Crew

Hanan founded Enlightenment Productions in partnership with Shamim Sarif - solidifying the intense creative partnership between the two. The company is dedicated to producing entertaining, low to medium budget feature films that have integrity and individuality.

Their first completed feature, “The World Unseen”, is currently being sold internationally after an acclaimed debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007.

Enlightenment’s current projects include two other works by Shamim – “The Reader”, a period love story about a young American boy at Oxford is being structured as a British production. “Despite The Falling Snow” is a tale of passion and betrayal in Cold War Russia.

Hanan began her career in marketing, primarily in the toiletries and hair care field. After building a successful sales and distribution company, she moved into creating, marketing and promoting her own brands. In a saturated marketplace dominated by global conglomerates, Hanan personally created an entirely new product category – that of holistic premium mass-market products. Te Tao (the first ever mass brand based on Chinese herbal therapy) is now in full distribution in drugstores and supermarkets worldwide. Marie Claire magazine labelled her method of work “beauty with a conscience”.

Associate Producer – Daisy Allsop
Daisy studied Philosophy at Cambridge University where she was immersed in student drama program and helped found a new theatre in her college grounds. She produced a number of plays and sent a production to Edinburgh.

In early 2001 she joined Capitol Films, a leading UK sales, production and financing company where she spent three years as Development & Acquisitions Executive. She was heavily involved in the acquisition and development of her favorite project “Five Children & It”, and moved across to work for producer Nick Hirschkorn, on the production.

She now remains at Feel Films as Head of Development, managing their slate of projects to see them through to production and beyond. Feel Films are one of the UK Film Council ‘Superslate’ companies and are developing a number of projects including two adaptations of Whitbread prize winning books, and working with some highly acclaimed writers and directors.

Associate Producer – Aida Kattan
Based in Los Angeles, Aida started her career in the film industry with an internship at Mandalay Pictures while attending USC, where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature.

In 2003 Aida joined The Hatchery, a new company specializing in kids and family entertainment, where she remained for four years. In the spring of 2007, Aida moved back into production, travelling to South Africa to work as a 2nd Assistant Director on the feature film, “The World Unseen”.

Aida is currently working as a coordinator on a television show for Nash Entertainment in Los Angeles while working on developing her slate as an Associate Producer. She works closely with Enlightenment Productions, focusing on sales and marketing (including festival submissions and screenings) as well as script development.

Cinematographer – Aseem Bajaj
Multi-award winning cinematographer Aseem Bajaj is one of India’s leading Directors of Photography. Still only 33 years of age, he has been honored by a number of festivals and Filmfare (the Indian Oscar equivalent) as Best Cinematographer.

A master of light and shadow, he brings more than just technical knowledge to a set. Says director Shamim Sarif, "Aseem has an instinctive understanding, which he constantly deepens, for the emotion and direction of any one scene. It is from this that he works to find the right lighting and shots. His empathy with his directors and actors is incredible.”