Shamim Sarif
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Shamim Sarif | |
---|---|
Born | London, England, United Kingdom | 24 September 1969
Occupation(s) | Novelist, filmmaker, screenwriter |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Shamim Sarif (born 24 September 1969) is a British novelist and filmmaker of South Asian and South African heritage. Her work often focuses on various aspects of identity including gender, race, and sexuality.
Early life and education
Sarif was born in London, England, to Indian parents who had left South Africa in the early 1960s to escape apartheid.[1][2] She studied English literature at the University of London, then took a Master's in English at Boston University.[1]
Career
Sarif's fifth feature film, indie drama Polarized, was shot in Manitoba. She is a writer and a director with titles including The World Unseen (2001),[3] (selected for TIFF) and Despite the Falling Snow (starring Rebecca Ferguson and Charles Dance). Her debut feature I Can't Think Straight earned her a notice from the Los Angeles Times as a "filmmaker of exceptional promise".
Moonshine (eOne) Diggstown (CBC/Fox) and SkyMed (Paramount Plus). Her latest books, The Shadow Mission and The Athena Protocol (HarperCollins) are being developed as a series with Village Roadshow and Gran Via Productions.
Sarif has spoken at TED events worldwide, at the INK Conference in India and DLD in Munich. Corporate speaking events have included Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Disney.
Shamim was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019. She is also a member of BAFTA, the WGA, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Canadian Media Producers Association.
In January 2001, Sarif co-founded a multi-media entertainment company based in London and in partnership between her spouse, producer Hanan Kattan, called Enlightenment Productions.
Her roots inspired her to write her debut novel, The World Unseen (2001),[3] which explores issues of race, gender and sexuality, which she later adapted into a film starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth. It was heavily inspired by the stories of Sarif's grandmother and the family's Indian and South African heritage.[4]
She has also adapted and directed a film based on her book I Can't Think Straight.[2][5]
Her 2011 film The House of Tomorrow is a documentary about the 2010 TEDx Holy Land Conference, which brought together Arab and Israeli women to discuss issues of mutual interest in technology, entertainment, and design.[6]
Awards and nominations
- Her debut novel, The World Unseen (2001), won the Pendleton May First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award.[7][8]
- The World Unseen won the Authence Award at the Miami Gay & Lesbian film festival in 2008,[9] and the Best Feature Film award at the Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival
- I Can't Think Straight won the Authence Award at the Miami Gay & Lesbian film festival in 2009[9]
- She is the recipient of Best Director awards for The World Unseen film from the South African Film and Television Awards,[10][11][12][13] the Phoenix Film Festival[14][15] and the Clip (Tampa) Festival.
- The House of Tomorrow, winner of Documentary Audience Award at the Festival Regards Sur Le Cinema Du Monde 2014 in Rouen (France)
- Despite The Falling Snow has won 13 awards to date including 3 at Milan International Film Festival,[16] 3 at Prague International Film Festival,[17] and others at Canada,[18] Buffalo Niagara,[19] Soho, Manchester[20] and Orlando International Film Festivals
- Enlightenment Productions were Winner of the Kingston Business Excellence Awards 2014, Best Creative and Media Sector Business.[21]
Personal life
Sarif's background was in her family's financial business for 10 years before becoming a full-time novelist and film director.[22]
Sarif, who claims Muslim origins, is openly lesbian and described I Can't Think Straight to be semi-autobiographical.[2][23] She has stated that Jeanette Winterson's The Passion is one of her favorite books.[24]
On 23 September 2015, she married producer Hanan Kattan in London after being together for nearly 20 years.[25]
Filmography
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | The World Unseen | Yes | Yes | Feature film Also based on her novel |
2008 | I Can't Think Straight | Yes | Yes | |
2011 | The House of Tomorrow | Yes | Yes | Documentary film Also cinematographer |
2016 | Despite the Falling Snow | Yes | Yes | Feature film Also based on her novel |
2020 | Murdoch Mysteries | Yes | No | TV series Episode "Rigid Silence" |
2021 | A Woman on Fire | Yes | No | TV film |
Diggstown | Yes | No | TV series Episode "Christian Spry" | |
2022 | SkyMed | Yes | No | TV series Directed 2 episodes |
2023 | Polarized | Yes | Yes | Feature film Also producer |
Bibliography
- The World Unseen (2001)
- Despite the Falling Snow (2004)
- I Can't Think Straight (2008)
- The Athena Control (2020)
- The Shadow Mission (2020)
See also
- List of Indian women film directors
- List of Indian women screenwriters
- List of female film and television directors
- List of lesbian filmmakers
- List of LGBT-related films directed by women
References
- ^ a b "Just another British, Indian, Muslim, Arab, Christian lesbian romantic comedy". Evening Standard. 12 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Rachael Scott, "Having a gay old time: Novelist turned film-maker Shamim Sarif has two films, both based on her books, coming out tomorrow. She tells Rachael Scott how this one-two punch came about." The Guardian, 2 April 2009.
- ^ a b Sarif 2001.
- ^ Coleman, Bianca (13 February 2009). "Novel start leads to the reel world: ENT". Cape Times. ProQuest 430701497.
- ^ "Changing lives in little steps", Independent Online (South Africa), 12 February 2009.
- ^ Billy Cox, "'House of Tomorrow' infused with excitement and optimism" Archived 8 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 16 April 2012.
- ^ Billy Suter, "Love in apartheid SA", The Mercury (South Africa), September 12, 2008.
- ^ Candice Soobramoney, "Shamim on lesbian love flick", Post (South Africa), August 6, 2008.
- ^ a b Kinoshita, Brenda (24 June 2009). "Shamim Sarif: 'World' view". Windy City Times. ProQuest 432804224.
- ^ "Unusual film sweeps Saftas; Janet van Eeden talks to the writer and director of The World Unseen, a film that highlights the plight of Indian women under apartheid.", The Sunday Independent, 15 February 2009.
- ^ "Apartheid era love story The World Unseen scoops 11 Saftas", The Witness, 22 February 2009.
- ^ "SAFTA Awards".
- ^ "Shows Home - TVSA". www.tvsa.co.za. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ^ "2008 Phoenix Film Festival Winners". Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ "Movie Reviews: First week of Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is rich with diversity", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 16, 2008.
- ^ "Cinema | Miff Awards". www.miffawards.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ PIFF. "PIFF 2016 Winners | PIFF 2017". www.prague-film-festival.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Canada International Film Festival | Screenplay Contest - 2016". www.canadafilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Buffalo Niagara Film Festival – Feel it. Express it. Live it". thebnff.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "About". Manchester Film Festival. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "2014 WINNERS". Kingston Business Excellence Awards 2014. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ West, Edward (20 December 2008). "Teaming up to make movies that matter". Business Day. ProQuest 334164952.
- ^ Hoggard, Liz (April 2009). "She is an Arab Christian, her lover a Muslim. They challenged every prejudice and almost tore their wealthy London families apart. Then they made a film of their love story". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ Kinoshita, Brenda (24 June 2009). "Shamim Sarif: 'World' view". Windy City Times. ProQuest 439515259.
- ^ Shamim Sarif (23 September 2015). "We just got married!". Facebook.
Further reading
- Hackwill, Robert (11 April 2016). "Shamim Sarif brings her novel "Despite the Falling Snow" to the screen". euronews. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- Producers Lab Toronto unveils 2015 line-up
- Shamim Sarif's Top 10 Film To Book Adaptations
- Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of 'Despite The Falling Snow' in new Featurette
External links
- 1969 births
- 21st-century English novelists
- 21st-century English women writers
- English film directors
- English women film directors
- Living people
- English lesbian writers
- British LGBT film directors
- English LGBT novelists
- British LGBT screenwriters
- English women novelists
- Writers from London
- English people of Indian descent
- English people of South African descent
- Alumni of the University of London
- Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
- 21st-century British screenwriters