Aneel Ahmad

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Aneel Ahmad is a British filmmaker, writer, film director, and producer

Personal life

Ahmad was born and raised in a working-class family in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. With no formal training and no film education or qualifications, Ahmad started off making low budget HI8 films with his friends. In 2005, he gained recognition by directing his first short film on a tiny budget of £2,500, ''Waiting For Sunrise''. In his early career, Ahmad gained experience by participating in many prestigious film writing courses; these included TAPS BAFTA, The First Film Foundation,

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...

Script development,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

's "Writers Room" new writers initiative, and The Writers Gym M.A Writers course ( London Film School &

French Institute The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

). He was also part of other film courses such as NFTS Compass Point 2009/10, a mentoring programme for minorities run by Paul Moody (NFTS) and Marc Boothe, producer of ''

Bullet Boy ''Bullet Boy'' is a 2004 British crime drama film directed by Saul Dibb, written by Saul Dibb and Catherine Johnson, and stars Ashley Walters. The film's original music was composed and performed by Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, who rel ...

'' (B3Media) Some of the film mentors included

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

BAFTA Winning directors

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...

, Kevin Macdonald,

Penny Woolcock Penny Woolcock (born 1 January 1950) is an Argentine filmmaker, opera director, and screenwriter. Early life Penny Woolcock was born in Argentina and raised in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. In 1967, she founded a radical theatre group and was b ...

Asif Kapadia Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker. Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...

and artist Steve McQueen His role models are Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Satyajit Ray,

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...

and documentary filmmaker

Peter Watkins Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His films ...

. He won the

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

award in 2005 for his short documentary Waiting For Sunrise, and also was shortlisted for a

Grierson Award The Grierson Awards are awards set up by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, created to commemorate the life and work of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The inaugural Awards w ...

for Best Newcomer in 2006. In 2012, his short film ''Boy In Tree'' was long listed for a ( BAFTA)

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

& in 2014, his short film Checkpost was long listed for a ( BAFTA)

. In 2019 his short documentary Babli was a winning entry for the Super 8mm Straight 8

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Path into the film industry

1996

Ahmad's first documentary was a 10-minute short, filmed in

in 1996 and titled ''Movin as a Massive''. The contributors H, Fitz, Fatty, Naveed were all school friends of Aneel Ahmad. This documentary was nominated by the Royal Television Society in 1996 for "Most Innovative Film/Video" and was one of the winners of the

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

Film Challenge, organised with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

2001

Asian Invasion is a 55-minute documentary that followed a group of Asian models and the organisers as they try to put on the GMEX Arena show with

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

stars and mainstream Bhangra groups which included DCS, B21, Bally Jagpal, and

Jassi Sidhu Jassi Sidhu (born 1978, Birmingham, United Kingdom) is a Bhangra singer and the former lead singer of bhangra band B21. He split from the group, declaring that they would "never, ever reconcile" and that "(B21 was) nothing more than a glorifi ...

2003

In 2003 British film director Aneel Ahmad shot 2 short films connected with boxing, and one of the boxing sequence was filmed at the famous

Salford Lads Club Salford Lads' Club is a recreational club in the Ordsall area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The club, on the corner of St. Ignatius Walk and Coronation Street, was established in 1903 as a boys' club but today welcomes people of both ...

The club gained fame in 1986 when the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

posed in front of the building for the inside cover of their album ''

The Queen Is Dead ''The Queen Is Dead'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Smiths. Released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records, and on 23 June 1986 in the US by Sire Records, it spent 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, pea ...

''. A Man's World, an

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

or avant garde, was shot late in 2003. The brutal world of boxing is not an obvious place to look in order to escape personal demons. But the bloody sport is a stark metaphor for the salvation of a disaffected woman from the outskirts of Manchester who finds solace inside the ring. The entire production budget was £300 and was funded under the UKFC and

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

shorts scheme. Ahmad made his second short in 2003, a documentary titled ''The Day of the Fight''. which was a behind the scenes documentary on

's boxing

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

nasiums. He followed many professional boxers which included world champion

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships at l ...

Michael Gomez Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and l ...

, and boxing trainers such as

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

and Brian Hughes

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

Shooting abroad

2005

Waiting for Sunrise was Ahmad's first international short documentary, funded by North West Vision Media and the

UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...

film won the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

(

) UK Award at Sheffield in 2005. It was short listed for one of the film world's most distinguished awards—the Grierson Awards for documentary. Ahmad has also won critical acclaim and praise for his work from some of the biggest industry professionals such as Hollywood Feature film directors Ridley Scott ('' American Gangster''), Sir

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

(

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

(

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal a ...

Stewart Till Stewart Till, CBE (born 1951) was the chairman and chief executive of United International Pictures from 2002 to 2006. He is a graduate of the University of Bath. Till was deputy managing director of British Sky Broadcasting's movie channels a ...

Chairman of UIP,

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

(

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

)

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Merchant Ivory Productions Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their ...

Working Title Films Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Be ...

...
,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...

, and many more leading industry figures.

2007

Boot Polish

North West Vision Media A shoeshine boy on the dusty streets of Lahore dreams of rescuing a beautiful courtesan. Boot Polish is a film about dreams. Barbar and Lalita work side by side in the dusty streets of Lahore. Barbar is a shoeshine boy and Lalita a local courtesan, a girl prized for her beauty and grace. Barbar dreams of rescuing Lalita from the poverty that traps them both. One day, he's pushed to the edge. Ahmad made his third short film with North West Vision as part of the new Lottery-funded

Digital Shorts Scheme"

Boot Polish A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

". With a production budget of 18,000 pounds. Boot Polish has been classed as one of the first British cross genre Bollywood films, similar to the feature film by

titled

Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Pa ...

creating a mixture of reality & Bollywood. The film was shot in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, Pakistan in 2006 and was screened worldwide to a number of

film festivals A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

within 2007/09. Boot Polish was co-produced with Ahmad by ( BAFTA)

winning short Producer Kelly Broad. In 2007, Aneel Ahmad & his film Boot Polish were shortlisted top 20 finalists, for one of the world's most prestigious Incircle Grant Schemes at the Abu Dhabi Middle East Film Festival 2007 Boot Polish won best cinematography award for the short film category at the (BET) Black Entertainment Television BFM Festival 2008 Boot Polish and Waiting For Sunrise were preserved for the nation by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

for national archive. 2008 Boot Polish won best foreign film at the Route 66 film festival in the US. The festival has been credited as one of the 25 festivals worth the fee in

MovieMaker Magazine ''MovieMaker'' is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film. The magazine is published on a quarterly basis. See also * List of film periodicals Film period ...

. 2008 Boot Polish won a gold medal for excellence in music short film award 2008 5th Annual Park City Music Festival held in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah US.

2011

Boy in the Tree is a short film about people's hopes, goals, dreams and desires and how people strive to achieve those desires under adverse circumstances. Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway In 2012 Boy in the Tree was long listed for a ( BAFTA)

For Best short film. Boy in the Tree has been acquired for the nation by the

for national archive 2012. Boy in the Tree Won Best Short Film Accolade & Listed for the Annual Humanitarian Award 2012. Boy in the Tree Won the RNC Special Jury Grand Prix Award in Rouen France 2012. Boy in the Tree Won the Moustapha Akkad Award Special Jury Commendation in England 2013.

2014

Checkpost Three lives that will never be the same again. Three lives wounded by one bullet. On a remote highway in Pakistan, the sandy roadside reverberates with the sound of a sudden gunshot. A lone film crew instinctively hits the ground. As they scramble to their feet, dusting off their western attire, they notice one member of their troupe remains on the roadside, holding his stomach. Elsewhere, Roshan Khan and his son Sheikhu make their way across Pakistan making a routine delivery. From the moment the golden shell tore into British documentary filmmaker Shahid Elahi, a chain of International events were initiated. In 2014 Checkpost was long listed for a ( BAFTA)

For Best short film. Checkpost has been acquired for the nation by the

for national archive 2014 Checkpost nominated for the Best Original Composition/ Short film Score Award at the Music + Sound Awards 2014 Chris Bacon (Man Of Steel) A six-minute short documentary. Chris Bacon is an ex professional British cruiser-weight Boxer Judo/MMA fighter, born in Australia and now residing in Manchester, trained by Bob Shannon a long time Manchester boxing coach.

2015

Rickshaw Passenger (Raksha Sawari) The Rickshaw Passenger a short film about Imtiaz a Rickshaw driver, who gives a ride to Tameena, a hotel call girl and begins waiting for her daily; he falls in love with her and is trying to rescue her from the horrors of poverty and prostitution. Rickshaw Passenger Won Best International Short Indie-Fest Film Awards & Listed for the Annual Humanitarian Awards 2015

Shooting England

2017

Emmott & Rowland Emmott & Rowland were sweethearts and their story is a sad and romantic tragedy which has captured the imaginations of people who read about it. Set in Eyam Plague Village (England in 1665/66) A traditional tale of English romance, courtship in similarity to a

James Ivory James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with scree ...

Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and had his first professional short, ...

Joe Wright Joseph Wright (born 25 August 1972) is an English film director residing in Somerset, England. His motion pictures include the literary adaptations ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), ''Atonement'' (2007), ''Anna Karenina'' (2012), and '' Cyrano'' ( ...

period film drama. The story is a fictional account based on the true events in Eyam 350 years ago. Emmott & Rowland Semi Finalist for Best Short film CFFM 2017 Emmott & Rowland Indie Awards Winner Best International Short film Historical & Religious Award 2017 Emmott & Rowland Grace Day Winner Best actress in drama LA Actors Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Best Historical short film CFFF 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Drama Honourable mention Los Angeles Film Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Bronze Winner Best Music & Nominated Best Short Film European Independent Film Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Best inspirational short film at the New York Film Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Finalist US Hollywood Int'l Golden Film Awards & Int'l Film 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Global Shorts Awards Best Inspirational short 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Silver Best Musical Score LA short Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Best Historical short at the New York Filmatic Awards 2017 Emmott & Rowland Winner Best Short film Atlanta Award-Qualifying Film Festival Awards 2018 Emmott & Rowland Semi Finalist European Cinematography Awards 2018 Emmott & Rowland Semi Finalist Los Angeles CineFest 2018

2018

Choice Choice – On a cold, dark night, a woman is brutally attacked. She is now faced with a decision in order to escape her inner most personal demons. A choice that will not only effect her family. A choice that will impact them for the rest of their lives.

2018

The Day of the Fighter The Day of the Fighter a short documentary drama on the day in the life of professional boxer Jack Massey. Filmed in

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Vision 3 Super 8mm Colour Negative Film 500T.

Shooting abroad

2019

Babli Babli is a short documentary, following the life of a middle aged man with schizophrenia and chronic depression. Filmed in

Vision 3 Super 8mm Colour Negative Film 500T. Babli Winner Straight8 Super 8mm Film Festival Cannes Film Festival 2019 Babli Finalist Best Short Documentary Rome Prisma Independent film awards 2019 Babli Winner Best Short Documentary for disability at the Impact Doc Awards 2019 Babli Semi Finalist Los Angeles CineFest 2019

2019

IQBAL Iqbal is a short documentary/drama, based on interviews and eyewitness accounts, on the serial killer Javid Iqbal who murdered over 100 children in the early 1990s Lahore Pakistan. Iqbal Semi Finalist Best Director Aphrodite Film Awards 2019 Iqbal Winner Best Foreign Language Short Film 2019 Cardiff International Film Festival

Shooting England

2020

Dependence Dependence is a 6-story complex interwoven drama filmed around the world.

Shooting abroad

2021

Her My Voice A short documentary/drama based in the little known world of a dancing woman. Set in the vibrant city of Lahore "Her My Voice" tells the emotional story of Komal. A deaf mute transsexual, as she reconnects with her father after he suddenly falls ill leading to a stroke.

Filmography

References

The Manchester Asian News Article

Inside A Grierson Award Nominated Documentary

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Aneel English film directors English film editors English film producers Living people People from Longsight Year of birth missing (living people)