NYWIFT Blog

By Shayna Cartledge 

Welcome to NYWIFT, Asha Dahya!

Asha Dahya is a social impact filmmaker and storyteller. 

She is the director and producer of an award-winning short documentary about later abortion called Someone You Know, which premiered at the 2024 Athena Film Festival. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for My Name Is Siri, an autism awareness documentary that premiered on PBS.

In 2025, Asha executive produced and co-hosted an award-winning audio and video series about Latin America’s Green Wave abortion rights movement called Green Tide Rising. 

Her latest short documentary is A Tiny Revolution, the story of how Meg Crane invented the first home pregnancy test.

Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

I am a filmmaker, a mother, and a storyteller passionate about the representation of women on screen. 

I was born in the UK, raised in Australia where I went to university and started my media career, and eventually moved to the United States in 2007. My background heritage is Southeast Asian, and growing up in the UK and Australia, I never quite felt like I fully fit in anywhere.

In addition to that, I also grew up in a very religious Evangelical household that also felt very restrictive, and I did not feel like it was authentic to who I was. My extended family and ancestors are all immigrants, and it was from hearing numerous family immigrant stories over the years that lit the spark for me as a storyteller. 

As I grew up in the 90’s reading magazines targeted towards me and never seeing myself reflected in mainstream media, it also sparked my passion for wanting to see more stories from underrepresented women, especially women of color who had valuable things to share with the world but never got the opportunity. 

Today as a filmmaker, I believe I have become the hero that I was always looking for, by telling the types of stories I always wished to see growing up.  

Asha Dahya at Athena Film Festival

What brought you to NYWIFT?

I was encouraged to join the organization by my friend and badass director Rachel Feldman!  

I am also working on a documentary project that features a story and subject based in NYC, and I am keen to tap into the support, community, and resources available through NYWIFT.  

Asha Dahya on the set of My Name Is Siri

 
How did you get your start in the entertainment industry?

I first started my career as a TV host for a kid’s TV show on a broadcast network in Australia in my final year of university. 

I always envisioned myself being in front of the camera up until that point, and it wasn’t until moving to the US, getting involved in local politics, becoming an advocate for social justice issues, and then finally becoming a mother that I decided I needed to also be behind the camera so I could be the one to make creative decisions and control my path forward.  

Asha Dahya on the set of A Tiny Revolution

How does motherhood influence your storytelling?

It has made me more intentional and authentic. I’ve also become very strict about my time and resources. 

My kids are at the age where they know more about my work, and I hear them often saying “my mom makes documentaries about women!” Which makes my heart sing. I want them to be proud of the work I have created in the world, and use my career as inspiration for themselves, to know that they can pursue their passions despite setbacks, and that a career has many evolutions over time. 

In terms of storytelling, it has given me more empathy. I approach every interview knowing there is so much nuance and complexity, and I love the challenge of finding creative ways to portray that on screen, whether through music, animation, words, visuals, or even silence! 

I often tell my best friends that motherhood shattered me into a million pieces, which at first I thought was me being broken, but actually it allowed me to create a new life symphony with those millions of pieces. When I make a film and tell a story, I think of it as a symphony, bringing together a million pieces to paint a beautiful picture that can engage audiences.   

Asha Dahya on the set of A Tiny Revolution

Is there a particular theme you tend to gravitate to? Why?

Womanhood in all its forms. 

Underrepresented women’s voices and stories. 

Women of color. 

Ungovernable women. 

I am fascinated with the way media narratives play a role in how women are portrayed in public life. Having grown up watching the way women such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, Whitney Houston, and others were smeared by tabloids, I am determined to use my voice and vision to dismantle the harmful patriarchal norms that have become the go-to structure for female-storytelling.

When I look at the way our culture has enabled abusive and violent behavior to become the norm without any form of serious accountability or consequence (especially with male perpetrators and female survivors) it makes me so angry. Instead of feeling paralyzed, my go-to coping method is to return to storytelling and remind myself that speaking up is not an option; it is an imperative.  

Asha Dahya with cast of My Name Is Siri

Which of your projects has had the most impact on you and why?  

It’s so hard to pick just one because I love all of them for different reasons, but I will go with my current short doc, A Tiny Revolution. 

This short doc tells the story of Meg Crane, the woman who invented the home pregnancy test. Based in NYC and 85 years old, she invented the test in 1967 when she was only 25. It took her ten years to finally get it onto the US market in 1977. Despite not being a scientist or a doctor, Meg’s motivation was to shift power in systems that were designed by and for men to hold onto power. Now, instead of having to go and see a doctor (with a husband) and waiting three weeks for a pregnancy test, her device enabled women to take control of this pivotal moment in their reproductive lives in the comfort of their own homes, in their own hands.

She was told her invention was “evil”, that women were too stupid to read instructions, and that it would take business away from the doctors. Nevertheless, she persisted. Small in stature and soft spoken, Meg’s entire story is a dynamic reminder to me that revolutions often come in small packages and can take time. 

Despite not making a cent from her invention (something which is discussed in the film!), her motivation even today in sharing her story is to remind the world that going backward is not an option, and every woman deserves the right to have control over their own bodies.

This project has impacted me to really see the value in social impact storytelling beyond traditional distribution goals and methods. That we can measure success in more ways than just how much money a film makes.  

Asha Dahya with Meg Crane on the set of A Tiny Revolution

What do you hope audiences take away from your projects?

That we don’t have enough films and stories about women. That our voices and lived experiences matter. That by telling stories centered around women and femmes on film, we can do some damage to the patriarchy. 

I hope my films ignite a spark in other people to figure out what it is they want to say and find the best way to share their story with the world. 

I hope that it makes them brave enough to pick up a camera or a pen and have the courage to take the next step even if (and especially when) they don’t feel “qualified”.

Asha Dahya on the set of Pivotal.com Supermajority

Connect with Asha Dahya on her website www.ashadahya.com, LinkedIn, or on Instagram @ashadahya.

(All Photos Courtesy of Asha Dahya)