Ian Iqbal Rashid

Who is Ian Iqbal Rashid?

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 1990s, 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. 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, 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 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 2013. The film, a comedy, is written by Rashid and 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.