Saira Shah

Last updated

Saira Shah
Born (1964-10-05) 5 October 1964 (age 59)
London, UK
Occupation(s)Author, reporter and documentary filmmaker
Notable work Death in Gaza (2004 documentary film)
PartnerScott Goodfellow [1]
Children3 [1] [2]
Parent(s) Idries Shah, Cynthia (Kashfi) Kabraji
Relatives Shah family
Awards BAFTA Award (2005), Emmy Award (2005)

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

Contents

Life

Shah was born in London and raised in Kent, England. She was educated at Bryanston School and read Arabic and Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, graduating in 1986. Her father was Idries Shah, an Indian-Afghan and half-Scottish writer of books on Sufism. Part of his family was originally from Paghman, Afghanistan. Her mother is half-Indian Parsi and half-English. [1] The author Tahir Shah is her brother [3] 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. [4] 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." [4] 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 as a reporter covering the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. She has also worked as a journalist for Channel 4 News, which she left in 2001. She married and divorced (after 5 years) a Swiss reporter, whom she met in Peshawar.

Shah worked with James Miller on several projects including the films Beneath the Veil (2001), Unholy War (2001), both Channel 4 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. [5] In 2004, Shah won a Current Affairs BAFTA Award for Death in Gaza [6] and in 2005 the film won three Emmy Awards 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). [7] Shah also appeared on the television programme Breakfast with Frost on 10 August 2003. [8]

Films

Film companies

Books

Newspaper and magazine articles

Interviews

Reviews

Awards

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Calkin, Jessamy (1 April 2013). "Difficult truths: Saira Shah interview". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Shah, Saira (30 March 2013). "'She began to smile at us' – living with my profoundly disabled child". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Shah, Tahir (12 August 2005). "Letters: Conditions in Pakistan's military jails". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  4. 1 2 Shah, Saira (1 February 2017). "Ailsa Goodfellow obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. ↑ Chris Tryhorn (6 April 2006). "Miller's family push for prosecution". Times. London. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Staff (2004). "BAFTA Awards, Television – Current Affairs – 2004, Winner". BAFTA . Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Staff (2005). "Death in Gaza: Emmys.com: 2005". Emmys . Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Staff (10 August 2003). "Breakfast with Frost: Culture of duplicity and deceit". BBC News . Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  9. ↑ Beneath the Veil at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  10. ↑ Death in Gaza at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  11. ↑ Unholy War at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  12. ↑ Williams, Charlotte (3 April 2012). "Harvill Secker acquires The Mouse-Proof Kitchen". The Bookseller . Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 Wells, Matt (2 March 2002). "Afghan woman named TV journalist of the year". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  14. 1 2 Staff (2002). "Beneath the Veil (2001 TV Movie): Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Byrne, Ciar (14 June 2002). "Shah scoops human rights award". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Staff (25 March 2002). "SAIS-Novartis International Journalism Awards Program Announces Year 2001 Winners Pre-09/11 Afghanistan is Topic of Top Journalists". Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  17. ↑ Staff. "Afghanistan: What Makes a Nation?" (PDF). European Stability Initiative. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  18. ↑ Staff (2001). "CNN Presents: "Beneath the Veil" and "Unholy War"". Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  19. 1 2 3 Staff (2002). "News & Documentary Emmy Awards: 2002 Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  20. ↑ Staff (12 July 2002). "CNN wins 2 Golden Nymph Awards at Monte Carlo Television Festival". IndianTelevision.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  21. 1 2 3 Staff (2005). "Death in Gaza (2004): Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  22. ↑ Staff (5 May 2005). "Festival honour for shot director". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
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