Ruhi Hamid | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mwanza, Tanzania |
| Alma mater | Middlesex Polytechnic; Royal College of Art |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Notable work | The Rock Star and the Mullahs (2003) Women, Weddings, War and Me (2010) |
| Partner | Misha Maltsev |
| Awards | Rory Peck Award |
Ruhi Hamid is a British filmmaker, born inTanzania of Asian origin, who has made award-winning documentaries for theBBC,Channel 4,Al Jazeera International, and other UK, US and European broadcasters. Her films have covered international stories — in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the USA, and the Middle East — dealing with social and political issues about women religion, poverty, health, and human rights.[1] A graduate of London'sRoyal College of Art, she is also a graphic designer.[2]
Ruhi Hamid was born inMwanza, Tanzania, toIndianMuslim parents,[3] and moved to England at the age of 12.[2] After earning a BA inInformation Graphics fromMiddlesex Polytechnic in 1980, she attended London'sRoyal College of Art, and on graduating worked as a graphic designer: in theNetherlands with the influentialStudio Dumbar,[2] inZimbabwe as part of a collective of young black designers and photographers, the Maviyane Project, and in London at theBBC for several years.[4][5]
She began her filmmaking career with the BBC'sCommunity Programme Unit on theBAFTA award-winning seriesVideo Diaries andVideo Nation,[6] before leaving in May 2000 to work as a freelance producer/director.[7] For her debut as a freelance, she gained unprecedented access to thePakistani criminal courts to make the three-partChannel 4 seriesLahore Law (2002), which was nominated for aGrierson Award.[7] Specialising as a solo director/camerawoman, often at significant personal risk,[8] she went on to make other well regarded films for the BBC, Channel 4,Arte andAl Jazeera International, includingWomen and Islam (2004),The Rockstar and the Mullahs (2003),[4] andWomen, Weddings, War and Me (featuringNelufar Hedayat, 2010).[9][10] Hamid has also collaborated with prominent broadcasters includingJonathan Dimbleby andBBC Three's Reggie Yates.[11]
Her films have been described as "informative journeys into the world of people and their cultures",[5] her projects having included documentaries about theHmong people trapped in the jungle ofLaos[12] (she filmed the first ever footage of their plight and went on to campaign on their behalf at theUnited Nations, theUS State Department and at theEU Commission inBrussels),[8][13] farmers inChina,New Orleans in the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina,[3] gang crime and violence inCape Flats,South Africa,[6] andAt the Epicentre, a film on the aftermath of the Asian tsunami inBanda Aceh,Indonesia, that won theRory Peck Award in 2005.[4][14] She has also campaigned through video for greater awareness of people withHIV/AIDS in ruralIndia.[3]
According toESPN,
"Hamid's empathy and gift for understanding the ordinary person has enabled her to gain access to peoples, cultures and institutions around the world, including theAmazonian Indians,Shamans in the Siberian forests, refugees inUganda, women inAfghanistan and theBritish Foreign & Commonwealth office in Pakistan. Hamid is able to work with children and old people alike and turn her skills to more populist programmes working with rock stars, untried and professional presenters and celebrities likeMichael Palin on a film about transport, explorerBenedict Allen, newscasterSamira Ahmed, the food writer and broadcasterStefan Gates and more recently a film in a three-part series on Africa withJonathan Dimbleby.
Hamid's interest lies primarily in telling intimate human stories of people caught up in complex political or social conditions in our world today. She has a talent for gaining the trust and collaboration of those sensitive and suspicious of the media.... Her documentaries are always character driven with strong narratives."[7]
Together with her partner Misha Maltsev, also a film and music professional, she runs Partisan Films.[15][4]
| Year | Title | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Reggie Yates: Race Riots USA | (60 mins)[16] |
| 2015 | Mexico's Baby Business,Unreported World | (60 mins)[17] |
| 2015 | Reggie Yates' Extreme Russia: Teen Model Factory | (60 mins)[18] |
| 2014 | Pharmageddon | (60 mins) |
| 2013 | Reggie Yates's Extreme South Africa: Knife Crime ER | (55 mins)[19] |
| 2013 | Return to Somalia: Aliya's Story | (30 mins) |
| 2013 | L'Arbitre | (08 mins) |
| 2012 | An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby | (60 mins)[20] |
| 2011 | Breaking into Britain,Panorama | (60 mins)[21] |
| 2010 | Women, Weddings, War and Me | (60 mins) |
| 2010 | Child Slavery | |
| 2007 | Inside a Shariah Court | (59 mins) |
| 2006 | The Hurricane That Shook America | |
| 2006 | The Governor, Back to School & Looking Good | |
| 2005 | At the Epicentre - Post Tsunami Aceh' ' | (50 mins) |
| 2005 | Living Positive | |
| 2005 | It's My Country Too: Muslim Americans | (58 mins)[22] |
| 2004 | Frontlines Laos | (30 mins)[23] |
| 2004 | Women and Islam: Islam Unveiled | (88 mins)[24] |
| 2003 | The Rock Star and the Mullahs | (56 mins)[25][26] |
| 2000 | Lahore Law: A Suitable Husband, Episode 3 | (50 mins) |
| 2000 | Lahore Law: Illicit Affair, Episode 2 | (50 mins) |
| 2000 | Lahore Law: Murder at the Shrine, Episode 1 | (50 mins) |
| 1999 | The Bones of Colonel Fawcett |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
