Where do you seek representation, and how do you make yourself heard, seen, and understood? These questions inspire Bassam Tariq as a filmmaker, an entrepreneur, and speaker. TED fellow and director of the acclaimed films These Birds Walk, the Sundance Jury Prizewinning Ghosts of Sugar Land, and the recent Mogul Mowgli, Tariq investigates the way Muslim Americans live in our polarized world today, transcending religion and politics to tell a deeply human story that affects us all.
In his electrifying new film Mogul Mowgli, Bassam Tariq tells the story of a British Pakistani rapper (played by Riz Ahmed) who is on the precipice of break-through success when he is struck suddenly by an autoimmune disease. Like Tariq’s other films, it explores crucial, yet unwieldy themes of identity, culture, family, trauma, legacy, and what it means to exist in multiple different worlds. As a Muslim in contemporary America, Tariq is aware of the masks that he and people like him are forced to wear—self-censoring and dealing with guilt by association if a Muslim “does a bad thing,” he says. In his previous film, Ghosts of Sugar Land—shortlisted in the documentary short category for the 92nd Academy Awards, and available on Netflix now—Tariq depicts this literally, covering the characters’ faces with superhero masks as they deal with the possibility that their friend has joined ISIS. In his talks, Tariq approaches contemporary prejudice with insight and compassion, teasing apart an issue that goes much deeper than religion and social divisions. His sensitive talks show us how to both question and transcend what divides us, while thoughtfully acknowledging our differences.
Tariq’s Sundance-funded film These Birds Walk, about street children in Karachi, Pakistan, made The New Yorker, IndieWire, and Sight & Sounds Magazine's best of the year lists. “Through Asad’s rounds and Omar’s story—his family awaits in desolate Taliban territory—the filmmakers record the flash of youth’s headlong energies, its bumps and bruises, and its melancholies and brilliant chaos,” writes The New York Times. His viral 30 Mosques adventure blog, where he visited Muslim communities from around the country, made the front page of Time.com and CNN.com twice. It was named as CNN’s most notable story of 2011. He also made Filmmaker Magazine’s coveted “25 Directors to Watch” list.