Vic Sarin

Vic Sarin is a bold and visionary filmmaker. The recipient of countless awards including a Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award, Sarin was recently appointed to the Order of Canada, the country's highest honour, for his contribution to Canadian culture as a visual artist of extraordinary calibre. Born in Kashmir, India, Sarin is a director, writer and cinematographer who is known for his curious and compassionate eye, marrying the cinematic and emotional elements of film in his uniquely poetic style. His work explores themes such as belonging, non-traditional family structures, and overcoming loss, often juxtaposing the inner and outer worlds of his characters. He is a storyteller whose curiosity and passion have taken him to every corner of the globe and given him an optimism and a global view of humanity that is woven into all his work. With a body of work spanning over 100 feature films, documentaries and television specials across multiple genres, Sarin's films have been nominated for and won Emmys, Genies, Geminis, Canada Screen, Cable Ace, and dozens of audience and jury awards at top-tier festivals. Sarin's films have screened at major film festivals including TIFF, Cannes, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Shanghai, San Sebastian, Sydney, and Goa. Retrospectives of his work have been showcased at international festivals. Sarin's feature films include such diverse fare as the black comedy Cold Comfort which debuted at TIFF and won multiple awards, Partition, a period love story between a Muslim and a Sikh, set against the partition of India, starring Irrfan Khan and Neve Campbell, and the festival darling A Shine of Rainbows, a magical family drama starring Connie Neilson and Aidan Quinn that debuted at TIFF and screened at over 40 international festivals, taking home multiple awards. Returning to documentary filmmaking, where he began his career, Sarin directed Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, for which he won an Emmy, The Boy from Geita, about the treatment of people with albinism in Tanzania, which was selected for a special screening at the United Nations, and Keepers of the Magic, which chronicles the magic of cinematography through such icons as Roger Deakins, Vittorio Storaro and Gordon Wills, who gave Sarin his final interview. In 2003, Sarin co-founded Sepia Films to develop international feature films and social justice-themed documentaries that explored themes close to his heart. Sarin's films have been distributed by Disney, Fox, NBC Universal, Paramount, Warner, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and many others. Sarin's career has been captured in the best-selling 2020 memoir, Eyepiece, which chronicles his many journeys. He is currently preparing to shoot his next feature film on location in Ireland.