RUHI HAMID
Ruhi Hamid, film maker, London

Ruhi Hamid is a film maker and her films are informative journeys into the world of people and their cultures. Ruhi was born in Mwanza, Tanzania to Asian parents and attended London's Royal College of Art. After gradating Ruhi worked as part of a group of young black designers in Zimbabwe before joining the BBC's pioneering community programmes unit where she worked on the BAFTA award winning series 'Video Diaries.' The plight of the Hmong people who have been trapped for 30 years in the jungle of Leos is close to Ruhi's heart. Ruhi filmed the first ever footage of the plight of the Hmong and she has gone onto campaign on their behalf at the UN, the US State Department, Congress and at the EU Rights Commission in Brussels.

Often shooting alone, at great personal risk, Ruhi has worked on a range of films that make a real impact, and 2005 was no exception. She began in Banda Aceh, Indonesia making a one hour documentary, 'At the Epicentre' for BBC TV. Filming for six months in post Tsunami Aceh Ruhi shared hazardous living conditions of the people she was filming. For this film Ruhi received the Rory Peck Award 2005.

In September of last year Ruhi travelled to New Orleans to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She also travelled to Pakistan and gave her free time to produce and direct a pop video campaigning for greater awareness of people with HIV/AIDS in rural India. Ruhi ended 2005 filming in Afghanistan, risking her life, making three films on the progress of women's lives for the newly launched Al Jazeera International Television Network.

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