Dana Nechushtan (Afula, 1970) is a Dutch director and screenwriter of Israeli origin. She grew up on a kibbutz in northern Israel. At the age of six, she moved to the Netherlands with her mother. Until she was fourteen, she was not allowed to watch television, as it was believed it would harm her imagination. However, she did go to the cinema, to see films her mother deemed appropriate — those featuring Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.
In 1994, she graduated from the Netherlands Film and Television Academy. For her graduation film, Djinn, a political fairy tale, she received the Tuschinski Film Award for best Dutch graduation film at the Netherlands Film Festival, and also earned nominations for the Oscar for Best Foreign Student Film.
In 2000, Dana directed her first feature film, Total Loss, followed by several television films and series that have won awards in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2006 and 2007, she made two feature films back to back, Nachtrit and Dunya & Desie – The Film.
Her feature film Piece of My Heart is her biggest challenge to date: a gripping, visual film about a blossoming friendship between two talented ballet dancers, set against the background of the colourful but also relentless 1970s.