Early life

Patel was raised in Prince George, British Columbia

Prince George, British Columbia

Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...

 and attended Duchess Park Secondary School

Duchess Park Secondary School

Duchess Park Secondary is a public high school in Prince George, British Columbia, part of School District 57 Prince George. It was designed by Vancouver firm Hughes Condon Marler Architects.- History :...

, where he was first exposed to the Brocket 99 audio tape. He attended the city's College of New Caledonia

College of New Caledonia

The College of New Caledonia is a post-secondary educational institution that serves the residents of the Central Interior of British Columbia. The college was established in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada in 1969 as a successor to the BC Vocational School. The first convocation of 37...

 and then obtained a degree in molecular biology

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...

 from the University of Victoria

University of Victoria

The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...

. After working as a diabetes researcher in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Patel changed careers and started making films in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Filmmaking

Patel now resides in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 and is the program co-ordinator for the National Film Board's Diversity Project, director for Flourish Media and teaches filmmaking to street youth.

Films

2001 - A Love Supreme -- A tribute to the Patel's mother who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...

. This film records for posterity her skilled hands preparing samosa

Samosa

A samosa is a stuffed, deep fried,snack that is very popular in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and South Africa...

s, a traditional food for his Indo-Canadian family. Screened at the 2005 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. The film won the Jury Award for Short Documentary, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and Best Cinematography awards from the Sedona Film Festival. The 35 mm print was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

2005 - Brocket 99

Brocket 99

Brocket 99 is the name of an underground comedy audio tape that parodies aboriginal people in Canada and the name of two documentary films about the tape .-1986 tape:...

 - Rockin' the Country -- Patel's first feature documentary about a popular underground audio tape parody

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

of Canadian First Nations stereotypes.