Leila is a writer/director who loves seeking out worthy stories to bring to the page and screen. She is currently based in London and is an MA Directing Fiction student at the National Film & Television School. She recently returned from a round the world trip where she travelled from London to New Zealand (and back again) without flying; a journey which constantly inspires her work. In the middle of the Indian Ocean, she decided to pursue film more formally and applied for Sydney Film School where she graduated from in 2019.

Her short Le Miroir, which she wrote, directed, produced and edited, finished a successful festival run, screening all over the world including at the BAFTA/Oscar qualifying Flickerfest. It was released online with Omeleto and is available to watch here.

During lockdown, she focused on writing and has since won four NYC Midnight writing competitions—the first person to do so. These include winning the 2021 NYCM Screenwriting Competition from over 1800 contestants which made her the first female to win in 15 years. In 2023, she won the competition again from a field of 1600+ contestants. She also won the 2022 NYCM 250-word Microfiction Competition from over 5400 entries, making her the first person to win both a screenwriting and prose NYCM competition as well as the first female two-time winner. Most recently, she won the inaugural 2023 NYCM 500-word Fiction Competition from over 4200 contestants. Other notable wins include winning the 2022 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Competition from over 5000 entries with her satirical take on gender reveals.

Being of mixed heritage (Arab/Dutch/British), she’s particularly passionate about telling stories which explore identity and what makes us who we are - or what we think makes us who we are - and how discrimination, subconscious bias and preconceptions interact. Design always plays a huge role in her films and she enjoys making location into a character in its own right, often finding a story grows from where it is set. She enjoys mixing genres but often includes elements of magical realism and fantasy as well as being drawn towards dystopian settings. Her darker sense of humour also usually finds its way into most of her stories.

She is always on the look out for producers and creatives who would like to collaborate so please get in touch if you’d like to talk. She also offers script writing and consultation/feedback services if you have an idea that you’d love help bringing to life.