Shamim Sarif

Writer and director Shamim Sarif is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, feature film director, and director for premium series, including the latest season of YOU for Netflix/Warner.

Shamim’s latest feature film as a writer/director and co-producer, Polarized, won its first festival award in April 2023 and releases in the U.S. in early 2024.

Her latest books, The Athena Protocol and The Shadow Mission, (HarperCollins) are being developed as a series with Village Roadshow and Gran Via Productions (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), with Shamim writing the pilot. She is developing five further series concepts.

Her previous features as writer/director include Despite the Falling Snow, starring Rebecca Ferguson and Charles Dance. The film garnered 13 awards.

Her first feature film as writer/director, I Can’t Think Straight debuted at Palm Springs Film Festival and won 11 awards. Her follow up movie The World Unseen debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival before garnering 23 awards internationally.

As well as YOU, her other series directing credits include the upcoming Sort Of (HBO Max), SkyMed (Paramount+), Moonshine (eOne) and The Way Home (Peacock/Hallmark)

Shamim is of South Asian descent and identifies as LGBTQIA+. Her work has always focused on diversity, feminism, social impact and humanism.

She has spoken at TED events worldwide, at the INK Conference in India and DLD in Munich. Corporate speaking events have included Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Disney.

Shamim was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019. She is also a member of BAFTA, the WGA, the Director’s Guild of Canada, the Canadian Academy and the Canadian Media Producers Association.