TED Community » Hanan Kattan

About Me

Hanan has a unique talent for combining a deep passion for her projects with the ability to thrive in a highly competitive environment. She gets things done, and she always gets others as excited about her ideas as she is - qualities which make her a success in her role as a film producer and entrepreneur.

Hanan created Enlightenment Productions in partnership with Shamim Sarif solidifying the intense creative partnership between the two. The company is dedicated to producing entertaining features that have integrity and individuality. The success of the film production company has led to a sales company (Enlightenment Films) that has sold both films theatrically around the world, and a record label (Enlightenment Records) which has produced and distributed the soundtrack for I Can't Think Straight as well as launching the solo career of singer-songwriter Leonie Casanova.

Shamim Sarif’s directorial debut I Can’t Think Straight marked Hanan’s debut as a film producer. She successfully shepherded the project through the script stage and into financing before attaching a talented cast and crew and running the project through production. The movie has won 8 awards to date. She equally succeeded with Shamim’s second feature film The World Unseen, which has won 20 international movie awards including Best Debut Feature at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, Best Director Feature & Woman’s Favourite Awards at Clip Film Festival, Florida, Audience Award, Best Feature at Miami G&L Film Festival and the World Cinema Best Director Award at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Enlightenment’s current projects include two other works by Shamim. The Dreaming Spires, a period drama about a young American boy at Oxford and the relationship he forms with a blind Englishwoman, is being structured as a British production. Despite The Falling Snow is a sweeping tale of passion and betrayal in Cold War Russia. I Can't Think Straight is also in development as a TV series for North American networks.

Hanan’s background includes building a successful distribution toiletries company and creating four of her own brands. In the process she created an entirely new product category – that of holistic premium mass-market products. Marie Claire magazine has labelled her method of work "beauty with a conscience".