Enlightenment Productions is multi-media entertainment company based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and founded in partnership between producer

Hanan Kattan Hanan Kattan (born 22 May 1962) is a Jordanian-born, British-based film producer of Palestinian origin. She is also co-owner of multi-media entertainment company Enlightenment Productions. Kattan created Enlightenment Productions in partnersh ...

and writer and director Shamim Sarif in 2001. Shamim Sarif wrote her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to ...

, '' The World Unseen'', which explores issues of race, gender and sexuality, which she later adapted into an Enlightenment Productions film starring

Lisa Ray Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is a Canadian actress and model who has also worked internationally. Ray began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her ...

and

Sheetal Sheth Sheetal Sheth (born June 24, 1976 ) is an American actress, author, producer, and activist. She starred opposite Albert Brooks in his film ''Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World''. She debuted to rave reviews in the films ''ABCD'' and ''Amer ...

. 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." 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 Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Sarif is the recipient of Best Director awards for ''The World Unseen'' film from the

South African Film and Television Awards South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, the

Phoenix Film Festival Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. Started in 2000, the annual celebration takes place in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The festival is a showcase for feature and short films from all over the wo ...

and the Clip (Tampa) Festival. Sarif adapted her other novel into an '' I Can't Think Straight'', a 2008 romance film about a

-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 British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indian people, Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise ...

. The movie is distributed by Enlightenment Productions. It was released in theatres in 2008 and 2009. The DVD was released on 4 May 2009. The movie is directed by Shamim Sarif and stars

and

. 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. At

Cannes Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

2013 Enlightenment Productions announced their new film

Despite The Falling Snow ''Despite the Falling Snow'' is a 200bookby Shamim Sarif. It was first published on May 4, 2004 through Headline Book Publishing and is set during two different time periods. One part of the story is set in 1950s Moscow, Russia during the Cold ...

. The film starring Mission Impossible 5 Swedish actress

Rebecca Ferguson Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström (born 19 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. She began her acting career with the Swedish soap opera ''Nya tider'' (1999–2000) and went on to star in the slasher film ''Drowning Ghost'' (2004). She came to in ...

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

actor

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in '' The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in '' ...

Oliver Jackson-Cohen Oliver Mansour Jackson-Cohen (born 24 October 1986) is an English actor and model. He is best known for his role as Adrian Griffin in the 2020 adaptation of '' The Invisible Man'' and for his roles as Luke Crain and Peter Quint in the Netfl ...

Antje Traue Antje Traue (; born 18 January 1981) is a German actress. She appeared in her first English-language role for the film ''Pandorum''. Internationally, she is best known for her portrayal of the villain Faora in the 2013 Superman movie '' Man of ...

, Sam Reid,

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...

and

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...

, 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.

Feature films

*'' The World Unseen'' (2007) *'' I Can't Think Straight'' (2008) *''

'' (2013)

Documentaries

*'' The House of Tomorrow'' (2011)

Awards

*Best Feature, Audience Award - Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009 *Best Feature - International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Of Canary Islands, 2009 *Best Feature - Afterellen Visibility Awards *Best Feature, Audience Award - Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2009 *Best Feature, Audience Award - Pink Apple 2009 *Audience Award Best Feature Film - Fairy Tales International Queer Diversity Film Festival (Calgary) 2009 *Jury Winner Best Feature Film - Festival Del Mar, Majorca 2009 *Audience Award, Best Feature - Vancouver Queer Film Festival 2009 *Best lesbian movie - The Holebifilmfestival Vlaams-Brabant 2009, Belgium *Jury award for Best Women's Feature - Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2009 *Best Feature Film - Gay Film Nights International Film Festival 2009

References

'Girl on the Train' and other books to read before the movie comes out in 2016 line-up
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External links

Enlightenment Productions IMDBOfficial website of Enlightenment Productions
{{Authority control Film production companies of the United Kingdom