Pulse Films has signed director Bassam Tariq for commercial, branded content and music video representation worldwide.

A writer and director from New York, Tariq made his narrative feature film debut with Mogul Mowgli starring and co-written by Riz Ahmed and produced by Pulse Films. Mogul Mowgli won the prestigious FIPRESCI Critics Award at the Berlinale Film Festival in 2020 ahead of its acclaimed U.K. premiere at the BFI London Film Festival this month (10/10). Mogul Mowgli will be released into U.K. cinemas on October 30th.  

Tariq also won the Short Film Jury Prize at Sundance for Ghosts of Sugar Land, and his debut documentary These Birds Walk, which premiered at SXSW, was named one of the 50 Best Foreign Films of the 21st Century by the New Yorker.

Bassam is a TED Fellow and was an inaugural fellow of the Sundance’s Art of Non-Fiction Residency and participated in the 2017 Sundance Screenwriters’ Intensive.

In commercials Bassam has directed work for brands including Sprint, Google and the NCAA. His passion for telling stories and ability to connect to audiences is matched only by the cacophony of influences that inform his creativity. Drawing from the rich tapestry of his Pakistani heritage, pop culture and Western cinema Bassam creates unique, captivating, multi-layered worlds with his films. Tariq formerly directed ad assignments via RadicalMedia.

Tariq said of his compatriots at Pulse Films, “We had such a wonderful experience making a film (Mogul Mowgli) together these past two years.  Pulse Films are trailblazers and have championed some of the best emerging voices in cinema and commercial work. I’m honored to be represented amongst some of the best filmmakers working today.” 

Davud Karbassioun, global president of commercials and branded at Pulse, added, “While we’ve been working together for a while on his feature film [Mogul Mowgli] it’s an honor to formally welcome Bassam to the Pulse Films family.  He is filmmaker with a strong presence in both long and short form,  in scripted and non-fiction, in advertising and in entertainment.  Mogul Mowgli is for me one of the most beautiful films of the year,  one that stays with you for a long time.  Bassam brings a very fresh and highly artistic perspective to everything he is involved in.”