Set and filmed in the South Asian and Middle Eastern community in Luton, Ish follows 12-year-old best friends, Ish (Farhan Hasnat) and Maram (Yahya Kitana) who are navigating childhood against a backdrop of political tension and personal loss. After a police stop and search, where Maram is searched and Ish manages to run away, they wrestle to hold onto their friendship.
Written and directed by acclaimed artist Imran Perretta and co-written by Enda Walsh (Hunger), Ish was shot in black and white by cinematographer Jermaine Canute Edwards (My Father’s Shadow). The film is less contemporary urban drama and more a classical coming-of-age story in the tradition of The Apu Trilogy, Kes and Ratcatcher.
Credits
UK 2025
89 min
Certificate 15
Dir Imran Perretta
With Farhan Hasnat, Yahya Kitana, Joy Crookes, Sudha Bhuchar, Avin Shah
Screenings
Now showing
August
20 August
BEAM Hertford
25 August
David Lean Cinema
September
1 September
The Riverside, Woodbridge
2 September
The Riverfront Cinema, Newport
3 September
Plymouth Arts Centre
4 September
Stamford Arts Centre
5 September
Maona Cinema, Oswestry
15 September
Broadway, Nottingham
20 September
Create Studios, Swindon
Empire Theatre, Halstead
22 September
Nerve Centre, Derry
24 September
Lighthouse Cinema, Poole
26 September
Hull Independent Cinema
28 September
Newton Stewart Cinema
The Welfare, Ystradgynlais