The works of Bassam Tariq

‘GHOSTS OF SUGAR LAND,’ 2019

Locals first may have heard of Tariq because of this highly personal 21-minute documentary from 2019 that won the shortfilm jury award at Sundance and was a nominee for a grand-jury prize at SXSW. Tariq gathers many of his friends from his Sugar Land high school years, all of whom are South Asian, to talk about what happened to a mutual friend, Warren Christopher Clark, an African American kid who was part of their circle who ultimately apparently became radicalized, joined ISIS overseas and was captured by U.S.backed Syrian armed forces and returned to Texas to stand trial. The now grown former students wrestle with how their often unintentional “othering” of Clark — he was the lone Black member of their social circle — might have contributed to his feelings of isolation. The documentary is currently available on Netflix.