Mogul Mowgli is the most personal work I've ever made, says Riz Ahmed
It certainly has been a thrilling year for Riz Ahmed fans. After exploring his complicated relationship with Britain, the Primetime Emmy Award winner is back with another short film.
Directed by Bassam Tariq, Mogul Mowgli explores the story of Zed, a New-York based British-Pakistani rapper whose rise to fame is threatened by a looming illness, forcing him to return to the United Kingdom.
"They all ask you from - Nah, where you really from," the trailer begins. "Everybody, everywhere want their country back - If you want me back to where I'm from then bruv, I need a map," he chants.
An ode to racism, turmoil and the internal conflict felt by second generation children caught between British life compared to their religion and traditional culture, the film is heightened with a rollercoaster of emotions.
“Mogul Mowgli grew out of conversations Bassam and I had over a few years, about coming from a certain background economically and culturally and now earning our livings as artists,” says Ahmed of the film.
“We wanted to tell a story about the tension that exists between pursuing your own ambitions and connecting to the people that matter – yourself, your family, your loved ones.”
Winner of the Critics' Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale Fipresci, Mogul Mowgli will be playing at the London Film Festival on the 10 October before its release on 30 October.
