His first project, a documentary celebrating the centennial of Saint Thomas Academy, won awards at several international film festivals. Selim formed his own production company (Departure Films) in 1989. He directed a number of award-winning television commercials, including a public service announcement for the
YMCA which received a
Gold Lion, advertising's most coveted award, from
Cannes Advertising Film Festival in 1991. Later that year, Selim was hired by Giraldi/Suarez Productions. In 1993 Selim wrote, produced and directed
Yonnondio, a 15-minute music video in collaboration with Academy Award-winning composer
Peter Buffett which was awarded the Silver Hugo from the
Chicago International Film Festival and a CINE Golden. Selim was an honoree at the AICP Show, "The Art and Technique of the American Television Commercial," where his work was placed in the permanent collection of the
Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His script for the film
Sweet Land, based on a short story by
Will Weaver, was the only screenplay selected for the inaugural year of the Cyngus Emerging Filmmakers Institute. The film, which took him fifteen years to finance, was shot in 2005 around
Chippewa County, Minnesota. It starred
Alan Cumming,
Ned Beatty,
Elizabeth Reaser,
Alex Kingston and
John Heard. The film was the recipient of the 2005 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film at the 13th Annual
Hamptons International Film Festival, the 2006 Florida Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Feature. His narrative film
Emperor of the Air (1996), based on
Ethan Canin's story of the same name, was awarded the top prize at Worldfest and the D. L. Mayberry Award. Selim was placed on
Advertising Weekly's list of the top 1% most sought-after directors in the United States. In May 2021, Selim was hired to direct episodes of the series
Secret Invasion for
Disney+. He ultimately directed all 6 episodes. ==Personal life==