American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir is making waves in this year’s Oscar documentary race, earning two nominations: The Perfect Neighbor for best documentary feature and The Devil is Busy for best documentary short.
Both films were already on the Academy’s shortlist of 15 before nominations were announced, so Gandbhir knew she had a strong chance. Still, the moment itself caught her off guard.
“Don’t judge me. I slept through the nominations,” the Indian-origin American filmmaker laughed while speaking to Reuters. “I was so anxious the night before. I planned to go to bed early and sleep well, but I was awake until three in the morning staring at the ceiling. I literally slept through the announcements,” she added.
The Devil is Busy, distributed by HBO Max, offers a gripping, ground‑level look at a day inside an abortion clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, highlighting the dangers that staff and patients face amid America’s shifting political landscape.
The Perfect Neighbor, distributed by Netflix, examines the events leading up to the killing of Ajike Owens in a Florida neighborhood, reconstructing the incident through police calls and body‑camera footage.
Speaking at the Oscars Luncheon, Gandbhir emphasised how deeply personal both projects are. “Both were made with so much love and attention—and also with my family,” she said. “The Perfect Neighbor is made with my sister‑in‑law and my husband; they’re producers on it. And The Devil is Busy is co-directed with my best friend from college.”
Her connection to The Perfect Neighbor goes even further. “Ajike was a family friend,” she said. “That was our connection — mine and my team’s at Message Pictures — to the case.”
Geeta was born in Boston in 1970 to Indian immigrant parents. Her father, Sharad, moved from India to the United States in the 1960s to pursue engineering and eventually made the country his home. Her mother, Lalita, joined him in the U.S. after 1965. Geeta spent her childhood in Boston alongside her two siblings. Her brother, Ashwin, is a filmmaker, while her sister, Una, serves as a Superior Court judge in Alaska.
Published - March 11, 2026 02:29 pm IST
