The World Unseen

Writer-director Shamim Sarif’s South Africa-set period drama bears all the hallmarks of the timeworn vanity project. Based on her novel about the forbidden relationship between a repressed ’50s housewife and a sparky young café owner, the film is being distributed by an independent company set up by Sarif and her producer partner and released on DVD a week after its theatrical debut. But London’s Sapphic cinéastes are spoilt for choice this week, as on the same day, this production company is releasing another lesbian-themed film (‘I Can’t Think Straight’ see review right), starring the same two lead actresses, also written and directed by Sarif. It’s just a shame that neither of them is any good. Of the two, ‘The World Unseen’ is marginally more watchable, its sweeping  African landscape and period detail providing an attractive setting for a clunky tale. But no amount of heaving bosom or quivering bottom lip can evoke a romantic frisson if the emotion simply isn’t there.