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Production Notes

 

Shamim Sarif has brought to the screen the motion picture adaptation of her critically acclaimed and award winning debut novel, The World Unseen. The human drama is inspired by stories of her grandmother's life in South Africa during the 1950s when Apartheid began its treacherous grip on the country, leaving individuals to deal with a long fight for independence and identity.

 

Written, directed, financed and produced almost entirely by women, the motion picture is an Enlightenment Productions film, in association with DO Productions. Producer Hanan Kattan and co-producer Brigid Olen teamed up on this project along with associate producer Daisy Allsop. Many of the heads of department are also women, including Carole Prentice (line producer), Tanya Van Tonder (production designer) and Danielle Knox (wardrobe designer).

 

"The strong female presence on this movie wasn't something we actively sought out," explains Sarif, "but there was a passion for the story and its themes that has driven everyone who's chosen to be involved with The World Unseen and that has helped the movie to surpass even our high expectations for it."

 

The production is independently financed by private equity, and Katherine Priestley and Lisa Tchenguiz-Imerman serve as Executive Producers. Says Priestley, "I believe that, like the book, the film will reach out to a very wide audience. It's about individualism, about integrity, about believing in yourself."

 

This film was made with the assistance of the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa. The South African government via the NFVF showed their support for the project by taking minority equity stake in the film.

 

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