Maya

K was born in London in the 80's and comes from a Pakistani background. She grew up watching horror movies and reading gothic, horror, and classic literature, with a particular interest in death rituals, since learning about the Ancient Egyptians and Norse Gods. She took a keen interest in Jungian Dream Psychology at the age of 12.

Over in Pakistan, K’s uncle owned a video store; she spent most summers in Pakistan watching as much as she could. She loved hearing stories and Pakistan was filled with tales of jinn and churail. Ancient mythology and world creation stories allowed K to look beyond what was familiar to her. K took to telling her own stories to friends and family from a young age, most often highlighting the more frightening elements of narrative whilst enjoying the oral storytelling tradition. She then later went on to writing short stories for her high school magazine.

Leaving home at the age of 17, she went to university with little money, to study literature, wanting to write fiction. K took an optional module for Film Studies which was a major turning point. Literature and film merged together in a university class about text to film adaptations, where she directed her first short film Man of the Crowd, based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was presented at a conference at the university in 2007. Although there was no practical filmmaking course available to at the time, K pursued filmmaking by following up with Obsidian, which she wrote, produced and directed for her third year dissertation, being the first undergraduate student at the time to make a film. This marked the birth of Bad Wolf Films. K has since written, directed, and produced, over 10 short films. Her short film 'Inside Out' is featured in the World of Death Anthology (2016) and Love Drug for a Death Waltz was screened at the 2017 Twin Peaks UK Festival.

K's work started to take on a meditative quality when she expanded to feature length films. Her art became a medium for her to tell socially relevant stories, collaborate with global artists, and offer healing and transformation to herself and audiences. K's feature film Black Lake, had its world premiere at the Women in Horror Film Festival in February 2020, and was nominated for 5 awards; 'Best Director', 'Best Film', 'Best Score' and the 'Indie Spirit Award'. Black Lake won 'Best Cinematography'. She completed the first cut of her debut feature film, Maya, in 2015, which after more financing and a re-edit, won 'Best Film' at Renegade Film Festival (formerly Women in Horror) in 2022, and K was awarded the George A Romero Fellowship for Maya at Salem Horror Fest in 2023. K returned to Black Lake in 2022 to work on a Director's Cut before moving on to her third feature (filming in November 2023), which she screened in March 2023 an extension of the Renegade Film Festival (out of competition) at the Atlanta Plaza Theatre, as a private hire.

As well as movies and cinema, K enjoys coffee, candy, and conversing with the dead. K is a self professed Jungian and alchemist.