Saira Shah
Saira Shah | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 October 1964 London, UK |
| Occupation(s) | Author, reporter and documentary filmmaker |
| Notable work | Death in Gaza (2004 documentary film) |
| Partner | Scott Goodfellow[1] |
| Children | 1[1][2] |
| Parent(s) | Idries Shah, Cynthia (Kashfi) Kabraji |
| Relatives | Shah family |
| Awards | BAFTA Award (2004), Emmy Award (2005) |
Saira Shah (born 5 October 1964) is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.
Life and work
Shah was born in London and raised in Kent, England. She was educated at Bryanston School and read Arabic and Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, graduating in 1986. Her father was Idries Shah, an Afghan writer of books on Sufism. Part of his family was originally from Paghman, Afghanistan. Her mother is half-Parsee and half-English.[1] The author Tahir Shah is her brother[3] and she also has a sister, Tahir's twin, Safia Shah.
Her first trip to Afghanistan was when she was 21 years old. She worked for 3 years in Peshawar as a reporter covering the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. She has also worked as a journalist for Channel 4 News, which she left in 2001. She married and divorced (after 5 years) a Swiss reporter, whom she met in Peshawar.
Shah worked with James Miller on several projects including the films Beneath the Veil (2001), Unholy War (2001), both Channel 4 Dispatches films for the UK documentary company Hardcash productions, and Death in Gaza (2004), for their own TV company Frostbite Films. Miller was killed in 2003.[4] In 2004, Shah won a Current Affairs BAFTA Award for Death in Gaza[5] and in 2005 the film won three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera), Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming and Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking (Shah sharing one award as a producer and being a nominee for another as a writer).[6] Shah also appeared on the television programme Breakfast with Frost on 10 August 2003.[7]
Shah currently lives between London and rural France with her partner, journalist and photographer Scott Goodfellow, and their daughter Ailsa. Their daughter, who has cerebral palsy, was the inspiration for Shah's semi-autobiographical debut novel, The Mouse-Proof Kitchen (2013).[1][2]
Films
Film companies
- Frostbite Productions
Books
- Shah, Saira (2003), The Storyteller's Daughter: One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland, New York, NY: Anchor Books, ISBN 1-4000-3147-8
- Shah, Saira (4 April 2013). The Mouseproof Kitchen. London, England: Harvill Secker. ISBN 147670564X.[11]
Newspaper and magazine articles
- Shah, Saira (7 April 2011). "'Afghaniyat' is alive and well in Afghanistan". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- Shah, Saira (30 March 2013). "'She began to smile at us' – living with my profoundly disabled child". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- Shah, Saira (24 April 2013). "Having a disabled daughter nearly cost me the man I love: SAIRA SHAH and her husband were tested to the limit when fate dealt them the cruellest hand". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
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Interviews
- Birnbaum, Robert (19 November 2003). "Saira Shah: Identity Theory". Identity Theory. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- Calkin, Jessamy (1 April 2013). "Difficult truths: Saira Shah interview". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
Reviews
- Eberstadt, Fernanda (9 August 2013). "Sunday Book Review: French Lessons: Saira Shah's 'Mouse-Proof Kitchen'". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Calkin, Jessamy (1 April 2013). "Difficult truths: Saira Shah interview". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ a b Shah, Saira (30 March 2013). "'She began to smile at us' – living with my profoundly disabled child". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ Shah, Tahir (12 August 2005). "Letters: Conditions in Pakistan's military jails". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ Chris Tryhorn (6 April 2006). "Miller's family push for prosecution". London: Times. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Staff (2004). "BAFTA Awards, Television – Current Affairs – 2004, Winner". BAFTA. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ Staff (2005). "Death in Gaza: Emmys.com: 2005". Emmys. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ Staff (10 August 2003). "Breakfast with Frost: Culture of duplicity and deceit". BBC News. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ Beneath the Veil at IMDb
- ^ Death in Gaza at IMDb
- ^ Unholy War at IMDb
- ^ Williams, Charlotte (3 April 2012). "Harvill Secker acquires The Mouse-Proof Kitchen". The Bookseller. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
External links
- Saira Shah at IMDb
- Interview with CNN
- List of publications by Saira Shah and her family members (works by Idries Shah not included)
- Saira Shah's page, Conville and Walsh literary agency
Shah family | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st generation |  | |
| 2nd generation | not applicable | |
| 3rd generation | not applicable | |
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| 6th generation | ||
| 7th generation | ||
- Use dmy dates from June 2013
- 1964 births
- Living people
- People educated at Bryanston School
- Alumni of SOAS, University of London
- British journalists
- British film producers
- Shah family
- BAFTA winners (people)
- Emmy Award winners
- English people of Afghan descent
- English people of Indian descent
- People from London
- People from Kent
- English people of Parsi descent