Set and filmed in Luton, Ish follows 12-year-old best friends Ish (Farhan Hasnat) and Maram (Yahya Kitana), who wrestle to hold onto their friendship in the wake of a police stop and search. As the ripples take hold, the boys try to make sense of the men they are becoming - and how letting go can be the hardest part of growing up.
Written and directed by acclaimed artist Imran Perretta and co-written by Enda Walsh (Hunger), Ish was shot by cinematographer Jermaine Canute Edwards (My Father’s Shadow) and also stars singer/songwriter Joy Crookes.
The Garden Cinema View:
This impressive debut from Imran Perretta builds an authentic and complex portrayal of teenage life in Bedfordshire across its slight running time. Jermaine Edwards’ (building an impressive resumé following My Father’s Shadow) monochrome cinematography and Perretta’s own otherworldly score draw out the poetry of the tedium of a summer holiday spent on the unlovely streets of Luton and the verges of the M1. A shadow of loss - both personal and geopolitical - looms over these young men who must negotiate racist police stop-and-search policies, as well as their edgy relationship with other boys in town. Perhaps what is really remarkable about Ish is how a portrayal of a British Muslim community feels so immediately universal and relatable. Perretta doesn’t provide us with easy answers to the issues his film evokes, but he does allow for oceans of empathy.
