Shawn Slovo is a screenwriter

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

, best known for the film A World Apart

A World Apart (film)

A World Apart is a 1988 anti-Apartheid drama, written by Shawn Slovo and directed by Chris Menges. It is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe, where the movie was filmed...

, based on her childhood in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 under the apartheid. She is the daughter of the late South African Communist Party

South African Communist Party

South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...

 leaders Joe Slovo

Joe Slovo

For Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...

 and Ruth First

Ruth First

Ruth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...

. She also wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film Catch a Fire

Catch a Fire (film)

Catch a Fire is a 2006 dramatic thriller about activists against apartheid in South Africa. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo...

, which is also a historical film about apartheid, and for the 2001 film Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film)

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a 2001 film directed by John Madden and based on the novel of the same name by Louis de Bernières. It stars Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz.-Plot:...

.

In the late 1970s she served as Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

's personal assistant while he made the films Raging Bull and The King of Comedy

The King of Comedy (1983 film)

The King of Comedy is a 1983 American dark comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, and directed by Martin Scorsese. The subject of the movie is celebrity stalking...

.

Slovo currently lives in London and often works for Working Title Films

Working Title Films

Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...

. Her sister Gillian Slovo

Gillian Slovo

Gillian Slovo is a South African born novelist, playwright and memoirist.Her novels were at first predominantly of the crime and thriller genres, including a series featuring the detective Kate Baeier but she has since written more literary fiction...

 is also a writer and her sister Robyn Slovo

Robyn Slovo

Robyn Slovo is a film producer. Her work includes the 2000 film Morvern Callar the 2006 film Catch a Fire and the 2011 film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy....

is a producer.