Shamim Sarif

Who is Shamim Sarif?

Shamim Sarif is a British novelist and filmmaker of South Asian and South African heritage. Her roots inspired her to write her debut novel, The World Unseen, which explores issues of race, gender and sexuality, which she later adapted into a film starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth. The novel won the Pendleton May First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award. She has also adapted and directed a film based on her book I Can't Think Straight.

She is the recipient of Best Director awards for The World Unseen film from the South African Film and Television Awards, the Phoenix Film Festival and the Clip Festival.

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.

At Cannes Festival 2013 Sarif announced her new film Despite The Falling Snow with Olga Kurylenko, Charles Dance, and Maria Furtwängler. The film will be produced by Enlightenment Productions and Hanan Kattan.

She lives with her partner Hanan Kattan and their two sons.