Munsur Ali ( bn, মুনসুর আলী; born 25 May 1978) is a

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

i-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...

, Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for

Portsoken Portsoken, traditionally referred to with the definite article as the Portsoken, is one of the City of London's 25 ancient wards, which are still used for local elections. Historically an extra-mural Ward, lying east of Aldgate and the City wal ...

ward. He is best known for his film '' Shongram'', the first time a British film has been simultaneously written, produced and directed by a

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term ...

Early life

Ali was born in

, arrived to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the age of two in 1980 and grew up in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

where he still lives. He attended a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

school, studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

on weekends and Bangla after school, and also taught himself to speak in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

From an early age, Ali was influenced by films and in his late teens he took an interest in looking at alternative points of view in mainstream cinema. Going to the cinema a lot as a teenager gave him his inspiration. Ali attended

Sir John Cass Redcoat School Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School (formerly known as Sir John Cass's Foundation and Redcoat School) is a Church of England voluntary aided school and sixth form located in Stepney, London, England. The last Ofsted report in ...

and says he "didn't do too well at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

." He learned film and photography at

Epping Forest College New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in East London and Essex. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney ...

. However, he "was confused and couldn't commit to

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

," so he left in the second year. In 2004, he graduated with a 2:1 in BA Film and Broadcast Productions from

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

. Ali's father was born in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now Bangladesh). Ali's father has been in the UK since early 1950s. He gave up his Bangladeshi citizenship and became a British citizen. The majority of Ali's relatives live in the UK.

Filmmaking career

After graduating, Ali made documentaries and short films on social issues such as policing, knife crime and gang violence. In 2003, he set up an independent video and film production company Spotlight UK before formalising it as a company in 2005. Since then he has worked alongside global US, UK and Bollywood names. In September 2006, he founded Limelight Film Awards, an initiative to identify and celebrate emerging film talent. With the first event taking place in 2007, it is one of the largest independent short film awards ceremony. In 2009, he founded Epic Media Wedding Productions and set about specialising in producing cinematic quality wedding videos. In 2014, Ali wrote, directed and produced his debut feature film '' Shongram''. The film is a romantic drama set during the 1971

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

. He worked on the project for three years and it was the first time a British film was simultaneously written, produced and directed by a British Bangladeshi. In February, March and June 2014, he was interviewed by Nadia Ali on

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

. Ali is working on two new films: ''Cinema'' which is about a young actor who enters the world of cinema and discovers a whole world of exploitation, corruption, drugs, thugs and betrayal, and ''The Final Message'' which is a supernatural horror based around

Hebrew scriptures The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Christian scriptures A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning " rule" or "measuring stick". The use ...

and the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

Political career

On 23 March 2017, Ali was elected as a Labour Party councillor for

ward in

in his home town of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, where Labour won five seats. Ali's decision to contest came after he was unhappy with the recent multimillion-pound housing development plans that is affecting his community's future. In June 2017, he was inaugurated at the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

in London as a member of the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

that governs the City of London.

Awards

In 2012, Ali was presented with a Civic Award by Tower Hamlets, in recognition for his contribution of promoting young artists through the Limelight Film Awards.

Personal life

Ali is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. He lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In December 2011, while working on the film ''Shongram'', Ali met and became close friends with Bangladeshi actress Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee. On 3 September 2014, Ali married Ruhee in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, Bangladesh, this was followed by a

gaye holud ''Gaye holud'' ( lit: "yellow/turmeric on the body") or ''gatro horidra'' (গাত্র-হরিদ্রা) is a ceremony observed mostly in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam by all Bengalis regardless of t ...

ceremony on 4 September and a wedding reception on 5 September.

Filmography

References

External links

* * *
Limelight Film Awards website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Munsur 1978 births Living people Bangladeshi Muslims British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England British people of Bangladeshi descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Bangladeshi film producers British film producers Bangladeshi film directors British male screenwriters British film editors Muslim writers British Asian writers Social entrepreneurs Councilmen of the City of London Labour Party (UK) councillors British politicians of Bangladeshi descent Film directors from London People from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People educated at Sir John Cass Redcoat School Alumni of Epping Forest College Alumni of London Metropolitan University 21st-century British screenwriters