BBC Fresh Profile: Aneel Ahmad

Aneel Ahmad was born in Longsight, an inner city area of Manchester. He is a self-taught film-maker and started out by making low budget films featuring his friends.

Chris Bacon: Man of Steel

Aneel made this inspirational film featuring judo turned boxing star Chris Bacon especially for BBC Fresh.

Film producer and director Aneel Ahmad

Aneel Ahmad has won many awards for his short films and documentaries. He is currently working on Checkpost, a short action drama set in a remote region of Pakistan.

How did you get started in filmmaking?

I got into filmmaking by winning a competition, the Lloyds Bank Film challenge, and made my first documentary. It was screened on Channel 4. It was a 10-minute short, filmed in Manchester and titled 'Movin as a Massive'. The contributors H, Fitz, Fatty, Naveed were all my school friends. This documentary was also nominated by the Royal Television Society in 1996 for 'Most Innovative Film/Video'.

Can you list some production credits?

2014 Checkpost (Short)
2011 Boy in the Tree (Short)
2007 Boot Polish (Short)
2005 Waiting for Sunrise (Short)

What do you love about making documentaries?

The great thing about making documentaries is that it is all about real life, and you have that opportunity to work with so many different people, and find interesting stories from all around the world.