Ben Zand
Acting
Biography
Ben Zand is an award-winning British-Iranian filmmaker, journalist, producer and director from Liverpool. He makes controversial and thought-provoking documentaries that focus on access and investigations into some of the most controversial characters of our time, such as "R Kelly: Sex Girls and Videotapes", and documentaries that take us to places we may not care to go ourselves, such as "World's Most Dangerous Cities". As well as creating his documentaries, he's worked as a documentary executive at BBC Studios and was the Editor and Head of the BBC's documentary bureau, BBC Pop Up. His work has taken him around the world - meeting some of its most influential, dangerous and fascinating people. He now runs his own production company, ZANDLAND Films.
Known For

Exposure is a current affairs strand, broadcast in the United Kingdom on the ITV network. The programme brings together six films made by different producers exploring and investigating foreign and domestic topics, reporting on issues and telling human stories. The series was commissioned for ITV by Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television and is a sister show to year-round current affairs strand Tonight. It made its debut on Monday 26 September 2011 - airing at 22.35, directly after ITV News at Ten.
ITV Exposure

In 2016, a rising social media star named Eligio Bishop, also known as “NatureBoy,” used his platforms to recruit followers into a group he called Carbon Nation, encouraging them to abandon their families and join his vision of a self-proclaimed Black utopia. What began as an alternative lifestyle community quickly evolved into something far more sinister.
The Cult of NatureBoy

Ben Zand meets the world's most notorious criminals, and gets an unprecedented insight into their lavish lifestyles
Kingpins

Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War presents the first-hand recollections of IDF soldiers who have broken official silence to share their experiences of the war in Gaza - accounts that may raise serious questions about conduct on the ground and potential breaches of international law. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Ben Zand, the film features exclusive interviews with Israel Defense Forces (IDF), reservists and veterans - many speaking for the first time - who served during the war in Gaza. Their testimonies describe what they recall as indiscriminate bombardment, instances where Palestinian civilians were used as human shields, and an operational culture that some soldiers characterised as “no innocents in Gaza.”
Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel's War

Dive into unique, thought-provoking true stories told from all perspectives.
UNTOLD

Social experiment hosted by journalist and presenter Ben Zand in which a group of people come together to try to understand what constitutes sexual harassment.
Is This Sexual Harassment?

A huge new global protest movement is changing public attitudes to climate change. Reporter Ben Zand gains access to the most high-profile activist group, Extinction Rebellion.
Extinction Rebellion: Last Chance to Save the World?

Oobah Butler, a writer and filmmaker with a history of pulling elaborate pranks and gaming the system to advance his career, has his sights set on challenging Amazon.
The Great Amazon Heist

Reporter Ben Zand secures never-before-seen access to the world of `looksmaxxing'. Young men go to extremes to improve their appearance, a trend firmly rooted in the dogma of incels.
The Toxic World Of Perfect Looks

An examination of the wildest conspiracy of our times. From the biggest names in QAnon to the front-line digital soldiers, what leads people down such a different path?
The Cult of Conspiracy: QAnon

Filmmaker Ben Zand investigates the dark world of incels. After a year-long investigation, Zand gains unprecedented access to the men behind the keyboards. Research finds the community is rapidly growing, and one of the most extreme incel forums has 18,000 members with around 2,500 from the UK. The documentary also meets a British incel who has never had a proper conversation with a woman in real life. The investigation uncovers shocking extremism, which includes sharing extremely violent and bloody content.
UNTOLD: The Secret World of Incels

Benjamin Zand investigates the bizarre and disturbing allegations surrounding the sex life of the U.S. R&B star, including accusations of holding women against their will at his home in Atlanta and running a degrading 'sex cult'.
R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes
The Internet man is a comment on addiction to the internet and virility, and the terrifying impact it's having on our mental health.
The Curse of the Internet Man

Samuel Little claims to have killed up to 93 women in 40 years. This chilling documentary examines how such a prolific killer could be on the loose for so long.
Confessions of a Serial Killer

Across Merseyside, there is a name which has been whispered for decades – "Purple Aki". Benjamin Zand goes in search of the truth behind one of the UK's strangest stories.
The Man Who Squeezes Muscles: Searching for Purple Aki

Classical music doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being hip. For too long it’s been seen as a stuffy genre for the high cultured elite. WHAT WOULD BEETHOVEN DO? follows a number of renegades, from composers flirting with modern mediums, to young musicians dedicated to changing the narrative, to a man who’s bringing turntablists and orchestras together. Notable artists such as, Bobby McFerrin, Benjamin Zander and Eric Whitacre add their voices to the debate about why classical music is still relevant today.
What Would Beethoven Do?

When 33-year-old Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot last year, outside his Marathon clothing store in Crenshaw Boulevard, the city of Los Angeles didn’t just lose one of its best rappers, but also one of its most altruistic community leaders. The shop, just a stone’s throw away from where the artist grew up, was designed to revitalise a downtrodden area, providing jobs for ex-convicts and gang members. It was an extension of Nipsey’s blossoming business empire. The clothing store was situated in a plaza that the rapper owned, and in which he planned to open a barbershop and restaurant. He also owned a co-working space in Crenshaw designed to inspire young black people to enter the world of technology. Advertisement