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Tragedy as young Australian actress dies suddenly after starring in award-winning film: ‘We will never forget your beautiful smile’
- Sariah Saibu, from Perth, died suddenly last month
- He starred in an award-winning short film in 2021.
- His loved ones say he radiated ‘love and light’
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A young Australian actress and model from Western Australia has died suddenly.
Sariah Saibu, who starred in the 2021 award-winning short film Beautiful They, passed away on January 30.
A devastated relative broke the news online, saying the artist, from Perth, radiated “love and light” and “may her radiant soul continue to shine.”
“This morning we lost our dear Sariah,” her aunt Cassandra Colvin wrote.
“I am struggling to find the words to express the pain that I and his family are feeling right now.
Sariah Saibu (pictured), who starred in an award-winning short film, died on January 30.
‘RIP beautiful – all our love always’.
Saibu starred as Violet opposite Australian actor Morgan Davies’ character Blue in Beautiful They, which screened at the Tribecca Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival.
The clip, directed by Cloudy Rhodes, is an LGBTQI coming-of-age surf romance that explores the nuances of the genre.
In 2021, the play won the Directors Guild of Australia Award for Best Direction of a Short Film and was nominated for Best Short Drama from the Australian Academy of Film and Television Arts (AACTA).
The following year, the film was awarded the 2022 Queer Screen Mardi Gras winner for Best Film and City of Melbourne for Best Australian Short.
Saibu has also worked as a model and performed as a backup dancer for music videos, including San Cisco’s 2017 hit SloMo and Catlips’ Silver Smoke, released in 2015.
Friends have gathered online to pay tribute to the “kind” and “bubbly”, who built a community of friends in both Perth and Darwin.
Saibu played Violet in Beautiful They, a teen romance film that premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2021.
The film, directed by Cloudy Rhodes, won several awards shortly after its release.
“Sariah is the queen, the karaoke king, the star and the icon,” her friend Blue Bradshaw wrote in GoFundMe.
‘The princess of not only Perth, but also Darwin. The protagonist of our lives and the jewel of our hearts.’
“Sariah left an everlasting impression on her community, which has been felt and greatly appreciated by her closest family and friends.”
Another friend described Saibu as a “beautiful, bubbly soul” with an “incredible sense of humor.”
“She always had time to chat and put her whole heart into her friends and her passions,” they said.
‘Rest in power Sariah, we will not forget you.’
The fundraiser, which will help his family cover funeral costs in both cities, has raised $4,896 since it launched Wednesday.
Saibu will be fired at a service at Kidogo Art House Fremantle on February 15 and at a ceremony at Garramilla in Darwin in March.
Sariah has been remembered as a ‘bubbly person’ and a ‘beautiful soul’