Sima is a graduate of the New Zealand Drama School and Victorian College of the Arts Film & Television School in Australia. With a strong background in theatre, Sima has been a writer/director in the film and television industry for 15 years, directing a wide range of formats.
Her short films O Tamaiti and Still Life have won numerous international Best Short Film Awards, including Venice, Asia Pacific, Montreal, New Zealand, and Chicago film festivals. Other awards include Best Documentary Award for Velvet Dreams in Canada, and Best Music Video awards for Sub-cranium Feeling at Flying Fish, BFM, and Mai Time awards.
In 2004, she was the first to be awarded the Fulbright Creative NZ 3 month Pacific writers residency in Hawaii, and in 2006 she also received the Pacific Innovation and Excellence Award. Sima is currently in development with her feature film Moana, which was developed at the Binger Film Lab in Amsterdam, and this year is about to shoot feature film Apron Strings.