Miriam Smith co-created & produced the critically acclaimed & award winning feature documentaries THE GROUND WE WON (2015) & HOW FAR IS HEAVEN (2012). Both films have had highly successful nationwide cinema releases in New Zealand and screened at film festivals around the world including Locarno, Melbourne, Warsaw and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. THE GROUND WE WON recently won the Special Jury Prize at FIFO Tahiti, and the Best Sound award at the Moscow International Documentary Festival.
Miriam has written for literary journals, magazines, film and feature-length radio dramas for RNZ & BBC 4. She has also provided script development feedback for many writers and independent film producers.
Miriam is alumni of the prestigious Binger Writers’ Lab in Amsterdam and the Script to Screen Aotearoa Writers’ Lab. She has a BA in English & Film (Senior English Prize winner) and a Masters in Creative & Performing Arts, majoring in screenwriting, from the University of Auckland.
Miriam and filmmaking partner Chris Pryor are co-directors of the independent film production company Deer Heart Films, through which they’re currently developing a slate of boldly original drama & documentary films.