![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(January 2024) |
Irshad Ashraf is a British documentary film maker with a reputation for making stylish, visually innovative documentary films about history, art and politics.
After studying film theory in London in the mid 1990s, Irshad moved to Tokyo 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'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 which scored eerie images of urban London landscapes with haunting Arabic recitation, and was positively reviewed by critics in the Daily Express , The Observer , The Evening Standard , The Scotsman and The Guardian . 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 Melvyn Bragg has included directing The South Bank Show . His film about Peter Kosminsky was described by Richard Rogers in The Observer 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 Melvyn Bragg (or anyone else) can confidently open by asserting the philosophical theories of Jean Baudrillard. 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 was about the rock band Elbow which aired in November 2009 and was awarded critic's choice features by The Sunday Mirror , The Guardian and The Independent .
Irshad's past work includes a BBC documentary about Pakistan's entertainment industry, a documentary about rock band Elbow's tour of Cuba in 2004, a Channel 4 documentary about American film director Richard Linklater 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 in New York, 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, 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 for Beginners for Channel 4 and developed The Islamic History of Europe for the BBC.
The South Bank Show Elbow Profile of the cult alternative rock band.
The South Bank Show Peter Kosminsky
The Muslim Jesus Archived 15 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine 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
Why Do People Buy Art? - Channel 4 Film about New York Art Collectors. UK Channel 4
Director's Debut: Stephen Tompkinson's Story BBC The British TV star directs a BBC drama
elbow:cuba gigs - Film about the British rock band Elbow touring Cuba.
Desi DNA - Arts and Culture Series. BBC
An Islamic History of Europe with Rageh Omaar, feature-length documentary for BBC 4
How to Dump Your Mates CHANNEL 4 Teenagers improve their social circle with the aid of a top psychologist
Taxi Nights - ITV Observational Documentary series about cab drivers in Manchester, England. UK ITV
Bollywood for Beginners - CHANNEL 4 Documentary about mainstream Indian Cinema.
The Holiday Show - BBC Travel Series.
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of The South Bank Show, and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series In Our Time.
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, and presented by former BBC arts broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience. In 2023, it was announced that Bragg would be leaving the series after 45 years.
Phillip Christopher Jupitus is a retired English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks from its inception in 1996 until 2015, and also appears regularly as a guest on several other panel shows, including QI and BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).
Elbow are an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester in 1997. The band consists of Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner. They have played together since 1990, adopting the name Elbow in 1997. Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp in 2016 as a touring and session musician at first, before becoming a full member in 2024.
Rageh Omaar is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. He was a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to a new post at Al Jazeera English, where he presented the nightly weekday documentary series Witness until January 2010. The Rageh Omaar Report, first aired in February 2010, is a one-hour, monthly investigative documentary in which he reports on international current affairs stories. From January 2013, he became a special correspondent and presenter for ITV News, reporting on a broad range of news stories, as well as producing special in-depth reports from around the UK and further afield. A year after his appointment, Omaar was promoted to international affairs editor for ITV News. Since October 2015, alongside his duties as international affairs editor, he has been a deputy newscaster of ITV News at Ten. Since September 2017, Omaar has occasionally presented the ITV Lunchtime News including the ITV News London Lunchtime Bulletin and the ITV Evening News.
Waldemar Januszczak is an Polish - British art critic and television documentary producer and presenter. Formerly the art critic of The Guardian, he took the same role at The Sunday Times in 1992, and has twice won the Critic of the Year award.
Peter Kosminsky 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 and The State.
Norbert Smith: A Life, also released as Sir Norbert Smith: A Life, is a 1989 mockumentary television film, charting the life and career of the fictitious British actor Sir Norbert Smith. It stars Harry Enfield in the title role. It was written by Harry Enfield and Geoffrey Perkins and directed by Geoff Posner.
Nigel Stafford-Clark is a British film and television producer, and the brother of the theatre director Max Stafford-Clark. He was educated at Felsted and Trinity College, Cambridge, and worked in advertising and in sponsored documentaries before becoming a commercials producer at Moving Picture Company (MPC).
Tom Wiggall is a British composer who writes music for film and for the stage. He has taught composition in the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Conservatoire and Birkbeck, University of London, the Royal College of Music, North London Collegiate School, Surbiton High School and Highgate School. Tom was also the Director of Music at Brighton College. He is currently Director of Music at Harrow International School Hong Kong.
The 2010 British Academy Television Awards were held on 6 June 2010. The nominations were announced on 10 May. This year new awards were added including the award for Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role. Graham Norton hosted the ceremony. Winners are in bold.
Kevin Lygo is a British television executive, presently Director of Television at ITV.
Graham Reilly is a British composer, known for composing television music in the UK, Europe and US.
The Francis Bacon Opera is a comic chamber opera in one act composed by Stephen Crowe. The libretto is based on Crowe's transcript of Melvyn Bragg's interview with the British artist Francis Bacon, filmed for The South Bank Show in 1985. The opera was first performed in its final version on 8 August 2012 in London, and went on to win the Hilton Edwards Award in May 2013.
The Muslim Jesus is a 2007 British documentary directed and produced by Irshad Ashraf, and commissioned and narrated by Melvyn Bragg. The documentary is about the Islamic view of Jesus. It was broadcast by ITV on 19 August 2007.
"Gerhard Richter" is an art documentary episode which was broadcast on 2 February 2003, based on the life of a German visual artist Gerhard Richter on The South Bank Show. The documentary was a production of LWT for the ITV series. It was directed and produced by Gerald Fox, introduced by Melvyn Bragg, and featured Gerhard Richter.
The Fundamental Gilbert and George is two parts BAFTA award-winning documentary based on the life of two artists Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore, released in 1997 for the ITV series. The South Bank Show through LWT and RM arts. The film finds the essence of art and life in these two artists, directed and produced by Gerald Fox, featuring Melvyn Bragg, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Sarah Kent, Norman Rosenthal and David Sylvester.