Mario Dhingsa is a UK-born, Wellington-based, award-winning author, and freelance film critic. His first published work, High Office Whispers, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion in 2018. His first full-length work, Maps of Bliss and Rage, won the Silver Award (Anthologies) in the Feathered Quill Book Awards 2020. His first work of children's fiction, Robot vs Dad, was a Finalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition. Dhingsa is a member of the New Zealand Society of Authors, a former member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, and a former committee member of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. He is the founder and senior writer of SilverScreenBlack film reviews, available on Twitter. Since 2020, it has grown to become Asia-Pacific's most liked (English language) film review channel. In 2024, Dhingsa was a guest critic on the UK film podcast 'The Thriller Cabinet' (available on Apple, Spotify, and here: https://thethrillercabinet.libsyn.com.... In the same year, he was appointed as a board member of New Zealand's Film and Literature Board of Review for a three-year term. In 2023, he presented at the Environmental Protection Authority's (NZ) Annual Symposium, on 'Green Efforts in the Film Industry'. *Replies received from: - Rt. Hon. Helen Clark (former UN Administrator and NZ Prime Minister) on 'All Quiet on the Western Front'; - Gates McFadden (director, actress), on directing a Star Trek horror classic; - Christopher McQuarrie (director, writer), on coping with COVID; - Frank Oz (director), on the original ending to 'Little Shop of Horrors' (1986); - David Patrick Kelly (actor), on nunchaku training for 'Dreamscape' (1984) *Freelance film critic for: - Filmotomy (incl. pre-release press reviews via California and London) - DissectionReflection (incl. pre-release press reviews via California and London) - Femme Filmmakers Festival 2020 & 2021 - Press Review: 'Keep Mum' (Dir.: Luana di Pasquale) [13/9/2020] *Followers include: - Jean-Pierre Dorléac (Oscar- and Emmy-nominated costume designer); - Jazz Tangcay (Senior Artisans Editor, Variety); - Matt Maytum (Deputy Editor, Total Film); - Erlingur Einarsson (Production Editor, Total Film); - Tanya Black (Manager, Screen Wellington) - Julia Kato (actress); - Kulvinder Ghir (actor, writer); - James J Bryhan (actor)