (2020), a single-take short selected for the ARRI and Directors UK Trinity Challenge, which went on to screen internationally. Her latest short, ‘The Choice’ (2025), was produced for Harmless UK, a leading charity working in self-harm and suicide prevention, with support from an Adobe Artist’s Grant. She has a further short, ‘The Applicant’, currently in post-production. Throughout her career, Shona has sought out stories that feel urgent and authentic; bringing unseen narratives to light and creating work that resonates beyond the screen. As a British filmmaker of colour with an international background, she is deeply invested in the future of cinema and storytelling in the UK, and is passionate about ensuring that new and diverse voices have the opportunity to tell the stories that matter to them. Shona is currently in development on two original horror features she has written: ‘Wolf Abbey’ and ‘The Black Lake’. She is a member of Directors UK, a BAFTA Connect member, and most recently served as Associate Producer of scripted features at ORWO Films.