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
Q&A screenings with director Imran Perretta
July
24 July
Edinburgh Filmhouse
25 July
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
26 July
Pictureville Cinema (National Science and Media Museum), Bradford
Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds
29 July
BFI Southbank, London
30 July
Ritzy Picturehouse, London
31 July
Curzon Bloomsbury
August
1 August
Garden Cinema, London
2 August
Watershed, Bristol
3 August
HOME, Manchester
11 August
Depot Lewes
12 August
Kiln Cinema (Kiln Theatre)
Release screenings
July
31 July
BFI Southbank, London
ActOne Cinema, London
The Cameo, Edinburgh
Chapter Cardiff
Cineworld Luton
Curzon Bloomsbury
Derby Quad
Edinburgh Filmhouse
Finsbury Park Picturehouse, London
Garden Cinema, London
Glasgow Film Theatre
Greenwich Picturehouse, London
Hackney Picturehouse, London
HOME, Manchester
Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds
ICA, London
IFI Dublin
Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin
Phoenix Cinema, Leicester
Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool
Picturehouse Central, London
Pictureville Cinema (National Science and Media Museum), Bradford
Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast
Rio Cinema, Dalston
Showroom Workstation, Sheffield
Storyhouse Chester
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
Watershed, Bristol
August
2 August
DCA Dundee
7 August
The Dukes, Lancaster
Exeter Phoenix
Hebden Bridge Picture House
Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford
Warwick Arts Centre
8 August
The Poly Falmouth
10 August
Eden Court Cinema, Inverness
11 August
Depot Lewes
12 August
Kiln Cinema (Kiln Theatre)
18 August
Forum Cinema, Hexham
20 August
BEAM Hertford
21 August
Gloucester Guildhall
25 August
David Lean Cinema
28 August
Firstsite Colchester
September
1 September
The Riverside, Woodbridge
2 September
The Riverfront Cinema, Newport
5 September
Maona Cinema, Oswestry
20 September
Empire Theatre, Halstead
22 September
Nerve Centre, Derry
26 September
Hull Independent Cinema
28 September
Newton Stewart Cinema