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Mogul Mowgli

Panorama 2020
© Mughal Mowgli Ltd, BBC
On the brink of his first international tour, Zed, a British Pakistani rapper, decides to fly home to the UK to visit the family he has not seen in two years. In the midst of trying to reconnect with his parents and rummaging through cassettes of Qawwali music, he is suddenly struck down by an autoimmune disease. As his condition worsens and his big breakthrough moment is in danger of vanishing into thin air, Zed descends into a physical and emotional crisis, amplified by vivid hallucinations. Long-buried childhood memories resurface with a vengeance, mingling with his father’s memories of fleeing India during Partition and confronting Zed with his repressed cultural heritage.
Giving centre stage to incendiary rap lyrics and a striking central performance by actor Riz Ahmed, a rapper himself, Tariq’s debut feature film is a disquieting and electrifying exploration of male malady, family frictions, social mobility and transnational citizenship.
by Bassam Tariq
with Riz Ahmed, Alyy Khan, Sudha Bhuchar, Nabhaan Rizwan, Anjana Vasan, Aiysha Hart, Hussain Manawer, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Jeff Mirza United Kingdom 2020 English, Urdu 90’ Colour World premiere

With

  • Riz Ahmed (Zed)
  • Alyy Khan (Bashir)
  • Sudha Bhuchar (Nasra)
  • Nabhaan Rizwan (RPG)
  • Anjana Vasan (Vaseem)
  • Aiysha Hart (Bina)
  • Hussain Manawer (Bilal)
  • Kiran Sonia Sawar (Asma)
  • Jeff Mirza (Ghulab Mian)

Crew

Written and Directed by Bassam Tariq
Screenplay Riz Ahmed
Cinematography Annika Summerson
Editing Adam Biskupski, Hazel Baillie
Music Paul Corley
Sound Design Paul Davies
Sound Nigel Albermaniche
Production Design Francesca Massariol
Costumes Grace Snell
Make-Up Bean Ellis
Assistant Director Jeroen Bogaert
Casting Shaheen Baig
Production Manager Mirna Kapetanovic
Producers Thomas Benksi, Bennett McGhee, Riz Ahmed, Michael Peay
Executive Producers Eva Yates, Dimitra Tsingou, Yann Demange, Philipp Engelhorn, Leah Giblin, Elliott Whitton, Suroosh Alvi, Danny Gabai
Co-Executive Producers Patty Quillin, Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman
Co-Producer Joanne Dixon

World Sales

Charades

http://www.charades.eu http://www.charades.eu

Produced by

Pulse Films

https://www.pulsefilms.com/ https://www.pulsefilms.com/

Silvertown Films

Left Handed Films

Photos

Press Conference

Bassam Tariq

© Ryan Lash

A screenwriter and director, his first feature-length documentary, These Birds Walk, premiered at the South by Southwest Festival and was selected by the magazine “The New Yorker” as one of the 50 best foreign films of the 21st century. He is a TED Fellow and participated in the Art of Nonfiction residency in Sundance as well as, in 2017, the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive programme. His most recent short film, Ghosts of Sugar Land, won the Short Film Jury Award at Sundance. Mogul Mowgli is his first full-length fiction film.

Filmography

2013 These Birds Walk; documentary 2017 11/8/16; documentary 2018 Wa’ad; short film 2019 Ghosts of Sugar Land; short documentary 2020 Mogul Mowgli; Panorama

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020