Bassam Tariq

Bassam Tariq (born October 22, 1986) is a Pakistani-born American filmmaker. He co-directed and produced the Sundance-funded documentary These Birds Walk with Omar Mullick, and he was named in Filmmakers "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2012.

Tariq's works aim to uncover the diversity of Muslim life and experience. In addition to filmmaking, his diverse projects include blogging and writing, co-founding a halal butcher shop, and being a TED fellow.

Early life and education Tariq was born in Pakistan and moved to the U.S. with his family at a young age. He grew up in New York's Astoria neighborhood and moved to Houston at age 11.

Tariq received a Bachelor of Science (BS) in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. While in college, Tariq took a class called “Creativity in American Culture” that inspired him to start making films, which at first were corporate videos. He free-lanced and filmed promotional videos for Celestica, The University of Texas at Austin, and CBS News 11.

He moved to New York again after college and worked in advertising as a copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi. During Ramadan, Tariq and Ali broke their fast at different mosques around New York each night of Ramadan. They shared their stories on a Tumblr blog. and they continued the tour of mosques around the country the following year. As they explored the different communities of each mosque, Tariq and Ali wrote about the diversity of America's Muslim population and the themes that affect the Muslim community as a whole. The blog has gotten extensive press coverage, and the response has been largely positive. The Huffington Post called the project "visually stunning," and more communities around the world have participated in a 30 mosques project.

The Sundance Institute awarded Tariq and Mullick the Art of Nonfiction fellowship January 2016. The Art of Nonfiction initiative expands the institute's support for documentaries that explore contemporary social issues.

By July 2021, Tariq was in final talks to direct the film Blade starring Mahershala Ali for Marvel Studios, and was hired by September 2021. However, on September 28, 2022, Tariq stepped down as director due to further delays in the production schedule but remained on the project as an executive producer.

Tariq later reunited with Ali to create the action-thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.

Other ventures In 2014, Tariq co-founded a halal butcher shop in the East Village in New York with Khalid Latif and Russell Khan. The shop, Honest Chops, was initially started because of the founders' frustration with the lack of halal meat options in New York City. The butcher shop sources organic, humanely-raised animals from the Tri-State area and attempts to make the product accessible and affordable. A portion of the profits goes toward building social services and institutions in New York City. The shop also distributes meat to soup kitchens, food pantries and families in need around major holidays. In October 2014, he hosted a TED Talk titled "The beauty and diversity of Muslim life." The talk explores how his eclectic career reflects his perspective on what it means to be Muslim, and he relates his disparate professions as a response to the complicated history that America has with diversity and people who oversimplify Muslim beliefs and communities.

Tariq is also a freelance copywriter and creative director in New York City.

Personal life Tariq is married with a son.

Filmography

Film

Feature films Year Title Director Writer 2020 Mogul Mowgli 2026 Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

Short films

Television YearTitleNotes 2026 Bait 3 episodes

Documentary works