Actor and social justice advocate Riz Ahmed (HBO’s “The Night Of”) spoke with Deadline ahead of the Berlin Film Festival premiere of his new movie “Mogul Mowgli” about diversity and being unapologetic when articulating a vision. To make “Mogul Mowgli,” which centers on a British Pakistani rapper, Ahmed said he explored what it meant to have “grown up in the diaspora…in the 21st century.”

Ahmed also talks in the February 21 article about the need to move beyond waiting for the film industry to recognize the work of people of color:

At a moment when there is so much attention being put on artists and creators of color, how many portraits of these artists have we really had? I feel like the time for asking people’s permission to tell our stories is over, it’s about stepping up and saying, as storytellers who are women or people of color, “We have to do this ourselves.” We see the talent out there, we see the demand out there, it’s about creating a bridge.

To read the full interview, visit Deadline.