Jenny Ash

Jenny Ash
Born
United Kingdom
OccupationsDocumentary film director and writer
Years active2000s–present
Notable work
  • Angry, White and American (2017)
  • 100 Vaginas (2019)
  • The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (2020)
  • Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 (2021)
  • Flight 149: Hostage of War (2025)
Websitewww.jennyash.co.uk

Jenny Ash is a British film and television director and writer.[1] Ash has directed major feature documentaries across various genres for broadcasters such as Sky, Channel 4, the BBC, ITV, and the History Channel.[2] Some of her notable films include The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (Channel 5, 2020), Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 (Channel 4, 2021), and Flight 149: Hostage of War (2025).[3][4] In 2021, Ash became the first documentary director to win the WFTV Best Director Award.[1]

Career

Ash began her directing career in British television drama, working on series such as Waterloo Road (BBC One), Personal Affairs (BBC Three), and Missing (BBC One).[5]

Her early documentary work included Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde (BBC One), and The Pity of War (ITV), a drama-documentary starring John Hurt as the poet Siegfried Sassoon. She also directed for the 2010 Emmy-winning series America: The Story of Us (History Channel), which focused on slavery and the Civil War.[6] As a writer on the History Channel's America: The Story of Us (2010), Ash shared a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.[7]

Ash directed the ITV drama-documentary The Pity of War (2016), starring John Hurt, about the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.[8][9] She also directed Gary Younge's political road-trip documentary Angry, White and American (2017, Channel 4).[10] The documentary, which discussed race and identity in the United States, was nominated for the Grierson Awards.[11] In addition, Ash has produced a series of short anti-war films for Channel 4 featuring actors Sean Bean, Gemma Arterton, Stephen Graham, and Sophie Okonedo.[12]

In 2019, Ash produced the film 100 Vaginas for Channel 4.[13] Its companion film, Me and My Penis was released in 2020 on Channel 4.[14][15] The following year, The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (2020, Channel 5), which was nominated for Royal Television Society and Banff awards.[16]

In 2020, she directed Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 (Channel 4), a three-part series that traced Osama bin Laden's radicalisation through the accounts of those who knew him personally.[17]

Ash's feature documentary Flight 149: Hostage of War (Sky Documentaries, 2025) premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival (SXSW Festival).[18] The film investigates the controversial landing of British Airways Flight 149 in Kuwait on the eve of Saddam Hussein's invasion, and the subsequent detention of the flight's passengers and crew.[19][20][21]

In addition to her film and television work, Ash has directed commercials for companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Google, British Airways, LG, BT, Always, Tena, and the Rwandan Genocide Museum.[22]

Selected filmography

  • The Pity of War (2016, ITV) – director/writer[23]
  • Angry, White and American (2017, Channel 4) – director[24]
  • 100 Vaginas (2019, Channel 4) – director/writer.[25] The film was nominated for RTS and Broadcast awards.
  • Me and My Penis (2020, Channel 4) – director[26]
  • The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg (2020, Channel 5) – director[27]
  • Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 (2021, Channel 4; 3×60') – director[28]
  • Flight 149: Hostage of War (2025, Sky Documentaries) – director/writer[19][18][21][20]

Awards and honours

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jenny Ash". The Talent Manager. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  2. ^ Cooper, Sarah; Wong, Silvia; Cabeza, Elisabet; Kay, Jeremy (31 October 2025). "Jenny Ash". Screen. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  3. ^ "The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg – Channel 5". Middlechild. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11". Voltage TV. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Missing, Series 1, Episode 2". BBC. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Jenny Ash". Stern & Wild. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  7. ^ "America: The Story of Us". Television Academy. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  8. ^ "The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets". IMDb. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  9. ^ "The Pity of War – synopsis". Letterboxd. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Angry, White and American (2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  11. ^ "Angry, White & American". Shianne Brown. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  12. ^ "Jenny Ash teams up with Sean Bean". LBBOnline. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  13. ^ "100 Vaginas – Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  14. ^ Brown, Helen (20 February 2019). "'100 Vaginas' review: far more than mere titillation – this was an important sex education film". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  15. ^ "100 Vaginas". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  16. ^ "The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg – Trailer and overview". Middlechild. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  17. ^ "Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 – Series info". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Flight 149: Hostage Of War". SXSW Schedule. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  19. ^ a b Kanter, Jake (3 June 2025). "'Flight 149' Director Hopes Evidence Uncovered During Filming Will Help Hostages Win Legal Case Against UK Government & British Airways". Deadline. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  20. ^ a b "'Saddam took our BA flight hostage – the government must tell the truth'". The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  21. ^ a b Hogan, Michael (11 June 2025). "'Flight 149: Hostage of War' review – a tale so staggering you couldn't write it". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  22. ^ "Jenny's Bio, Credits, Awards, and more". Stage 32. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  23. ^ "The Pity of War: The Loves and Lives of the War Poets". IMDb. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  24. ^ "Angry, White and American (2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  25. ^ Brown, Helen (20 February 2019). "'100 Vaginas' review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  26. ^ "Me and My Penis (2020)". IMDb. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  27. ^ "The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  28. ^ "Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 – Series info". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  29. ^ "The World's Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg – Channel 5". Middlechild. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  30. ^ "America: The Story of Us". Television Academy. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
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