Britz (TV serial)

Infobox Film
name = Britz


caption =
director = Peter Kosminsky
producer =
writer = Peter Kosminsky
narrator =
starring = Riz Ahmed
Manjinder Virk
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Channel 4
released = 4 October, 2007
runtime =
country = flagicon|UK UK
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/britz/index.html
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0991005

"Britz" is a two-part drama serial written and directed by BAFTA-winning director Peter Kosminsky and first screened by Channel 4 in the UK in October and November 2007.

Britz attempts to understand what would lead a second generation Muslim to turn against the country of their birth. It blames Britain’s anti-terrorism legislation - in particular, the contentious subject of control orders - and foreign policy for alienating the Muslim community. The film makes references to the perpetrators of the July 2005 London bombings.

Plot

The story concerns two siblings, Sohail and Nasima Wahid, who have been brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire, a city with a large British Pakistani population. Both are now students, Sohail studying law in London and Nasima studying medicine in Leeds. With new government anti-terrorism legislation being used against Muslims in the UK in the wake of the September 11 attacks in New York, Sohail and Nasima are drawn in radically different directions. Without telling any of his family or friends, Sohail becomes a member of MI5, while continuing his studies, in the belief that he hopes to help to stop terrorists before the situation deteriorates further. In doing so, he learns that a number of his neighbours and childhood friends are politically militant. Nasima - frustrated at her political protests not working - decides to become a suicide bomber. She then lets off the bomb in central London killing many others, herself and her brother.

Part one of the story is told from Sohail's point of view, while part two is from Nasima's point of view. The serial was filmed in London, Bradford and Hyderabad, India, not Rawalpindi though the story takes place in Pakistan in Part II.

The DVD was released in the UK on November 5, 2007.

External Links

* [http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/britz/index.html Channel 4 web entry]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml;jsessionid=UD0QWV5W4CZJRQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/arts/2007/10/13/sm_britz.xml&site=6&page=0 Interview with the director Peter Kosminsky - Telegraph]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/11/03/nosplit/bvtvpile03.xml 'Britz’ blew its credibility in the final minute] - Telegraph