How Luton shaped Imran Perretta’s debut film Ish

Culture & Events Desk 2026-10-30 13:42 2 min read

A young boy in a tracksuit holds a bright, glowing emergency flare at night.

Imran Perretta drew on a teenage experience of being stopped and searched to make Ish, a film about two 12-year-old friends whose bond is tested by a police encounter. At a BFI Film Academy masterclass, the filmmaker discussed how his memories, ties to Luton and close collaboration with the crew shaped his debut feature.

A teenage experience at the heart of Ish

Perretta co-wrote, directed and composed the film. Its central police stop-and-search draws on an experience he said he had at 13. “It broke my world open,” he recalled, describing his interest in children being pushed into adulthood before they are ready.

How Luton shaped Imran Perretta’s debut film Ish

The film follows Ishmael “Ish” and Maram, played by Farhan Hasnat and Yahya Kitana. A harrowing encounter with police threatens to strain their friendship, framing the story around its effect on the boys’ relationship.

Bury Park gave the story a home

Perretta grew up in south London and often visited family in Luton, where he photographed and wrote about the town. He said Bury Park, where much of Ish was filmed, felt like a natural setting: as someone who is part Bangladeshi, it was a community he gravitated towards.

Location manager Aly Ripo spent months getting to know people locally. The crew’s relationship with residents became part of the production: neighbours would come by to watch footage, and people brought food, including a wedding-sized serving of biryani with a whole leg of lamb.

The crew built the film together

Ripo joined the project at the first-draft stage, earlier than is usual for a location manager. That gave her time to understand the film’s tone and themes before production. Cinematographer Jermaine Canute Edwards and Perretta also worked closely on the climactic fireworks scene, which they filmed in eight minutes at the end of a day.

Perretta’s score grew through collaboration, too. During editing, Adam Biskupski placed music from medieval-set films over scenes of the boys in Luton, prompting Perretta to draw on English folk music for the soundtrack. At the masterclass, he urged young filmmakers to keep making work despite the people who tell them they cannot.

Source: British Film Institute News

Context & actions About this article

Source check Source notes

This article draws on the British Film Institute’s report of a BFI Film Academy masterclass with Imran Perretta and members of the Ish crew.

Checks

Film credits and character names checked against the supplied source
Luton and Bury Park references checked against the masterclass report
Production and soundtrack details attributed to the speakers cited in the report

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