Sheila Feruzi Kassim
Sheila Feruzi Kassim was born in Bergen, Norway and raised in both Norway and Tanzania (which is the place of her family origin). Her childhood was nomadic and multilingual: while growing up in Dar Es Salaam, she spoke Norwegian at home, Swahili with friends, and English at school. After ten years in Tanzania, in 2005, she moved back to Norway and has since been based in Bergen.
To support her development as a filmmaker, in 2017, Sheila obtained a BA in film and creative writing from the University of Essex in the UK. Her passion for content creation, freedom of expression and free speech led her to co-found a startup initiative, Vuma Projects, which works to raise Afro-Norwegian and POC voices through film, art, and literature.
Vuma Projects is an alumnus of VIS Innovation Norway Business Incubation centre. Alongside Vuma, Sheila worked at one of Norway's leading and award-winning film production companies Mer Film. She was involved in projects such as The War Sailor Norway's 2022 Oscar film candidate, and an upcoming feature co-production with Morocco for the film, Touda directed by French Moroccan director, Nabil Ayouch. Kassim’s proudest achievement is being selected to be a member of the Youth Freedom of Speech Council, initiated by Fritt Ord and PEN Norway. She is a Board member of a magazine distribution company Tekstallmeninge.
In 2021, Sheila was awarded Bergen's top 30 under 30 young and up-and-coming talent.
Creative Producer Indaba 2022–23 participants
Taking place at the Atlas Workshops (Marrakech International Film Festival) and IFFR 2023.