BIOGRAPHY.

Salima Stanley-Bhanji is a Director, Producer, and Writer, Lawyer, and an emerging DJ. Based in Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary), Salima was born and grew up in Australia to a South Asian/East African father and Australian mother with hidden Japanese ancestry. Salima is drawn to stories grounded in themes of identity, belonging, and challenging convention. Since 2015, she has directed and produced films in four languages which have screened at over 50 film festivals internationally. Through her production company, Inallu Studios, Salima builds work that blurs genres, celebrates complexity, and makes space for overlooked stories to resonate widely.

Salima is currently in production for Subi + Tina, a TELUS originals hybrid feature documentary which follows a Queer South Asian married couple living on the Prairies, and a Calgary Arts Development funded short documentary, The In-Betweeners, which explores identity and belonging through dance. Salima is also co-creating and co-producing Mount Hridayam, a Queer South Asian scripted comedy series in early development.

Salima is a member of Doc Alberta, Women in Film Toronto (WIFT) and the International Documentary Association. She was the recipient of the 2026 South Asian Canadian Film Federation x Banff Fellowship and was selected as part of the Racial Equity Screen Office Prime Time 2026 Delegation.

Before co-founding Humainologie in 2016, Salima marketed light fixtures, practiced litigation at a law firm, ran a yoga studio, was the Executive Director for Vibrant Communities Calgary, and worked as General Counsel of the Calgary Homeless Foundation. Salima received a Calgary Influential Women in Business Award in 2021 and was named by the Calgary Herald on their annual list of ‘Compelling Calgarians’ in 2022.. She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta and was appointed by Senate in 2022 as a part-time Adjudicator on the Canadian Social Security Tribunal where she conducted hearings and issued decisions on appeals related to pension and disability matters. Salima has served as a Board Director on nonprofit Boards including most recently, the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee. She is a past Pechakucha speaker and Tedx speaker and coach.

Running several half marathons barefoot, walking solo from Geneva to Pamplona with a backpack, and uniquely co-parenting a little human, Salima resonates with taking the unexpected or unlikely path. She loves an underdog, craves Vitamin D, and finds sanctuary in bodies of water.