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Enlightenment Productions

Enlightenment Productions is multi-media entertainment company based in London and founded in partnership between producer Hanan Kattan and writer and director Shamim Sarif in 2001.[1]

Shamim Sarif wrote her debut novel, The World Unseen,[2] which explores issues of race, gender and sexuality,[3] which she later adapted into an Enlightenment Productions film starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth. The film was very positively reviewed by the gay and lesbian media, with AfterEllen.com calling it "one of the best-conceived queer films of the past year – a sincere, beautifully realized vision of love and resistance in an intolerant world."[4] The movie also enjoyed a warm reception in South Africa, winning 11 awards at the SAFTAs including Best Director and Best Writing Team. The film received a 25% "rotten" score and an average rating of 4.6 on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Sarif is the recipient of Best Director awards for The World Unseen film from the South African Film and Television Awards,[6][7][8][9] the Phoenix Film Festival[10][11] and the Clip (Tampa) Festival.[12][unreliable source?]

Sarif adapted her other novel into an I Can't Think Straight, a 2008 romance film about a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding. A turn of events causes her to have an affair and subsequently fall in love with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian. The movie is distributed by Enlightenment Productions. It was released in theatres in 2008 and 2009.[13] The DVD was released on 4 May 2009.[14] The movie is directed by Shamim Sarif and stars Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth. It won many international awards.

Enlightenment Productions' 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.[15]

At Cannes Festival[1] 2013 Enlightenment Productions announced their new film Despite The Falling Snow.[16] The film starring Mission Impossible 5 Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson,[17][18][19][20] Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Antje Traue, Sam Reid, Anthony Head and Trudie Styler, was released in UK on 15 April 2016.

Enlightenment Productions were Winner of the Kingston Business Excellence Awards 2014, Best Creative and Media Sector Business.[21]

  1. ^ a b "Kurylenko, Furtwangler fall for Snow". Screen. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  2. ^ Sarif, Shamim (1 January 2001). The World Unseen. Women's Press. ISBN 9780704347120.
  3. ^ "Shamim Sarif | Award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and director". shamimsarif.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Review of "The World Unseen"". AfterEllen.com. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Unusual film sweeps Saftas; Janet van Eeden talks to the writer and director of The World Unseen, a film that highlights the plight of Indian women under apartheid.", The Sunday Independent, 15 February 2009.
  7. ^ "Apartheid era love story The World Unseen scoops 11 Saftas", The Witness, 22 February 2009.
  8. ^ "SAFTA Awards".
  9. ^ "Shows Home | TVSA". tvsa.co.za. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  10. ^ "2008 Phoenix Film Festival Copper Wing Award Winners". Phoenix Film Festival. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Movie Reviews: First week of Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is rich with diversity", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 16 October 2008.
  12. ^ "The World Unseen Awards". onemorelesbian.com.
  13. ^ "I Can't Think Straight". Icantthinkstraightfilm.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Enlightenment Productions, books, films, music and more…". Enlightenment Productions. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  15. ^ Billy Cox, "‘House of Tomorrow’ infused with excitement and optimism" Archived 8 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 16 April 2012.
  16. ^ Despite the Falling Snow (2016) - News - IMDb, retrieved 22 November 2023
  17. ^ Hopewell, John (24 April 2015). "6 Sales Takes Rebecca Ferguson-Starrer 'Snow' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Rebecca Ferguson". Variety. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  19. ^ Rebecca Ferguson describes her big leap into 'Mission: Impossible'. Retrieved from http://www.mercurynews.com/movies/ci_28578922/rebecca-ferguson-describes-her-big-leap-into-mission
  20. ^ Mission: Impossible 5 Has Found Its New Female Lead. Retrieved from http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Mission-Impossible-5-Has-Found-Its-Female-Lead-43820.html
  21. ^ "2014 WINNERS". Kingston Business Excellence Awards 2014. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
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