Imran Perretta’s debut feature film, "Ish," offers a poignant exploration of childhood and trauma set against the backdrop of Luton. The film centers on Ishmail, a 12-year-old boy navigating the challenges of growing up in a community frequently misrepresented in the media. Drawing on autobiographical elements, the story reflects Perretta’s own experiences including a traumatic police stop-and-search at age 13 that marked a turning point in his understanding of identity and societal perceptions.

Shot over five weeks in the summer of 2024, "Ish" follows Ishmail (played by Farhan Hasnat) and his best friend Maram (Yahya Kitana) during their last summer before adolescence fully takes hold. The film captures the duo’s interactions and struggles as they cope with everyday realities—particularly Ishmail’s recent loss of his mother to cancer and Maram’s descent into risky behavior. The choice to film in monochrome lends the portrayal of Luton a striking and dignified aesthetic, transforming the town’s concrete landscape into something more monumental while avoiding the harshness that color footage might reveal.

Perretta, who grew up in Streatham, south London, with a mixed British Italian and Bangladeshi heritage, said the project was deeply personal. His mother’s death and the broader political climate following the 9/11 attacks influenced his perspective, including the alienation and suspicion he felt as a young Muslim boy. Those early encounters with law enforcement, which he describes as traumatic and invasive, helped shape the film’s central themes around identity, innocence lost, and community.

The film’s authenticity is bolstered by its casting of local, first-time actors. Over 900 boys auditioned for roles, and Perretta was struck by the natural chemistry between Hasnat and Kitana, childhood friends whose genuine bond is evident on screen. Director and co-writer alongside Irish playwright Enda Walsh focused on capturing that spontaneity rather than strict rehearsal, working within the legal restrictions limiting child actors’ time on set.

Perretta’s path to filmmaking was unconventional. Initially pursuing architecture, he shifted to art and video installations before being approached by BBC Film to develop the project after they saw his 2019 work, "The Destructors." His artistic sensibility and commitment to portraying honest, culturally specific stories have drawn comparisons to acclaimed coming-of-age films such as "Kes" and Satyajit Ray’s "Apu" trilogy.

Despite Luton’s frequent negative media portrayals—as a hub of extremism or home to controversial figures like Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson)—Perretta emphasizes that the film reveals a community living everyday life, marked by resilience and complexity. Now in cinemas, "Ish" invites audiences into a nuanced and intimate view of childhood amid adversity, grounded firmly in lived experience.