Irshad Ashraf is a British documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 maker with a reputation for making stylish, visually innovative documentary films about history, art and politics.

After studying film theory in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in the mid 1990s, Irshad moved to Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 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

Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...

'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 critically acclaimed ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 documentary
The Muslim Jesus narrated by Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...

 which scored eerie images of urban London landscapes with haunting Arabic recitation.

Irshad's work with Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...

 has included directing The South Bank Show

The South Bank Show

The South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...

. His films about Peter Kosminsky

Peter Kosminsky

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 and The Promise.- Biography :...

 and Elbow (band)

Elbow (band)

Elbow are an English rock band. They have played together since 1990 and recorded five studio albums, the most recent of which is Build a Rocket Boys!, released in March 2011...

 aired in 2009 to critical acclaim.

Irshad's past work includes a Channel 4 documentary about American film director Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater

-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...

, a Channel 4 film about collectors of contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, a BBC documentary about Pakistan's entertainment industry and an independent film about rock band Elbow's tour of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 in 2004.

Irshad has also featured as an "on camera" director in documentaries. The 2008 BBC 2 film The Funny Thing About Ramadan saw Irshad easing comedienne 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 Acorah

Derek Acorah is a British medium. He is best known for his work on Most Haunted, broadcast on Living, between 2002 and 2005. He recently presented the series Derek Acorah on Sky Real Lives...

, making over 25 shorts with the controversial psychic before going on to make shorts for the BBC flagship travel show Holiday.

As a producer he has made Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

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

Irshad's photographs display the visual concerns of his documentary films with surreal renderings of urban and industrial environments.

Irshad's work for the RTS-award-winning arts and culture series Desi DNA

Desi DNA

Desi DNA is a British television show on the BBC covering Desi art, culture and entertainment, currently broadcasting its fifth series in 2008....

shows innovative use of stills and visual imagery. His documentary films are marked by a natural cinematic beauty and great pathos which are gaining him a reputation as a thoughtful and talented film maker.

Selected Credits

The South Bank Show Elbow Profile of the cult alternative rock band.

The South Bank Show Peter Kosminsky

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

Why Do People Buy Art? - Channel 4 Film about New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 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

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

Desi DNA - Arts and Culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

 Series. BBC

An Islamic History of Europe with Rageh Omaar

Rageh Omaar

Rageh Omaar , is a Somali born British journalist and writer. His latest book Only Half of Me deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq...

, 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

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England. UK ITV

Bollywood for Beginners - CHANNEL 4 Documentary about mainstream Indian Cinema.

The Holiday Show - BBC Travel Series.