Grants & Awards

About the Film:

CINEMA ENCOUNTERS IN TEHRAN produced by Link TV is a 40 minute documentary that follows two young American filmmakers’ journey to Iran. Americans Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed travel to Iran for the 2007 Verite Film Festival. There they meet two young filmmakers Atefeh and Abbas and decide to make a film together about carpets. The film documents their efforts to overcome language and cultural barriers and use cinematic language and friendship to create a film. In the end they find that the friendship and understanding they develop in a short time transcends the barriers of the national and political divisions that separates them. Link TV broadcasts programs that engage, educate and activate viewers to become involved in the world. These programs provide a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the U.S. media.

About the Filmmakers:

Yoni Brook directed the documentary short, A SON’S SACRIFICE, which won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival and the International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards. The film was broadcast in 2008 on PBS’ Independent Lens series. The documentary BRONX PRINCESS, which he co-directed with Musa Syeed, premiered on P.O.V. on PBS in September 2009. He and Syeed are currently co-directing a film called THE CALLING for national ITVS/PBS broadcast. Yoni has also worked as a photojournalist at The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other publications. His work has received highest honors at the Pictures of the Year International and Best of Photojournalism competitions. He was named national College Photographer of the Year by the Missouri School of Journalism and was the youngest ever to be selected for Photo District News’ “30 Photographers to Watch”. He is an alumnus of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and was selected to attend the CPB/PBS Producers’ Academy and the Berlinale Talent Campus. Musa Syeed is an independent filmmaker and writer. After producing A SON’S SACRIFICE & co-directing BRONX PRINCESS, Syeed is currently co-directing a film called THE CALLING for national ITVS/PBS broadcast. Syeed was a Fulbright Fellow in Cairo, Egypt, where he focused on experimental filmmaking. As a writer, he produced original theatrical work for the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and is the film editor for Islamica Magazine. Syeed has worked as an educator in schools, community centers, and prisons. This year, he is a professor of documentary production at Williams College. He serves as an advisor for film and television companies, including Thirteen/WNET. He is an alumnus of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies Department.