Shamim SarifBritish writer and director Shamim Sarif is an equally successful novelist (the Pendleton May First Novel Award, Betty Trask Award), screenwriter, and feature film director. She has published three novels and one non-fiction book.Her first feature film 'I Can't Think Straight' won 11 awards and her follow up movie 'The World Unseen' had its debut at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival before going on to garner 23 awards internationally, including 11 SAFTAs (South African Film Awards). An accomplished speaker, Shamim has spoken at TED events in London, Jerusalem and India, as well as at corporate events for companies such as Deloitte and Goldman Sachs.In 2008, Shamim received an AfterEllen Visibility Award as International Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year. With her partner and producer on her films, Hanan Kattan, she runs the Enlightenment group of companies, based in London. The group includes a fast-growing digital agency, EBS Digital. She is also a founder of the Sarif-Kattan Foundation, focused on empowering and educating women and children.Shamim recently completed a feature documentary as writer and director. Shot on location in Israel and Palestine, The House of Tomorrow looks at the conflict between these countries from a perspective of women who are focused on building a future. The film had festival debuts in New York and Sarasota in 2012.Shamim's next feature is Despite the Falling Snow - based on her own highly acclaimed novel - the film is slated to shoot in November 2013. Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion, Quantum of Solace), Charles Dance and Harriet Walter are set to star.