Born in 1971 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Ian Iqbal Rashid is a poet, screenwriter and filmmaker.
In his early childhood, his family were forced to leave Tanzania. After failing to secure asylum in the UK and US, they settled in Canada. In the early 1990's, Rashid returned to London, Britain, where he lives today with his partner, the writer and curator Peter Ride.
Touch of Pink, his first feature film, spent 12 years in development.[1] In 2003 he finally had the chance to direct the project as a Canada-UK co-production. It premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim,[2] a bidding war, and eventually, a sale to Sony Picture Classics.
How She Move received a similar reception at Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Rashid in 2006/7, the film is set in the world of step dancing. It was nominated for a Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and purchased by Paramount Vantage. The film opened to great reviews [3][4][5] and strong box office: another indie success story to emerge from Sundance.
Rashid's next feature project is American English, due to begin production in 2011. The film, a comedy, will be produced by The King's Speech's Oscar winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman alongside Christina Piovesan, producer of Amreeka and The Whistleblower. [1]
Self-taught as a film-maker, Rashid began his career in the late 90’s, working as a writer in UK television. His credits include the soap, London Bridge (Carlton Television for ITV) and the cult hit BBC2 series This Life for which he received the Writer’s Guild of England award. Rashid has written two award-winning short films, Surviving Sabu (1999, Arts Council of England) and Stag (2001, BBC Films).
He wrote and read his short story Muscular Bridges for BBC Radio 4's HMS Windrush Anniversary. For BBC's Woman's Hour Programme, Rashid wrote and directed Leaving Normal, a comedy serial about gay adoption starring Imelda Staunton and Meera Syal.[6]
Rashid has written three award-winning books of poetry. The most recent is The Heat of Yesterday. He has also curated film programmes and exhibitions for venues such as the National Film Theatre, The Institute of Contemporary Art and Experimenta.
Amongst many awards and festival prizes, Rashid has received the Aga Khan Award for Excellence in the Arts.