Ghana and USA / 2008 / 39mins / Documentary / Twi, English, and Ga

Bronx Princess follows headstrong 17-year-old Rocky as she leaves behind her mother in New York City to reunite with her father, a chief in Ghana. By confronting her immigrant parents' ideas of adulthood during her tumultuous summer between high school and college, Rocky must reconcile her African heritage with her dream of independence.

Musa Syeed

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). Learn More

Yoni Brook

Yoni Brook is a film director and cinematographer. He spent two months living under a military curfew in Kashmir while shooting Valley of Saints, a feature fiction film directed by Musa Syeed. Premiering at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the film won the Audience Award and Alfred P. Sloan Award. As a cinematographer, he regularly shoots interviews with personalities ranging from the Dalai Lama to Willie Nelson. His commercial clients include IBM, Facebook, and the Ford Foundation. As a director, his film 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. Bronx Princess is co-directed with Musa Syeed, with whom he also co-directed The Calling, a four hour PBS/ITVS film about young religious leaders. Brook has mentored high school students at Reel Works Teen Filmmaking in Brooklyn and served as a consulting producer for Cinereach's Reach Film Fellowship. Learn More