Suroosh Alvi | |
|---|---|
سروش علوی | |
 Alvi in 2016 | |
| Born | (1969-03-26)26 March 1969 (age 56) |
| Alma mater | McGill University |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Co-founder ofVICE Media |
| Children | 1 |
| Mother | Sajida S. Alvi |
Suroosh Alvi (Urdu:سروش علوی; born(1969-03-26)26 March 1969) is a Canadian journalist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder ofVice Media, a digital media and broadcasting brand that at one point operated in up to 50 countries.[1][2] Alvi is a travelled journalist and an executive producer of film, coveringyouth culture,news, andmusic globally. He has hosted and produced documentaries investigating controversial issues, armed conflicts, movements, and subcultures, includingconflict minerals in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, theIraq War, thetakeover of Gaza by Hamas in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, and the rise of thePakistani Taliban andglobal terrorism.[3][4]
Originally covering Montreal's alternative culture scene, VICE has expanded to include a network of digital properties, includingVICE.com,TheCreatorsProject.com,Motherboard.tv, andNoisey.com as well as a cable and OTT network, arecord label, an in-housecreative services agency and a book publishing division. Today, VICE produces dozens of original video series, covering news, travel, music, arts, fashion and food, and has a network of correspondents and bureaus.[5] As a journalist, Alvi has reported forVICE on HBO andVICE News, which together have received bothEmmy andPeabody awards.[6][7]
Alvi was born inToronto,Canada, toPakistani parents,[8] both of whom are academics; his mother isSajida S. Alvi, whose focus is onIslamic studies andMughal history[9] and who is nowprofessor emerita atMcGill University,[10] and his father is Sabir A. Alvi, professor emeritus inpsychology at theUniversity of Toronto.[9][11] Alvi studiedphilosophy at McGill University.[12]
Alvi launchedVICE magazine withShane Smith andGavin McInnes inMontreal in 1996, after the three men bought its precursor,Voices of Montreal, from Interimages Communications.[13][14]
In 2002, Alvi createdVICE Music, the company's record label which has partnered with over 50 artists and sold more than 7 million albums worldwide. Its clients have includedSnoop Dogg,Action Bronson,Black Lips,Justice,Chromeo,The Streets,Bloc Party, andDeath From Above 1979. In 2011, Alvi launched a partnership between VICE Music andWarner Bros. Records.[15][16]
In 2006, as VICE was expanding from magazine publishing to video reporting, Alvi reported on a segment titledGun Markets of Pakistan, in which he travelled toPakistan's northwestern tribal areas to cover illegal mass weapons production that was flourishing in the fallout of theSoviet–Afghan War.[9][17] Since then, he has covered stories from around the world, reporting on conflicts and unrest in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Iraq, and theGaza Strip.[18][19][20][21] He has also produced and hosted documentaries for VICE on HBO, VICE News and theVICE Guide to Travel series.
In 2007, Alvi co-directed and executive-producedHeavy Metal in Baghdad forVICE Films, in which he travels to Iraq and follows theheavy metal bandAcrassicauda during the fall ofSaddam Hussein amidst theIraq War, beginning in 2003 after theUnited States-led invasion of Iraq. The film was an official selection at the2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the2008 Berlin International Film Festival, and was named Best Documentary at the2008 Warsaw Film Festival.[22]
In 2012, Alvi along with directorAndy Capper travelled VICE toJamaica, where he produced the feature-length film, REINCARNATED, featuring Snoop Dogg. The film was accepted at the2012 Toronto International Film Festival and had its U.S. premiere at the2013 SXSW festival.[23]
In 2014, Alvi served as a guest curator for the PHI Centre in Montreal and oversaw a month's worth of programming.[14]
In 2017, VICE launched a multi-part series hosted by Alvi that examines "the origins and impact of the world's deadliest terrorist organizations:al-Qaeda inYemen,al-Shabaab inSomalia,Boko Haram inNigeria, theTehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan and theIslamic State in Iraq."[24]
In 2020, theVICE Guide to Iran, hosted by Alvi, was released shortly after theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' shoot-down ofUkraine International Airlines Flight 752 during anIran–United States standoff as part of the ongoing 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis. In the feature-length documentary, Alvi interviews ordinaryIranians about life under theIslamic government and covers the impact ofinternational sanctions on the country after the1979 Islamic Revolution. He also interviews prominent Iranian political figures, includingMasoumeh Ebtekar andHossein Sheikholeslam, who were amongthe students involved in the1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis. Sheikholeslam died in March 2020 after contractingCOVID-19, one month prior to the documentary's release.[25]
Alvi resides in New York City. He is married,[26] and has a son.[9][27] He struggled with aheroin addiction in his youth, and was in recovery followingrehabilitation when he co-foundedVICE magazine in 1994.[28]
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Alvi has producer, executive producer, writer or director credits on a range of documentary films, documentary shorts and television series.[29]
Feature-length
Shorts
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