Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Mo) is an internationally celebrated filmmaker, whose work has won over forty prestigious awards and honors, including an Emmy, two Amnesty International Human Rights Awards, and a Grand Prix from the United Nations Association Festival. He has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, a Cinema Eye Honor, and the UNESCO-FELLINI Prize. With over fifteen years of industry experience, ranging from digital to documentaries to feature films. Mo has produced programming for Showtime, Netflix, CNN, Discovery, BBC, Channel 4 UK, and Al- Jazeera among other top broadcasters. A fellow of both the National Endowment of the Arts and the American Film Institute, Mo is also an alumnus of film festivals including Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, IDFA, and Tribeca, having showcased his work at the Museum of Modern Art.
Mo’s documentary films have been called “explosive” and “chilling”, and have been described as having “jaw-dropping” and “unprecedented” access. His most recent documentary Insha’Allah Democracy (STARZ/BBC) is a political satire chronicling the failed political comeback of former dictator General Musharraf. Prior to that, Mo made Among the Believers (NETFLIX, PBS World). Other credits include Pakistan’s Hidden Shame (Channel 4 UK, ABC Australia, NHK, SVT), a stark and disturbing look into the lives of street children living in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan and Shabeena’s Quest (Al-Jazeera World), about a remarkable school principal, and her quest to bring education to young girls. Internationally acclaimed Shame (Paramount / Showtime Networks) profiles international human rights icon Mukhtaran Mai. Terror’s Children(Discovery-Times) chronicles the lives of Afghan refugee children living in Pakistan.
In addition, Mo has produced fiction feature films including Big River starring Jo Odagiri and Kavi Raz in production with renowned filmmaker Takeshi Kitano’s production company Office Kitano, and I Will Avenge You Iago starring Giancarlo Esposito and Larry Pine. Recently he directed Happy Things in Sorrow Times, inspired by writer Tehmina Durrani’s book of the same name.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and theatre training at the renowned New York conservatory Lee Strasberg Theatre and FilmInstitute, Naqvi founded B.L.A.H Productions, an off-Broadway theatre company in New York, for which he produced, directed and acted in a number of plays. Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Mohammed spends his time between Karachi and New York.