Tarique Qayumi

Tarique Qayumi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and came to Canada as a refugee. He attended the school of creative writing at the University of British Columbia and his MFA at UCLA School of Film and TV. Judith Weston, who trained Alejandro Iñárritu, Ava DuVernay, and Taika Waititi, mentored Qayumi for two years in directing actors. After film school, TOLO TV, the largest television station in Afghanistan, approached Qayumi, where he directed "Truth Unvelied", Afghanistan's first docudrama series; "The Defenders, drama miniseries; as well as the Afghan version of "Sesame Street", seasons two and three. He also wrote and directed his first feature film, "Targeting", in Los Angeles, which won Best Film at the Afghan Human Rights Festival in Kabul in 2015. Upon returning to Canada, Qayumi was one of five chosen from across the country for the NSI Corus Diverse TV Directing Program in 2016. Tarique shadowed Daniel Grou on "The Vikings". "Black Kite", a historical drama that intermixes animation, documentary, and live-action, was his second feature, which he wrote, directed, edited, and cinematographed. "Black Kite" premiered at TIFF in 2017 and screened at 20 festivals around the world. The film has won three Leo Awards: Best Writer, Best Direction, and Best Picture. In 2018, he was the Phil Lind Multicultural Artist in Residence at UBC Film School. In 2019, he was chosen for the NSI Totally Television program to develop a TV series based on his experience as a refugee in the 1980's.