Artist

Ian Rashid

In 1994, after responding to a newspaper advertisement, Ian Iqbal Rashid was one of four writers selected from over 800 applicants to be accepted into a writer's development programme at BBC drama. He wrote his first feature script there, Good Enough for Cary. The script was short-listed forthe Dennis Potter prize. Since then, Ian has been working primarily as a script-writer.

TELEVISION: Ian wrote for the second series of BBC2's multi-award winning comedy-drama, This Life, for which he and his co-writers won the prestigious Writer's Guild of England award for best writing for a television series. He has also written several episodes of London Bridge(Carlton Television) and the documentary series Dilly Downtown (Hyphen Films, also for Carlton). He is currently developing a new series for World Productions, the makers of This Life, called Vanilla.

FEATURE FILMS and SINGLE DRAMAS: Several feature films are currently being written for independent production companies: Astray is being written for Miramax-HAL, The Last Spell is being written for World Productions; and Perfect for STV Films. Good Enough for Cary is being produced by Sienna
Films (Canada) and Martin Pope productions through support from the English Language Cinema Fund. Muscular Bridges, adapted from an original short story, was broadcast and performed by Ian on BBC Radio 4 as part of their Windrush series in 1998.

SHORTS/DIRECTORAL: Ian has recently written and directed his first short film, Surviving Sabu, a comedy-drama, produced through an award from the Arts Council of England. The film premièred at the London Film Festival andhas since had many screenings and won accolades at film festivals internationally. Awards include the 1998 Aga Khan Award for Excellence, and a Jury Prize from the Out on Screen Festival in Vancouver. Ian is currently writing his second short film with the BBC, Stag, which he will also direct.

CRITICAL/CREATIVE WRITING: He is the author of 3 award-winning volumes of poetry including The Heat Yesterday (Coach House Press). His first collection, Black Markets, White Boyfriends (TSAR) was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampton Memorial Award. His criticism has been widely published and
broadcast.

RELATED: Ian has curated film and video programmes for many internationalvenues and festivals including the ICA (London) the National Film Theatre (London), Experimenta (Melbourne), and the Euclid Cinema (Toronto). He has worked in distribution at the London Film-Makers' Co-op and as a consultant
on International Co-productions for the film department of the Canadian High Commission in London.
Ian has sat on the Arts Council of England's artists' film and video production awards panel (1994-97), sits on the film and video production and development panels for Yorkshire and Humberside Arts (since 1996), and has served as an assessor for the National Lottery arts awards since their
inception in 1994.

He has conducted script-writing workshops on both sides of the Atlantic for community groups, professional associations, and lectured on film writing at London Guildhall University (1996-97).
Ian was born in Dar es Salaam in 1965, grew up in Toronto, and now lives in Bristol.

Artist Code: 592

Videography

Surviving Sabu

1998, 16:00 minutes, colour, English

Bolo! Bolo!

1991, 30:00 minutes, colour, English

Critical Writing

Survey samples Images' scintillating indie talents: Images 92...
by Cameron Bailey. Now, Apr. 23, 1992, v. 11, no. 34.
Survey samples Images' scintillating indie talents: Images 92...
Can-Asian Perspectives: A Film and Video Series Exploring Asian Experiences in Canada, 1992. London: The Canadian High Commission and Bazaar Magazine/South Asian Arts Forum, 1992.
Beyond the limit: citing scene in which two men kiss, rogers cable...
by Raymond Taavel. Xtra!, May 10, 1991, no. 172.