Shamim Sarif (born 24 September 1969) is a British novelist, screenwriter, and film director of South Asian and South African heritage. Sarif is best known for her work in writing and directing films with themes that often explore issues of identity and cultural diversity.

Born

24 September 1969 (age 55)

London, England, United Kingdom

Occupation(s):

Novelist, film director, screenwriter

Spouse:

Hanan Kattan ​(m. 2015)​

Children:

2

Sarif was born in London to Indian parents who had emigrated from South Africa in the early 1960s to escape apartheid. She studied English literature at Royal Holloway, University of London and later completed a Master's degree in English at Boston University.

Sarif's debut novel, The World Unseen (2001), won a Betty Trask Award in 2002 and the Pendleton May First Novel Award. The novel explores issues of race, gender and sexuality and was heavily inspired by the stories of Sarif's grandmother and her Indian and South African heritage.

Sarif has adapted and directed the films of three of her novels including The World Unseen (2001), which was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival, I Can't Think Straight (2008), and Despite the Falling Snow (2016).

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.

Her latest books, The Athena Protocol (2019) and The Shadow Mission (The Athena Protocol #2) (2020), represent a departure from her more familiar themes of romance and LGBTQ+ relationships, as it falls into the action-adventure and espionage genre.

Sarif and her wife founded the production company Enlightenment Productions.

in 2019 Sarif was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

In 2023 she directed an episode of the Netflix series You.

Identifying as having Muslim roots, Sarif is lesbian, and she has mentioned that her work on I Can't Think Straight is semi-autobiographical in nature. She is married to film producer Hanan Kattan and the couple have two sons.