Winner at the British Independent Film Awards and nominated for a BAFTA, MAGID / ZAFAR confirms director Luís Hindman as one of the most exciting emerging voices in British cinema. With further recognition at the BFI London Film Festival and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the film’s festival trajectory reflects not just industry endorsement, but a work of genuine cultural urgency.
Written by Hindman and Sufiyaan Salam, and produced by Aidan Robert Brooks for Lovechild Studios, the short unfolds over a single sweltering night inside a British Pakistani takeaway. The confined setting becomes a pressure cooker for unresolved history, as Magid grapples with the lingering weight of a childhood friendship that has shifted under the strain of diverging ambitions and unspoken truths. The kitchen’s heat is not merely atmospheric, it mirrors the emotional temperature rising between the two men.
At the heart of the film is a sharp interrogation of identity and masculinity within a South Asian British context. Hindman subverts the archetype of the brash, laddish “bad boy,” revealing instead a young man wrestling with vulnerability beneath layers of performative confidence. The script avoids didacticism, allowing moments of humour and swagger to coexist with quiet grief. The result is a nuanced portrait of male friendship, shaped as much by what remains unsaid as by confrontation.
Eben Figueiredo and Gurjeet Singh deliver performances of striking authenticity. Their chemistry feels lived-in, their exchanges flickering between camaraderie and confrontation with unsettling ease. The emotional weight of shared history is etched into their silences, their glances, and the rhythm of their dialogue. It is rare to see masculinity portrayed with such specificity and tenderness without sacrificing edge.
Visually, the film is equally assured. Cinematographer Jaime Ackroyd’s intimate, kinetic camerawork traps the audience within the fluorescent glare of the takeaway, amplifying the claustrophobia and emotional intensity. Hindman’s background in music video direction informs a distinctive sonic landscape that blends contemporary Asian hip hop with traditional Pakistani qawwali, underscoring the film’s thematic tension between heritage and self-invention.
Developed through FUTURE TAKES, the collaboration between the British Film Institute and Film4, MAGID / ZAFARfeels both culturally specific and universally resonant. It captures the ache of growing apart, the pressure of expectation, and the fragile intimacy embedded within male friendship. Confident, emotionally fearless, and formally precise, this is not simply an award-winning short, it is a statement of intent from a creative team poised to shape the future of British cinema.
★★★★★
Marty Longfield
