Shamim Sarif (born 24 September 1969) is a Britishnovelist, 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.
Sarif's work has received critical acclaim for its portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships and its exploration of the complexities of love and identity. She is known for her contributions to both literature and film, especially within the context of LGBTQ+ storytelling.
Sarif's debut novel, The World Unseen (2008), won a Betty Trask Award 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.[3]
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.[4]
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.
Personal life
Identifying as having Muslim roots, Sarif is openly lesbian, and she has mentioned that her work on I Can't Think Straight is semi-autobiographical in nature.[2][5]
On 23 September 2015, she celebrated her marriage to producer Hanan Kattan in London, marking nearly two decades of being together.[6]