Abdul-Azeem is the founder of Azko Films. He began his career as a copywriter and film director of TV commercials, after graduating from film school in Manchester. Working with J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather in the Indian Subcontinent, he produced ads for Pepsi, Philips Whirlpool and over 30 other clients.

On return to the U.K. Abdul-Azeem worked in BBC Radio 4, producing a unique documentary portrait of Derek Beackon, the former BNP councillor, before producing and directing a range of television documentaries for the BBC and ITV.

Among his credits, he introduced Jeff Mirza, then the only British Asian stand up comic, to an ITV audience in Soft Target, in a do-or-die gig at Essex’s Circus Tavern. He made a biographical documentary on Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam, also producing the music promo video to the artiste’s first single in 17 years away from pop music, which aired on MTV and GMTV. He also gained access into Pentonville Prison in Faith Inside, for an exclusive BBC2 documentary which investigated the unparalleled spread of Islam in the jail.

Post 9/11, Abdul-Azeem worked for BBC2’s First Sight, in investigating key London Muslims and their links with the U.K. This resulted in a documentary film about Shazia Mirza, the hijab-wearing stand-up comic, for BBC2. In 2002 Abdul-Azeem was runner up at Channel Four Television’s Sheffield Pitch Prize for Documentary.

Abdul-Azeem directed a documentary about Gulgee, Pakistan’s leading artist, shortly afterwards.

In 2008, he wrote and directed ‘Open Secrets’, a semi-autobiographical drama about the stigma and shame of mental illness in an Asian family, starring Saeed Jaffrey and Valmike Rampersad. The film won the Best Film prize at the 6th Buffalo-San Black & Asian Film Festival, held at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, London, in 2008, as well as having official selection at a number of other film festivals. In April 2009 Open Secrets was screened on the Community Channel on Sky and Virgin.

Paul Kriwaczek: Executive Producer

Paul has enjoyed a 25 year career in the BBC, making more films and studio series than he can remember, writing, producing and directing drama, music, science and documentary programmes.

He wrote and produced Imagina ’89, a documentary about the Monte Carlo graphics and animation festival, which won gold at the Chicago Film Festival. He wrote and produced The Last Exodus, a 90-minute documentary about the Jews of the collapsing USSR, which won gold at the New York Film Festival. Other awards include those from the Royal Television Society, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the European Broadcasting Union, and the International Wildlife Film Foundation. His 1976 drama series Parosi was singled out for special praise by UNESCO.

His final broadcast contribution to the BBC in 1993 was Living Islam, a series of six one-hour films shown on BBC2 and since then sold to many other countries.

In 1998 Paul was creator and Editor of the BBC’s Our Mutual Friend website, accompanying the major drama series, followed in 1999 by a site for Great Expectations.

His book ‘Documentary for the Small Screen’ was published in 1997, is still in print and is used a textbook at a number of film schools. ‘In Search of Zarathustra’, on the influence of the ancient Persian prophet, was published in 2002, quickly entered the ‘spirituality’ bestseller lists particularly in the USA and was nominated for a Barnes & Noble ‘Discover’ award.

‘Yiddish Civilsation: the Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation’ was published in 2005. He is currently writing a book entitled ‘Babylon and the Birth of Civilization.’

Edward Goldwyn: Executive Producer

Ed is an award-winning film-maker, who started his TV career in 1962 in the BBC TV Schools Department. Since then he has worked at LWT’s Adult Education Department, and also at the BBC’s Open University and the BBC’s Community Programmes Unit as Executive Producer. He was Senior Producer in the BBC’s Science & Features Department, producing 25 fifty-minute documentary films in the Horizon series. Ed’s film “Now the Chips are Down” has been the BBC’s best-selling documentary.

Since leaving the BBC in 1986, Ed set up Goldwyn Associates with Deanne Edwards, and made 30 films for the BBC and Channel 4.

Among Ed’s awards are N.V.L.A. Best Documentary Award for “Tomorrow’s TV”; Ace Award for Best International Series, National Academy of Cable Broadcasting for “Aids Now”; PRIX – FUTURA – Special commendation Nominated for the US TV ‘EMMY’ for “China’s Child”; the Red Ribbon Award at San Francisco Film Festival for “The Cancer Detectives of Lin Xian”.