REHMAT RAYATT Co-director/Co-producer

“My work ultimately draws on my identity as a first generation British-born Indian.”

Based in London, social documentary photographer and filmmaker Rehmat Rayatt grew up in rural Essex, England. She graduated from the Arts University Bournemouth with a BA(Hons) in Photography and works globally within film, photography and education. 

Her work has been screened and exhibited at The Southbank Centre, BFI Southbank, The Old Truman Brewery, The New Art Exchange, Candid Arts Trust and many more, as well as on broadcast channels such as Sky Arts, in print and online. Her work can be found at www.rehmatrayatt.com

Toxification is a project very close to Rehmat’s heart; telling the stories of her homeland, voiced in her mother tongue, is both a mission and a personal calling.

LEVA KWESTANY Co-Director

Leva is a documentary filmmaker from London. After finishing film school at the Arts University at Bournemouth she left the UK to discover worlds beyond her own; travelling the world and capturing stories on her path.

During these few years she also worked with many of NGO’s and individuals helping to share their stories. She holds a deep passion for spreading inspiration through her work.

“what I love most about documentary filmmaking is the learning process that takes place. You are given a key to enter a new world, to explore it and share your experience of it through your art.”

LIZ SETTIMBA, Co-producer

Liz has previously produced works in both theatre/performance art and film; project managing on the Street Genius Project for Quicksilver, (Rambert’s youth dance company) who performed at the Royal Festival Hall ‘A Circus Re-imagined’ in collaboration with Prokofiev/London Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2012.

Her most memorable moment in filmmaking was being invited to the BAFTAs Youth Mentoring Programme, with Media Trust in 2008, to present her speech about documenting SkyWay’s youth football programme, ‘Teenage Kicks’.  

Toxification of mind, body and land is her first feature length documentary; she handles fundraising and distribution for this campaign which explores the issues of toxification and its irreconcilable affects incurred for farmers within the Sikh community.

NAHIYAN MUHAYMEEN, Producer

Nahiyan is a writer-producer, having studied film production at the Arts University Bournemouth. He’s since produced short fiction films, completed an MA in Philosophy, written a graphic novel, while anarchically ranting and raving about the film and television he adores and hates in equal measure on his podcast (www.phonesonsilent.com).

Despite his experience in fiction, he has a passion for factual filmmaking and investigative journalism, hence his desire to facilitate the stories being told in Toxification. Inspired by the works of Chris Hedges, Sebastião Salgado, Hala Jaber and Anna Politkovskaya, Nahiyan has grand notions of trying to tell humanist stories without adornment, allowing them to stand on their own feet and speak with their own voices.

Working on Toxification has been an invigorating experience that has refilled his appetite and passion to tell stories that have an impact by trying to tell some notion of the truth. His writings can be found at www.anondadhara.com