Saira Shah (born 5 October 1964) is a British author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.

Life

Shah was born in London and raised in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. She was educated at

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the ...

and read

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, graduating in 1986. Her father was

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; , , ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, Indries Shah, né Sayyid, Sayed Idries el-Hashemite, Hashimi (Arabic: ) and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghans, Afghan author, thinker and teacher in ...

, an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

and half-

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

writer of books on

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. Part of his family was originally from

Paghman Paghman (Dari/Pashto:پغمان) is a town in the hills near Afghanistan's capital of Kabul. It is the seat of the Paghman District (in the western part of Kabul Province) which has a population of about 120,000 (2002 official UNHCR est.), main ...

, Afghanistan. Her mother is half-Indian

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

and half-English. The author

Tahir Shah Tahir Shah (, ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. Family Tahir Shah was born into the '' saadat'' ...

is her brother and she also has a sister, Tahir's twin, Safia Shah. Shah currently lives between London and rural France with her partner, journalist and photographer Scott Goodfellow, and their son and daughter Hamish and Rosie Goodfellow. Ailsa Goodfellow, their first daughter, died, suddenly, of a pulmonary embolism early in 2017. Shah said: "Ailsa inspired me to write a novel, ''The Mouse-Proof Kitchen'', based on her life, which was published in 2013. By then Ailsa had become our teacher, demonstrating how to live with courage, patience and joy – and proving that the essence of humanity lies far deeper than mere development." The novel gives a vivid account of how the fictional characters Anna and her husband Tobias deal with their daughter Freya's birth and the experiences which they must undergo before fully appreciating the miracle of her life.

News reporter and documentary maker

Shah's first trip to Afghanistan was when she was 21 years old. She worked for 3 years in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

as a reporter covering the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

. She has also worked as a journalist for

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

, which she left in 2001. She married and divorced (after 5 years) a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

reporter, whom she met in

. Shah worked with James Miller on several projects including the films ''Beneath the Veil'' (2001), ''Unholy War'' (2001), both

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

'' Dispatches'' films for the UK documentary company Hardcash productions, and '' Death in Gaza'' (2004), for their own TV company Frostbite Films. Miller was killed in 2003. In 2004, Shah won a Current Affairs

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

for ''Death in Gaza'' and in 2005 the film won three

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s for Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera), Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming and Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking (Shah sharing one award as a producer and being a nominee for another as a writer). Shah also appeared on the television programme ''

Breakfast with Frost ''Breakfast with Frost'' is a Sunday morning BBC current affairs programme hosted by Sir David Frost. It covered the main political news of the day, with Frost interviewing key figures in the world of politics, and celebrity guests reviewing th ...

'' on 10 August 2003.

Films

* ''Beneath the Veil'' * '' Death in Gaza'' * ''Unholy War''

Film companies

* Frostbite Productions

Books

* *

Newspaper and magazine articles

* *

Interviews

* *

Reviews

Awards

* 2002

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

– Best International Current Affairs – Beneath the Veil * 2002 Royal Television Society – Programme of the Year – Beneath the Veil * 2002 Royal Television Society – Reporter of the Year – Saira Shah * 2002

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

– Best current affairs – Beneath the Veil * 2002

One World Media One World Media is a non-profit organisation, registered in the UK as a charitable trust. It is based in London. The organisation describes its aim as supporting strong vibrant and independent media that empower citizens, promote justice and contrib ...

Award – Beneath the Veil * 2002 SAIS-Novartis International Journalism Award – Beneath the Veil * 2002 Mo Amin Courage Under Fire Award – Saira Shah * 2002

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Film ...

Courage Under Fire Award – Saira Shah * 2002

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

s – Beneath the Veil and Unholy War * 2002 News and Documentary Emmy awards – Winner of Outstanding Investigative journalism – Beneath the Veil * 2002 News and Documentary Emmy awards – Nomination for Best documentary – Beneath the Veil * 2002 News and Documentary Emmy awards – Outstanding coverage of a continuing news story – Unholy War * 2002 Golden Nymph award, Monte Carlo – Beneath the Veil * 2005 BAFTA – Best current affairs film – Death in Gaza * 2005 Emmy – Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking – Death in Gaza * 2005 Emmy – Nomination for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming – Death in Gaza * 2005 One World 2005 – Human Rights award – Death in Gaza

References

External links

*
Interview with CNN

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160303212846/http://www.convilleandwalsh.com/index.php/authors/author/saira-shah/ Saira Shah's page Conville and Walsh literary agency (Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Saira 1964 births Living people People educated at Bryanston School Alumni of SOAS University of London Journalists from London Film producers from London Saira Shah BAFTA winners (people) News & Documentary Emmy Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners English people of Afghan descent English people of Indian descent English people of Scottish descent People from Kent English people of Parsi descent