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Exclusive: Village Roadshow Entertainment Group has acquired the rights to Shamim Sarif’s all-female Ya thriller novel The Athena Protocol to develop as a television series.

Described as Bourne Identity meets Karen McManus, The Athena Protocol follows a young woman who is part of a secret, privately-run all-female international vigilante group. When she breaks protocol and assassinates one of their targets, she’s ousted from the organization and goes rogue in order to investigate a sex trafficking ring.

The book, published October 8 by HarperCollins, was released as the first book in a Young Adult series.

Sarif is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and director for film and TV. Her novels Despite the Falling Snow, I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen were all turned into feature films, written and directed by Sarif. Her television directing credits include an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Sarif is repped by Synchronicity Management and attorney Jeffrey Finkelstein of Del,...

If the season premiere played out like a suspense film, The Fosters Season 4 Episode 2 played out like a horror flick, with eerie music, a shower scene, sex, a ghost, and more than enough jump scares. 

Alas, Nick's terrorizing reign has come to an end. Well, for now. 

Watch The Fosters Season 4 Episode 2 Online

Nick didn't initially come across as in interesting character. He was an arrogant, rich kid with "Daddy issues" and a bad boy edge to appeal to both the twins. There was nothing original or engaging about his presence. Until this arc. 

On one hand, his arc felt rushed. We were suddenly faced with a young man who was clearly mentally-ill and troubled, and it was a stark contrast from who we were introduced to in the not so distant  past. 

On the other hand, Louis Hunter (Nick) does such an exceptional job at playing this creepy stalker turned suicidal abuse victim,...

The original allegation, made by Temple University staffer Andrea Constand in 2005, was shocking: Could beloved comedian and TV dad Bill Cosby be guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman?After Constand's civil lawsuit against Cosby was settled out of court in 2006, the scandal began to fade from the headlines. That year, People published a story featuring three interviews with women who came forward by name to say Cosby similarly drugged and assaulted them. Today more than 40 women have claimed they allegedly fell victim to an icon who they say they once trusted. Cosby, through his attorneys, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The original allegation, made by Temple University staffer Andrea Constand in 2005, was shocking: Could beloved comedian and TV dad Bill Cosby be guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman?

After Constand's civil lawsuit against Cosby was settled out of court in 2006, the scandal began to fade from the headlines. That year, People published a story featuring three interviews with women who came forward by name to say Cosby similarly drugged and assaulted them. Today more than 40 women have claimed they allegedly fell victim to an icon who they say they once trusted. Cosby, through his attorneys, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

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Rebecca Ferguson stars in Despite The Falling Snow, and she's the best thing about the movie...

The main draw of Despite The Falling Snow is a dual performance by Rebecca Ferguson, who shot this in between her Emmy-nominated work on The White Queen and her memorable breakthrough role in last year's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Adapted by writer-director Sharim Sharif from her own novel, this romantic thriller casts Ferguson as two women separated by time but connected by blood and a sequence of events that occurred in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.

In 1992, an American artist called Lauren (Ferguson) is curious as to why her weary uncle Sacha (Charles Dance) is so cagey about their family's history and the circumstances of his defection from Russia thirty years prior. In particular, she's beguiled by her aunt Katya (also Ferguson), of whom she is the spitting image.

Gemma Collins has earned herself a joint record by quitting I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here! after just three days of languishing in the jungle's Celebrity Slammer.

Gemma Collins: Are you glad or sad she's quit I'm a Celebrity?

Gemma Collins leaves I'm a Celebrity: Here's 12 reasons why we'll miss her

While she's not the first star to walk, she (and her fellow record holder, see below) did it far quicker than the rest*.

*Excluding Malcolm McLaren, who never even made it into the jungle in 2007, claiming the camp was a "glorified film set" and that the show was "fake".

Can you remember the rest of the celebrities who opted to leave the show? Here are nine along with the days they lasted and their reasons for leaving:

1. John Lydon

Days lasted: 11

Not long after calling viewers "fucking c**ts" for not voting him off the...

Life's certainly a beach for Sheetal Sheth. Stunning in a custom Jorge Vega Umana dress, the actress wed longtime love Neil Mody, the CEO of nRelate, on an island in Mexico. The newlyweds exchanged vows Saturday in the sand at sunset, the highlight of a three-day affair many, many days in the making. "Neil and I met when we were 18 years old and studying at Nyu together," Sheth, 37, whose movie credits include I Can't Think Straight (2008), The World Unseen (2007) and Three Veils (2011), tells People. "He is my first and truest love. Despite experiencing many years of ups and downs, the stars aligned,...

Bollywood actor was convicted of possessing illegal firearms as part of case over serial attacks that killed 257 people

India's supreme court has ordered the Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, the most high-profile of the 100 men and women who were convicted for the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, to return to jail for a further three-and-a-half years.

The bombings on 12 March 1993 were engineered by a silver smuggler and gangster, Mushtaq "Tiger" Memon, widely seen as revenge for the destruction of the Mughal-era Babri Masjid, a hallowed Islamic site, by Hindu fanatics three months earlier. But the real mastermind behind the attacks was said to be the Muslim underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim.

Dutt had been out on parole since 2007, when he appealed against the original sentence by a lower court of six years imprisonment – not for the bomb conspiracy but for the lesser charge of possessing illegal weapons (an Ak-56 rifle and a 9mm pistol...

l-r, Kris Polaha, Wilson Bethel, Jared Padalecki, Ed Westwick, Joseph Morgan & Shane West)

If there’s one thing you can count on with the CW Network it’s that every show – from Vampire Diaries to Nikita and Supernatural - has its share of hot guys. Even when some of their primetime schedule seems primarily geared towards young women – shows like Gossip Girl, Ringer and Hart Of Dixie come to mind - the network is very well aware that more than a few guys are watching, too, and they’re not tuning in to see the latest couture gown that Leighton Meester’s bitchy Blair Waldorf is wearing.

At the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour last month in Pasadena, CA, AfterElton.com sat in on a special panel put together to celebrate the hunks on the network. Called The Bad-Ass Boys of the CW, the panel featured Jared Padalecki (Supernatural...

Madonna walked the red carpet in a star-studded premiere for her drama, "W.E." in NYC last night, and addressed the Elton John/David Furnish feud after she won the Golden Globe for Best Song. Madonna said, "You know what, honestly, I was oblivious to it all. It was brought to my attention afterwards and I don't... I just keep going and don't pay no mind to things like that."

Madge recalled her emotional moment at the Globes,...

Last week, the networks brought their stars to Pasadena to talk with TV journalists at the biannual Television Critics Association press tour. Because The CW loves us, the network lined up five of its handsomest men to talk about the challenges of playing sexy badasses on TV.

The panel consisted of Kristoffer Polaha (Henry, "Ringer"), Wilson Bethel (Wade Kinsella, "Hart of Dixie"), Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester, "Supernatural"), Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass, "Gossip Girl"), Joseph Morgan (Klaus, "The Vampire Diaries") and Shane West (Michael, "Nikita"). Spoiler alert: They're all hysterical. And hot. Very, very hot.

Here are our eight favorite quotes from the most enjoyable half-hour of Jan. 12, during which the word "badass" was uttered 91 times.

Ed Westwick answers his first question in his native British accent.Polaha: Hold on a second. You're British? Padalecki: Are you from Jersey? Westwick: Australia. There's actually no difference.

Where does Sam rank this season in terms of badass-ness?...

Actress Sheetal Sheth is no stranger to controversy. She made her debut in the film Abcd , playing a promiscuous young woman struggling with the ties of family and tradition. It garnered a lot of attention from press and audiences , both positive and negative. The Indian American beauty held her own against Albert Brooks in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, she fell in love with actress Lisa Ray in Shamim Sarif's beloved films The World Unseen and I Can't Think Straight. She also bested me during a pillow fight on my Logo show Brunch with Bridget. (I totally let her win!)

Sheth is dealing with controversy once again with her latest film, Three Veils. The films follows three Middle Eastern women and who deal with abuse, rape and struggles with their sexuality. The script was originally boycotted but was saved thanks to the efforts of the film's director and producer.

Initially, queer New York University grad student Ishita Srivastava set out to complete a thesis project in her second year of her master's in cinema studies. After about three months of planning and five months of shooting, however, Srivastava produced much more than a thesis project, and instead what emerged was Desigirls!, a captivating exploration of queer South Asian women's identities and struggles.

Queer South Asian-American women have very different experiences than those of the archetypal "queer American woman," and Srivastava's documentary effectively captures the nuances of identity formation, sexual orientation, and family situations among queer South Asian women.

The documentary, which has been screening everywhere from New Delhi, India to NYC, begins with DJ Ashu, co-founder of Sholay Productions and the "Desilicious" party, who recognized the need for a regular queer Desi event in New York six years ago. Along with the help of co-founder DJ Shafiq, Ashu...

Cheryl Cole suffers for fashion. The "Fight for This Love" singer, who is often voted one of the world's most stylish stars, says she always wears heels when she goes out as they make an outfit look glamorous even though she has to cope with the consequences.

Speaking at a recent night out at the Cannes Film Festival, where she wore a pair of white lace Christian Louboutins, she said, "My feet are killing me, but it's a long way until the end of the night." She then explained, "I've been invited to the Cinefondation gala dinner at the Carlton Hotel. I sit down, but I can't think straight as my feet hurt so much."

However, she admitted, "I love Louboutins, but some are so high, it is impossible to wear them for a long time. I can't take them off, though, as I may not be able to get them back on again!

In our first annual Top 50 Lesbian and Bi Characters poll, we asked you to vote for your favorite characters from film, television, and internet shows.

You cast your votes, and now we have the results. Before we reveal the winners, let's take a look at some of the trends that emerged.

Almost all of the characters were from films and television shows that made their debut after the year 2000. A few of the exceptions include Kerry Weaver from ER, and the ass-kicking ladies from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

While most of the characters were from Us productions, a fair amount came from international shows, including our top two characters (from the UK show Skins).

Also notable was the fact that some of your favorite characters, the leads from Xena: Warrior Princess (which ran from 1995-2001) and Idgie Threadgood from the film Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), were never officially presented as lesbian or bisexual.

The great iconoclastic film-maker Werner Herzog is used to shooting films – but being shot at? In this extract from his cinematic memoir Mark Kermode tells the remarkable story of how, in the middle of interviewing the German director on a hilltop in Los Angeles, he gets shot. And refuses to go to hospital. And there's the day he meets Angelina... and other stories from a life obsessed with films…

We were somewhere near Lookout Mountain, on the outskirts of La, when Werner Herzog's trousers exploded. It was a small explosion, admittedly, as if a firecracker had gone off in his pocket. But it was an explosion none the less and in an area where unexpected bangs are to be treated with suspicion, if not outright alarm. Herzog had been shot – that much was clear – and was even now bleeding quietly into his boxer shorts as a tiny plume of...

Dye your hair with Kool-Aid and start joking about cutting, because 30-second snippets of Allison Iraheta's major label debut Just Like You have hit the web. Everybody knows I was less-than-thrilled with the super-poppy, heavily-processed vocals of Iraheta's Max Martin-produced single "Friday I'll Be Over U." But will the rest of her album make me happy? Let's go through these too-short snippets and see.

» "Friday I'll Be Over U"

This.

» "Robot Love"

In this pulsating electro-pop ditty (which samples Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II"), Iraheta is pissed that her boyfriend is in love with a robot. Whether said robot is an actual lady cyborg or just an iPhone is to be determined. Also Tbd? Whether this song will have a discernible melody. We're on track two and I'm already thinking "filler?" Ruh-roh.

» "Just Like You"

Good news: I'm finally hearing Allison's voice without a bunch of studio trickery around it.

Visibility Matters is a monthly-ish column by AfterEllen.com Founder Sarah Warn about larger trends affecting lesbian/bi women in entertainment and the media.

Visibility Matters: Entertaining the Future

Lesbian/bi visibility in entertainment today is a mass of contradictions. It's both better and worse than it was when I started writing about it more than seven years ago.

There are more lesbian talk show hosts than ever before on network TV, but still very few fictional lesbian characters on broadcast or cable TV.

We now have well-developed, prominent lesbian characters and superheroes in comics — from Willow to Batwoman — but even the most minor lesbian characters are missing from, or "straightened out" in, most studio theatrical releases. Sometimes an entire lesbian subculture is de-gayed, as demonstrated in Whip It.

Female musicians are coming out left and right as gay or bisexual, as we saw when Brandi Carlile finally confirmed last week that she's a lesbian,...

Shamim Sarif is perhaps one of the most honest Desi filmmakers. Taking from her own experiences and situations she has encountered, the writer-director went on to make one of the most coveted films based on her own written novels "I Can't Think Straight" and "The World Unseen". Interestingly both films feature a similar theme set in different times. While I Can't Think Straight talks about a lesbian couple in today's world who deals with society and a cultural divide while The World Unseen deals with a comparable situation however set in 1950 South Africa. However whether its I Can't Think Straight or The World Unseen, individually the scripts talk about women who need to break boundaries as they deal with a taboo subject in homophobic societies. The festival circuit has taken quite a liking to both films which independently won much acclaim and awards and is now gearing up for release in India.

Sheetal Sheth was first seen in the extremely award winning film Abcd - which also aided the Indian-American genre of films. After gaining immense popularity with the film, she went on to become a part of a handful of critically acclaimed movies which the depicted the lives of Indians abroad. More recently she has went out on a real limb and teamed up with Lisa Ray in the lesbian romantic film, I Can't Think Straight directed by writer turned director Shamim Sarif. After creating mass frenzy amongst the gay and lesbian community all over the world, the film is finally coming to India. However, the team of the film was met by a rigid Indian Censor Board who claimed too many scenes in the film were unacceptable only to cut some of the love scenes between the women. BollySpice talks to the actress about her journey through I Can't Think Straight and The World Unseen,...

I Can't Think Straight

Tala (Lisa Ray), a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian origin prepares for an elaborate wedding with her Jordanian fiancé, when she encounters Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend Ali. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other but the attraction is immediate. Tala's feisty nature provokes Leyla out of her shell and soon both women reveal their feelings for each other. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made and escapes back to Jordan where her chain-smoking high-brow mother finishes preparations for an ostentatious wedding. As family members descend and the wedding day approaches, simmering family tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself. Meanwhile heartbroken Leyla relishes her newly found sense of identity and self-respect...

Canadian actress Lisa Ray, star of The World Unseen, I Can't Think Straight, began blogging this week about her diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma, a rare and incurable cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.

Lisa Ray

At first, she wasn't sure if she would go public with the news. She wrote on her blog:

I asked around if I should speak openly about getting diagnosed recently with Multiple Myeloma. Some advised me to keep my "‘condition"’ a secret as it could negatively affect my career. Buh? I’m plumper, redder, more energetic and wily than ever before- Kiss me like I’ve been kidnapped!

Ultimately, she decided to share her story in hopes of raising awareness about (and hopefully funding for) the disease. Ray was diagnosed on June 23, and started her first cycle of treatment for the disease on July 2. She recently wrote:

For me, it was a relief to hear what was wrong.

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: I heard that I Can't Think Straight is going to be a TV show. Is it true?

― Lesley M.

Sheetal Sheth and Lisa Ray in I Can't Think Straight

Answer: I reached out to Aida Kattan, the head of the Los Angeles office of writer-director Shamim Sarif's Enlightenment Films, and she confirmed that I Can't Think Straight, the series, is indeed in development by Sarif and her wife and co-producer Hanan Kattan.

According to Aida, Sarif is currently writing a pilot and series arc, and she's aiming for a North American network/broadcaster. If it gets developed by a network,...

This week Bridget welcomes to Brunch the star of The World Unseen and I Can't Think Straight, Sheetal Sheth.

Sheth discusses her work with writer-director Shamim Sarif, her love of General Hospital, and her own daredevil tendencies.

Watch Brunch with Sheetal below in three segments.

Brunch with Sheetal Sheth (Part 1 of 3)

(Brunch With Bridget, Episode 70)

Brunch with Sheetal Sheth (Part 2 of 3)

Brunch with Sheetal Sheth (Part 3 of 3)

Watch new episodes of Brunch With Bridget Friday nights at 2 a.m. on Logo, and watch previous episodes of Brunch here.

Thanks to Ajay Devgan, one of our most talented cinematographers, Aseem Bajaj, was in England this June to shoot an independent British film. "It's a British production called The Dreaming Spires directed by Shamim Sarif. It's about the first American boy Joseph Connors who came to Oxford University to serve as a reader to a blind British female professor," says Aseem who has served as Dop to Bollywood films as varied as Chameli and Golmaal. And to think the Dreaming Spires might have never happened for Aseem! He explains, "After U Me Aur Hum, I was supposed to shoot Ajay Devgan's next directorial project. But now he's busy with Rohit Shetty's and Milan Luthria's films. He's also doing Priyadarshan's next. So that left the rest of the year free for me." Earlier Aseem had served as Dop on Shamim Sarif's I Can't Think Straight, a semi-autobiographical...

Thanks to Ajay Devgan, one of our most talented cinematographers, Aseem Bajaj, was in England this June to shoot an independent British film. "It's a British production called The Dreaming Spires directed by Shamim Sarif. It's about the first American boy Joseph Connors who came to Oxford University to serve as a reader to a blind British female professor," says Aseem who has served as Dop to Bollywood films as varied as Chameli and Golmaal. And to think the Dreaming Spires might have never happened for Aseem! He explains, "After U Me Aur Hum, I was supposed to shoot Ajay Devgan's next directorial project. But now he's busy with Rohit Shetty's and Milan Luthria's films. He's also doing Priyadarshan's next. So that left the rest of the year free for me." Earlier Aseem had served as Dop on Shamim Sarif's I Can't Think Straight, a semi-autobiographical...

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: I loved But I'm a Cheerleader, and I have watched Itty Bitty Titty Committee ten times now. Enough already! When is Jamie Babbit's next movie coming out?

― Tina, Columbia, MD

Jamie Babbit

Answer: Did you check out Babbit's 2005 feature, The Quiet, starring Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle and Edie Falco? If not, the cast alone should be enough to send you to the video store.

I passed your question along to Babbitt, who told me:

I'm currently casting for my new film called Breaking The Girl. It's tonally in the vein of Body Heat, with lots of bi beauties and femme fatales.

The Telegraph is reporting that Sienna Miller may star in out writer/director Shamim Sarif's new film, Dreaming Spires. Sarif told the paper that she "would love" the blonde British actress to play the lead role in the movie, which is based on one of Sarif's short story and is set to start filming next year.

"We need an English rose type," Sarif said. "I would love if Sienna could play the role of the professor. That would be fantasic."

The role is admittedly a pretty good one: A professor at Oxford University who is blinded in World War II. The Telegraph makes note that Miller is "being handed an unlikely opportunity to prove her credentials" by the possibility of playing such a part, which will be a far cry from the glammed-out role as Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl and Dylan Thomas' wife in The Edge of Love.

To the readers: It helps if you have subscriptions to IMDbPro and Cinando as most of the links are to these two sites. Please let me know if you are not subscribers and I will try to vary the sources more broadly.

26 Films licensed "Keep It Together" to Splendid for German speaking territories.

Absurda - A David Lynch Company has licensed "My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done?" to Kinowelt for German speaking territories. Unified has U.S. and Ws has Canada.

Alliance licensed its entire library to Talat Captaan for the Middle East including Iran. It will serve as the basis for Captaan's reentering the sales business.

American World Pictures licensed "Parasomnia" to KMY Films for Cambodia.

Bavaria’s "Van Dieman’s Land" went to U.K. (High Fliers). "Bad Day To Go Fishing" went to Greece (Pcv). "Everyone Else" aka "Alle Anderen" went to Cis (Russian Report). "Let The Right One In" went to Turkey(Bir), Hong Kong (Edko), Colombia (Cinecolombia). "Troubled Water" went to Taiwan (Khan).

Beta licensed "North Face" to Music Box Films for U.S.

EastEnders star Nina Wadia has confessed that she has had to turn down movie offers while working on the soap. The actress, whose new film I Can't Think Straight is released tomorrow, told Digital Spy that she enjoys exploring a character over time on the popular BBC show. "I have sadly had to turn a couple of things down, which is a bit gutting," she said. "At the same time I can't complain, I'm a jobbing actor and I'm enjoying a role that I've created over time. I do miss the light entertainment side of things. I got to watch clips of what I've done in this film and I miss that." Wadia's new movie, I Can't Think Straight, focuses on a lesbian relationship between British Indian Leyla and London-based Palestinian (more)...

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: When is the 3Way DVD coming out?

— Diana, Ames, Iowa

Question: What is the status of 3way season two? Is it being filmed or planned? I loved that show and can't wait to see more of it!

— Arielle

Answer: We've received a lot of questions on these two topics over the last few months, and we finally have an answer! To one of them, at least.

The first season of 3Way will be released on DVD on Dinah Shore weekend (i.e. the first weekend in April), according to the 3Way producers. They plan to post more details on 3WayTV.tv soon,...

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Want to know if someone is openly gay? (We won't out anyone, but we'll let you know what they've said publicly.) Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: Is [actress] Clea DuVall a lesbian or has she ever come out and said anything about her sexuality?

— Melissa, Syracuse, New York

Clea DuVall

Answer: The 31-year old actress has never publicly stated her sexual orientation.

She is a favorite among lesbian viewers for her work in several films by out director Jamie Babbit, including But I'm A Cheerleader (1999), Sleeping Beauties (a short film starring Radha Mitchell, of High Art fame), Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007), and her role in the HBO film,...

In our annual Visibility Awards, we formally recognize the people who have positively or negatively impacted lesbian and bi visibility in American entertainment during the year. (See previous years here: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004).

From Best Movie to Worst Song to Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year, these awards recognize the television shows, movies, music, books and people who entertained, inspired, or disappointed us in 2008.

In previous years, the winners have been editorially chosen by the AfterEllen.com staff (note: winners do not necessarily represent any individual staff member's preference). This year, we opened up some of the categories for nominations, posted the finalists, and thousands of you voted. We've designated those categories with this symbol:

We've also included more international people, shows and movies this year, a reflection of the increasing awareness of lesbian and bisexual visibility around the world made possible by the internet.

Now on to the best and worst of...

I Can't Think Straight Directed by: Shamim Sharif Cast: Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Antonia Frering, Rez Kempton Running Time: 1 hr 30 min Rating: PG-13 Opens: 12/12 in Portland at The Living Room Theaters Plot: Tala (Lisa Ray), a Christian Jordanian from a wealthy family, becomes engaged and returns to London to meet with friends before her wedding. There she meets Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), the girlfriend of her best friend Ali. After a tenuous courtship, the two women end up involved in a secret romantic relationship. With Tala's impending nuptials, the women must make a choice, to live a lie or come out and be who they are, together. Who’s It For? Do you ever watch romantic comedies and think, if only the two were both women and really hot? Then this is...

Can a shy Muslim woman find satisfaction in bed with a frisky Christian woman?

Judging by the soapy "I Can't Think Straight," they can - even if viewers are going to be left feeling unfulfilled.

Tala (Lisa Ray), a London-based Palestinian from Jordan, is preparing for her ostentatious wedding, even though she ditched four previous husbands-to-be.

The odds of another broken engagement increase when Tala meets Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), a British Indian woman who is dating a male friend of Tala's.

Well, one thing (eye contact) leads to another (a...

by Chris Wisniewski (November 17, 2008) [An indieWIRE review from Reverse Shot]

You would think that a cross-cultural, cross-religious lesbian romance should have enough built-in conflict to sustain an 80-minute feature, but Shamim Sarif's "I Can't Think Straight" slumps and stretches its way from its first uninspired set piece, an engagement party for Jordanian-Christian Tala (Lisa Ray), to its mildly embarrassing closing montage, cut to, natch, Jill Sobule's "I Kissed a Girl" (hello, 1995!). As with her other feature, "The World Unseen" (released to theaters earlier this month), Sarif adapts and directs her own novel here, with Ray and Sheetal Sheth playing the lead roles. For "I Can't Think Straight," she enlists the help of co-writer Kelly Moss, but to no avail: Sarif has crafted a movie with such paper-thin characterizations and so lacking in dramatic incident that it's frankly surprising that she was working from a novel at all -- much less one she wrote herself.

by indieWIRE (November 4, 2008) Director Shamim Sarif's "The World Unseen" is adapted from her novel, and is set in 1950s apartheid South Africa amongst the Indian community. The themes are universal - that whatever family, societal or even political constraints you find around you, you can question those constraints, and then take small steps to change them. Her other film, "I Can't Think Straight," meanwhile is a contemporary urban romantic comedy set in London and Jordan. It is a love story between two women of different Eastern cultures and whether or not they can come to terms with the implications of accepting their own sexuality. Sarif describes it as "a light-hearted piece." Regent Releasing opens "I Can't Think Straight" on November 21 and "The World Unseen" this Friday, November 7 in limited release.

Filed under: Drama, Romance, Fandom, Diy/Filmmaking, Movie Marketing, Images, Trailers and Clips, Posters

Cinematical has just received this exclusive trailer and poster for the film I Can't Think Straight (view trailer below and see poster after the jump). Co-written and directed by Shamim Shaif (and based on her own autobiographical novel), the film tells of a secret passionate love affair between two women from very diverse backgrounds and their struggle to come to terms with their true feelings for one another before it all gets in the way of the rest of their lives. Starring Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Antonia Frering, Dalip Tahil and Nina Wadia, I Can't Think Straight is due in theaters on November 21. Check out the brand new trailer below, and the sexy, seductive poster (along with an official synopsis) after the jump.

Continue reading Exclusive: 'I Can't Think Straight' Trailer and Poster Premiere!

New York -- "I Can't Think Straight," a Sapphic romantic comedy written, directed and produced entirely by women, has been picked up for North American distribution by Here! Films.

Shamim Sarif's film charts the unexpected romance between Tala (Lisa Ray), a vivacious Christian woman from Palestine, and Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), a shy Muslim woman from India. When they meet in London just before Tala's planned wedding, sparks fly between them and their families.

Here! sister co. Regent Releasing will distribute Sarif's other feature, the South African-set period lesbian romance "The World Unseen" on Nov. 7 in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. "Straight" will bow in the same cities two weeks later, followed by additional regional markets.

Sarif based both directorial efforts on her novels of the same name and both star the same actresses. Bollywood actress and model Ray ("Water") sparked controversy in India last year when it was...