--- name: "Bassam Tariq" canonical: "https://film.one/person/bassam-tariq" fi1m_id: "bassam-tariq" imdb_id: "nm4802773" tmdb_id: 1161025 wikidata_id: "Q23769533" roles: ["Director","Writer"] born: "22 October 1986" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "director" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-03T01:20:21.799127+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bassam Tariq ## Identity Bassam Tariq - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/bassam-tariq - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** bassam-tariq - **IMDb ID:** nm4802773 - **TMDB ID:** 1161025 - **Wikidata ID:** Q23769533 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassam_Tariq, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23769533, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4802773/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1161025 Director and writer. Born 22 October 1986 in Karachi, Pakistan. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Writer - **Born:** 22 October 1986, Karachi, Pakistan - **Active:** 2020–present - **Frequently works with:** [Riz Ahmed](https://film.one/person/riz-ahmed.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as director, over 3 titles - **Fi1m against the critics:** 79 to 78 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 1, Crime 1, Music 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1 - **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassam_Tariq, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23769533, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4802773/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1161025 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Bait*](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) (81), [*Mogul Mowgli*](https://film.one/film/mogul-mowgli.md) (79) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Bassam Tariq > Bassam Tariq brings naturalistic performances into stories that can turn strange. We rate his attention to family and cultural detail, though *Bait* suggests he is most persuasive when the production stops announcing how unusual it all is. In *Bait* (2026), an actor is trying to win a job and please far too many people. Bassam Tariq shares directing duties with Tom George, letting comedy share space with psychological thriller. We felt for Shah most in the family scenes, where his efforts to please people made the strain painfully recognisable. Those scenes give us a reason to care about the man beyond the question of whether he gets the job. He began in documentary, co-directing *These Birds Walk* (2013), about runaway children in Karachi, with Omar Mullick. The short *Ghosts of Sugar Land* (2019) followed, before his fiction feature debut, *Mogul Mowgli* (2020), co-written with Riz Ahmed. Its British-Pakistani rapper belongs to a body of work repeatedly concerned with Muslim and South Asian lives, family ties and cultural inheritance. Naturalistic performances share space with heightened reverie in *Mogul Mowgli*, so the shifts in *Bait* have a clear precedent. Close collaboration with actors on writing and performance is central to Tariq's method. In *Bait*, cinematographers Frank Lamm and Dan Atherton and production designer Steve Summersgill give the changes of genre a polish that suits a story about an actor under scrutiny. The movement between comedy and thriller mostly works, keeping the series from repeating the same anxious beat. But the distress sometimes looks too tidily presented, and we become aware of the production when we should be worrying about Shah. We prefer the family scenes, which have less need to announce their strangeness. Some of *Bait*'s supporting characters deserve more attention, and that is a meaningful limitation in work so concerned with family and community. There is enough warmth and humour here to make us want Tariq to stay with those people for longer. Start with *Bait*; it is a funny, uneasy introduction, provided a few overworked passages do not put you off. ## Biography Bassam Tariq is a Pakistani-born American film director, producer and screenwriter. He was born on 22 October 1986 in Karachi, Pakistan. Tariq co-directed and produced the documentary *These Birds Walk* (2013) with Omar Mullick. He was named in *Filmmaker* magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2012 and is a TED Fellow. He co-founded a halal butcher shop in New York City. His feature directorial debut *Mogul Mowgli* (2020), which he co-wrote, starred Riz Ahmed and received a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film. He directed the documentary short *Ghosts of Sugar Land* (2019) and three episodes of the series *Bait* (2026). He is also attached to the feature *Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother* (2026). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, cargocollective.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Bait* (2026), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) - *Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother* (2026), Fi1m 77, Writer, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/your-mother-your-mother-your-mother.md) - *Mogul Mowgli* (2020), Fi1m 79, Story, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/mogul-mowgli.md) ## Complete filmography (6) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother* (2026), Director, Writer, Producer — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/your-mother-your-mother-your-mother.md) - *Bait* (2026), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) - *Mogul Mowgli* (2020), Director, Writer, Story — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/mogul-mowgli.md) - *Ghosts of Sugar Land* (2019), Director, Writer, Producer - *11/8/16* (2017), Director - *These Birds Walk* (2012), Director ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - TED Fellow 2014: TED Fellow (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bassam-tariq