Netflix Acquires Bassam Tariq’s Doc ‘Ghosts of Sugar Land’

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Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to the short documentary Ghosts of Sugar Land, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Bassam Tariq directed the pic, which he also co-wrote with Thomas Niles.

The doc is set in Sugar Land, Texas, and follows a group of young Muslim American men who ponder the disappearance of their friend Mark, who is suspected of joining ISIS.

Farihah Zaman and Tariq are also producers on the film.

Following its critically acclaimed opening, the doc was awarded the short film jury award: non-fiction at the Sundance Film Festival this year. The film can next be seen at SXSW and the True/False Film Festival.

Netflix has continued to be aggressive in producing and acquiring documentaries, including End Game, Period. End of Sentence, and the popular feature Fyre, which gave a behind-the-scenes look at how the infamous Fyre Festival imploded. It also has previous Academy Award nominees Heroin(e), Extremis, and The White Helmets, which won the documentary short Oscar in 2017.

Tariq is a TED Fellow and was one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. His first feature film, These Birds Walk, was named one of the 50 best foreign films of the 21st century by the New Yorker.