USA

Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed met at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts while studying with Professor and director Marco Williams. Their first documentary film, A Sonʼs Sacrifice, followed a father-son relationship at a halal slaughterhouse in Queens, New York. A Son’s Sacrifice won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival and broadcast nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens series in January 2008. The film was named the Best Documentary Short by the International Documentary Association. The US State Department has distributed the film to over 130 consulates and embassies around the world as part of its religious diversity initiative. Bronx Princess, about a teenager reuniting with her father, a chief in Ghana, broadcast nationally on PBS’s POV series in September 2009. The film premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and at the Berlinale. Brook and Syeed are the Jewish and Muslim co-directors of The Calling, a four hour PBS/ITVS film about young religious leaders. His feature films include Valley of Saints (2012), A Stray (2016), and also co-wrote the film, Menashe (2017).

Filmography

A Sonʼs Sacrifice (2007)
Bronx Princess (2008)
The Calling (2010)
Valley of Saints (2012)
A Stray (2016)
The Dispossessed (2019)