After earning her BA in Media and Literature from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, Surya obtained an MA in Film and Television from Bond University, Queensland. Her debut film, Fiksi (2008), premiered at the 13th Busan International Film Festival and won numerous awards including Best Director at the Jakarta International Film Festival. After co-writing Kambing Jantan (2009), her second directorial feature What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love (2013) was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema – Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival. Besides making films, she teaches a directing class in Jakarta.