Irshad Ashraf is a British

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker with a reputation for making stylish, visually innovative documentary films about history, art and politics. After studying film theory in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the mid 1990s, Irshad moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to teach English while finding time to make short films and take photographs. The BBC film network quotes Irshad as saying "My first film happened when I moved to Tokyo for a couple of years in 1997 to teach English. The insidious traingrind of

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's grey drizzled dystopia encroached deep inside my head, nag nag nagging away. I realised the power of dreams and, using a friend's camcorder and VCR for editing, made a film about the sensory avalanche that is Tokyo." Influenced by the work of Terence Malick and Alan Resnais, Irshad's films offset journalistic content with esoteric visual language as reflected in the ITV documentary '' The Muslim Jesus'' narrated by

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...

which scored eerie images of urban London landscapes with haunting Arabic recitation, and was positively reviewed by critics in the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. He states his greatest influence is fellow documentary maker Bob Brear, a man Irshad describes as "visually visionary, literally brimming over with ideas and joy". He sees the seminal ITV show Bouncers as Brear's greatest work. A series many described as "surreal to the point of genius". Irshad's work with

has included directing ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, a ...

''. His film about

Peter Kosminsky Peter Kosminsky (born 21 April 1956) is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as '' White Oleander'' and television films like ''Warriors'', ''The Government Inspector'', '' The Promise'', ''Wolf Hall'' a ...

was described by Richard Rogers in ''

'' as "an examination of the art rather than the artist and that again makes it unique." Rogers also praised the opening of the film in the article "There is also no other TV show that

(or anyone else) can confidently open by asserting the philosophical theories of

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard (, ; ; – 6 March 2007) was a French sociology, sociologist and philosopher with an interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as hi ...

. He doesn't even link such theorising to the evening's subject. You have to work it out yourself, which means thinking while you watch" Ashraf's next ''

South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

'' was about the rock band

Elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

which aired in November 2009 and was awarded critic's choice features by ''

The Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'', ''

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Irshad's past work includes a BBC documentary about Pakistan's entertainment industry, a documentary about rock band Elbow's tour of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in 2004, a Channel 4 documentary about American film director

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

with presenter Ben Lewis, of which Henrietta Roussoulis of '' Time Out'' wrote: "his moments with the man himself are really worth watching. By constantly questioning his questions and doubting his doubts, Lewis attempts to add a Linklater touch to his documentary, a device that gets him nowhere - "I know it's your job to make sense of what I do," the director says, "but ... I don't think it's that interesting" Irshad also made a film about collectors of

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, with Ben Lewis which was positively reviewed by Peter Chapman in ''The Independent''. Irshad has also featured in front of camera in documentaries. The 2008 BBC 2 film ''The Funny Thing About Ramadan'' saw Irshad easing comedian Ayesha Hazarika into the month of Ramadan to comic effect. Irshad cut his directing teeth in the late 1990s making short films for BBC and ITV. He pioneered the "psychic detective" style of

Derek Acorah Derek Francis Johnson (27 January 1950 – 4 January 2020), known professionally as Derek Acorah, was a British spiritual medium. He was best known for his television work on ''Most Haunted'', broadcast on Living TV (2002–2010). His career a ...

, making over 25 shorts with the psychic before going on to make shorts for the BBC flagship travel show ''Holiday''. As a producer he has made ''

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

for Beginners'' for Channel 4 and developed ''The Islamic History of Europe'' for the BBC.

Selected credits

The South Bank Show Elbow
Profile of the cult alternative rock band.
The Muslim Jesus
ITV The lives of Jesus and Mary as narrated in The Quran
Karachi Uncovered
BBC Scottish Actor Atta Yaqub investigates Pakistan's media boom
St. Richard of Austin
- CHANNEL 4 Film about American Film Director,
Richard Linklater
UK Channel 4

- Channel 4 Film about

Art Collectors. U
Channel 4Director's Debut: Stephen Tompkinson's Story
BBC The British TV star directs a BBC drama - Film about the British rock ban
Elbow
touring

.
Desi DNA
- Arts and

Culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

Series
BBCAn Islamic History of Europe
with Rageh Omaar, feature-length documentary fo
BBC 4How to Dump Your Mates
CHANNEL 4 Teenagers improve their social circle with the aid of a top psychologist

- ITV Observational Documentary series about cab drivers in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. U
ITVBollywood for Beginners
- CHANNEL 4 Documentary about mainstream Indian Cinema.
The Holiday Show
- BBC Travel Series.

External links

Irshad's websiteClips of Irshad's workElbow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashraf, Irshad 1974 births Living people English documentary filmmakers People from York