I am a director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. I have directed multiple short films and written various scripts about Pakistani and Muslim characters stuck in an America that refuses to accept them.
My feature script, BIN, was a finalist for the Sundance Writer’s Lab and a finalist for the Best Screenplay Competition at the Ivy Film Festival. BIN also won the prestigious Islamic Scholarship Fund National Film Grant. My feature script, The Immigration Game, won first place at the Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Contest and was a Sundance Writer's Lab finalist.
On the television front, Brown Country, my TV pilot script, was a semifinalist at the Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Contest while The Islamic Boys, another TV pilot script, was a finalist at the Nashville Film Festival. Farooqui's short film Broke was an official selection for the 2018 Atlanta Film Festival and has played at several film festivals around the world.
I am a graduate of Business Management and Religion from Emory University and received his MFA in Screenwriting and Directing from Columbia University where I was also a Teaching Fellow for the Undergraduate Film Studies Program. I am currently developing my first feature, The Immigration Game, which is slated to shoot in Atlanta next year.