Megan Mylan
Megan Mylan is an American documentary film director, known for her films Lost Boys of Sudan and the 2008 Oscar-winning Smile Pinki.
Mylan was born in California and raised in Salem, Oregon and Dallas, Texas, where she graduated Highland Park High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and master's degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked for in Brazil before deciding to pursue documentary filmmaking.
In 2003, Mylan and Jon Shenk directed Lost Boys of Sudan, a feature-length documentary about two Dinka boys who fled the Sudanese civil war for the United States. The film won an Independent Spirit Award and through theatrical release, PBS broadcast and an extensive social action campaign raised millions of dollars for refugee scholarships.
In 2008, Mylan directed Smile Pinki a film on efforts to provide free cleft palate surgery in India. She focused on the work of the Smile Train program in Varanasi, India. The film won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Mylan is currently working on a film on the struggle for racial equality in Brazil.
