Vic Sarin

Victor Sarin CM (born 1941) is an Indian-born Canadian/American film director, cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in film and television for over 60 years. Sarin was the recipient of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers Kodak New Century Award in 2009, the Directors Guild of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Order of Canada in 2022.

Sarin has worked on over 100 feature films, documentaries and television specials across multiple genres. Sarin has nominated for and won Emmys, Genies, Geminis and Canadian Screen Awards. Sarin’s films have screened at film festivals including TIFF, Cannes, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Shanghai, San Sebastian, Sydney, and Goa.^{[citation needed]}

His work as a cinematographer includes Partition, Margaret's Museum, Whale Music, Heartaches, and Dancing in the Dark. He also directed Partition, A Shine of Rainbows, Left Behind, and The Lightkeeper.

Born in Kashmir, India, Sarin experimented with his family’s 8 mm movie camera and watched Indian films as a child. Sarin’s father worked for India's Ministry of External Affairs as a diplomat to Australia. Sarin joined them in Canberra before moving to Melbourne. He took a two year Broadcast Operator’s program at the Royal Technical College. On his 17th birthday, his father bought him a 16 mm Bolex camera.

After graduating from The Royal Technical College in 1961, Sarin was hired by the Australian Broadcast Corporation as a technician's assistant and freelanced as a film cameraman for ABC News. Due to his father’s diplomatic post ending and Australia's racial immigration policy, Sarin had to leave Australia and chose to move to Canada in 1963.

Shortly after arriving in Canada, Vic was hired by CBC Toronto as a studio cameraman, working on programs such as The National, This Hour Has Seven Days, The Friendly Giant, Front Page Challenge, Take Thirty, News Magazine, Razzle Dazzle, Mr. Dressup, The Nature of Things, Front Page Challenge, Juliette and others.

In 1968, Sarin joined the film department of CBC Television. Over the next 18 years, Sarin worked as a cinematographer for many primetime CBC documentaries and dramas. Sarin was the first staff cinematographer for the CBC’s long-running primetime investigative documentary program The Fifth Estate in 1976 as well as the first cinematographer on the landmark anthology drama series For The Record in the same year.

Sarin worked as the cinematographer for many award winning CBC Television movies and miniseries such as Riel, The Wordsmith, War Brides, Chautauqua Girl, Charlie Grant's War, Crossbar and Love and Larceny. In 1980, Sarin's directorial debut began with the acclaimed three-part miniseries You've Come a Long Way Katie starring Lally Cadeau and Catherine O'Hara. He then directed CBC movies The Other Kingdom, Passengers, Island Love Song and Family Reunion. While working for the CBC, Sarin also shot his first feature Heartaches as the cinematographer in 1981 which was nominated for eleven Genie Awards, winning three.