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The 27-year-old directed her first film at the age of 11 and was a recent recipient of Channel 4's 4Talent Award for Best Filmmaker for her film Broken, starring former EastEnders actress Michelle Collins.

She recently completed a documentary focusing on two children, a white English boy and a South Asian British boy, who live in different parts of Bradford.

"I directed my first film when I was 11.
The idea was to send it in to the Saturday morning television show Going Live.
It was about Britain's litter problems and I got my dad to hire a VHS camera and film me.

"We went to Eccup reservoir but it wasn't untidy enough so we went round looking for more rubbish to add. We did tidy up afterwards though.
Me and my brother Solos used to love turning our kitchen into Kathy's café from EastEnders and I remember getting my cousins to pretend to be Terry Wogan.

"I would be Kylie Minogue and they would have to interview me.
My first job was waitressing at my parents' restaurant when I was 14. I remember begging them to let me work there.

"It was great because all of my friends could come over and eat loads of food. It was like an open house.

"I got so used to eating for free that when I go to restaurants now I have to remind myself to pay the bill at the end of the meal.
The thing I'm most proud of is winning Channel 4's 4Talent Award for Best Filmmaker in December 2007.

"Channel 4 had scoured the country to find who they deemed to be the top 20 'future creative heroes' and I won in the filmmaker category.
I'm also very proud to be working as a full time writer/director. It's taken a long time to get here but I'm all the more appreciative to be doing what I love.

"The best thing about Yorkshire is the people. They're always so friendly and warm, something I often miss being in the Big Smoke! I'm still very much a Leeds girl at heart.

"The one thing I couldn't live without is dark chocolate. And water.
To relax I love reading books in the bath... even if they do tend to fall in a lot!

"I loved growing up in Ilkley, it was an idyllic place to live but I soon got used to Leeds. We moved there when I was seven.

"I think as a young child, I felt quite embarrassed about being Greek.
I'd go round to my friends' houses and eat fish fingers but when they came to mine my dad would be trying to get them to eat houmous.
Then I started attending Greek school on a Saturday – where I met my oldest friend Yiannis, who really made me feel proud of my heritage.
As children we all want to fit in so it was amazing to have a friend who finally made me realise it was OK to be different.

"I now live in London with my husband Peter.
The two best pieces of advice I've ever received are to always believe in myself and to never take no for an answer. The first advice was given to me by my mother, the latter by History Boys executive producer Damian Jones.

"The last time I cried was whilst watching the truly delightful and moving film The Band's Visit. It got a standing ovation in Cannes last year but I only got to see it recently. The lead actor looked a lot like my dad too so that made the film all the more poignant.
My philosophy on life is to try to be the best person you can be and to try and always stay positive. With rejection, something that goes hand in hand with this industry, you need to just keep picking yourself up again and pushing forward.

"If I could meet anyone living or dead, it would have to be director Gurinder Chadha as she's a huge inspiration to me.
There are very few female director role models out there, so it was always inspiring to see getting stories about her South Asian community in Britain, up on the big screen.

"In fact my first proper job in the film industry was working for the company that made Bend It Like Beckham and the chief executive always said watching my work reminded him of the warmth Chadha has in her's. That's a massive compliment.

"If I could meet someone dead it would have to be Elvis. What a man!
My first kiss was my childhood sweetheart who lived down the road from me in Ilkley. My first love was a boyfriend from Leeds. The biggest love of my life is my wonderful husband Peter.

"My favourite joke is one told by American comedian Jackie Mason.
"My grandfather always said, 'Don't watch your money; watch your health.' So one day while I was watching my health, someone stole my money. It was my grandfather."