Naqqash Khalid

Khalid is from Prestwich, Greater Manchester.^[3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English literature from the University of Salford in 2015.^[4] He started a PhD,^[5][6] but withdrew to film In Camera.^[7]

At university, Khalid wrote his first play which was staged at various fringe theatres in Manchester and London.^[1]

During his PhD, Khalid lectured in Media and Performance at the University of Salford.^[8][9][10]

Self-taught, Khalid wrote, directed, and produced his first short film Parts in 2016.^[11] Principal photography took place over the course of twelve hours. This was followed by his second short film Stock in 2019 which was part of Sky Arts 50. He was subsequently attached to adapt Boris Vian's play The Empire Builders for television.^[1]

In 2019, Khalid was appointed a Creative Fellow of Factory International.^[12]

Khalid made his feature directorial debut with In Camera, starring Nabhaan Rizwan. The film satirises the struggle of finding work as an Asian actor in Western media and the "empty discourse on representation".^[7] Khalid had come up with the idea for the film during university and workshopped it over the years,^[13] with support from the BBC, Film4 and Creative UK.

In Camera opened at the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to critical acclaim,^[14] screened at a number of subsequent festivals, and had a wide release in 2024.^[7] In September 2024, Khalid directed a music video for "Superstar" by Clark, who composed the film's score, re-editing footage from In Camera with the original cast.^[15]

In 2019, Khalid named Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas, Asghar Farhadi, Lynne Ramsay, Donald Glover and Ramy Youssef as influences.^[8] For In Camera, he drew upon the works of visual artists Rasheed Araeen and Anwar Jalal Shemza, and delved into the abolitionist works of Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, bell hooks and Naomi Klein.^[16]