Asad Quereshi

Asad Qureshi’s chance meeting with Oscar winning film director John Schlesinger while he was directing Yanks in the Bradford area led to his introduction into the film industry. Since then he has learnt to set himself apart from the normal run of the mill genre in film making by selecting assignments to focus on that have undertones of danger and are a challenge. Difficult geographical terrains and complexity of subjects have always fascinated him and drew him to such projects. Over time, he has become known as someone who is totally dedicated and uncompromising on his quest to uncover and tell the truth. He has straddled different cultures and continents in his search for the truth; he worked with the A tier cast and crews from the US with large budgets to almost one man bands do-everything himself documentaries on shoe-string budgets.

As for the last disastrous campaign, he travelled to the heart of the Taliban territory to film a peace-making initiative between the Taliban, Pakistan and the Western Allies. The trip under-taken by Asad and his three colleagues, Khalid Khawaja, Col Imam and Rustam Khan went horribly off script as they were betrayed and all four ended up being captives of the Taliban. Demands for ransom, release of Taliban prisoners followed. Just over a month into their captivity Asad’s dear friend and guide Khalid Khawaja was executed. After 165 days of captivity Asad and his assistant were released sadly six months later Col Imam was executed. Asad continues to make films and holds the memory of Khalid Khawaja and Col Imam dear to his heart.