Shamim Sarif

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]

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 in which all of her films would be released through.

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 movies have made Sarif something of a hero for gay South Asians struggling with their identity.[6]

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.[7]

At the Cannes Festival[8] 2013 Enlightenment Productions announced their new film Despite The Falling Snow.[9] The film starring Mission Impossible 5 Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson,[10] Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Antje Traue, Sam Reid, Anthony Head and Trudie Styler, was released in UK on 15 April 2016.

Her latest project, The Dreaming Spires,[11] is still in production.[12]

• Her debut novel, The World Unseen (2001), won the Pendleton May First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award.[13][14]
• The World Unseen won the Authence Award at the Miami Gay & Lesbian film festival in 2008,[15] 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[15]
• She is the recipient of Best Director awards for The World Unseen film from the South African Film and Television Awards,[16][17][18][19] the Phoenix Film Festival[20][21] 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,[22] 3 at Prague International Film Festival,[23] and others at Canada,[24] Buffalo Niagara,[25] Soho, Manchester[26] and Orlando International Film Festivals
• Enlightenment Productions were Winner of the Kingston Business Excellence Awards 2014, Best Creative and Media Sector Business.[27]

Sarif's background was in her family's financial business for 10 years before becoming a full-time novelist and film director.[28]

On 23 September 2015 she married producer Hanan Kattan at the Chelsea Registry Office in London, after nearly 20 years together.[29] They have two sons, Ethan (b. 1999) and Luca (b. 2002). Sarif is openly lesbian and described I Can't Think Straight to be semi-autobiographical.[2] Sarif claims Muslim origins.[30] She has stated that Jeanette Winterson's The Passion is one of her favorite books.[31]

• The World Unseen (2001)
• Despite the Falling Snow (2004)
• I Can't Think Staight (2008)
• The Athena Control (2020)
• The Shadow Mission (2020)

• 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