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 Writer/ Director – Shamim Sarif
Acclaimed writer Shamim Sarif’s journey has been an unusual one, from prize-winning novelist to director.
Shamim’s first novel The World Unseen won the Pendleton May First Novel Award and then, the prestigious Betty Trask Award. The Times in London called the novel “an impressive debut. Sarif’s story brings together the descriptive power of the novelist with the screenwriter’s mastery of dialogue.”
Having already written and optioned a movie script in Los Angeles, it seemed a natural fit for Shamim to pen the screenplay before directing the movie. “The World Unseen”debuted at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and is slated for release in November of 2008.
“I Can’t Think Straight” is based on Shamim’s third novel and representing her first time at the helm as director. Shamim having begun her studies in directing and film at the Raindance Institute in London. ‘It was a steep learning curve and an exhilarating experience. Not only technically, but creatively – because you can draw on the individual talents of your actors and heads of department to enhance the ideas you have.”
Shamim also wrote the lyrics of ‘Tell Me’ and ‘Ma Fini Fakker’ - songs used in "I Can’t Think Straight”.
Shamim’s second novel, Despite the Falling Snow was published in London by Hodder Headline in May 2004 and received rave reviews. In the autumn of 2005, the novel was released by American publisher St. Martin’s Press. Shamim has adapted this moving tale set during Cold War in Russia and present day United States into a screenplay. The picture will be directed by Shamim and produced by Hanan Kattan in the winter of 2009.
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