NEW DOCUMENTARY 'TARIK SHAH: DON'T PLAY LIKE THEM' CHRONICLES TRIUMPH OVER INJUSTICE
Tarik Shah: Don't Play Like Them
NEW DOCUMENTARY "TARIK SHAH: DON'T PLAY LIKE THEM" CHRONICLES JAZZ MASTER TARIK SHAH'S PERSONAL TRIUMPH OVER INJUSTICE
I did not realize that I had been their target from as far back as 2001.”
— Tarik Shah
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 30, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Award-winning filmmaker Barry Rubinow examines the collision of art, injustice, and resilience in his new documentary, Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them. The film details the impact of a post-9/11 FBI sting while highlighting one man’s determination to hold on to his dignity, music, and humanity.
Tarik Shah began playing professionally at 17 and went on to share stages with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Abbey Lincoln and many other luminaries. But after 9/11, his life was derailed by an FBI operation that changed everything. Shah had been targeted by the FBI for years, and was eventually locked up on a fake terrorism charge with zero evidence. He spent 31 months in soul crushing solitary confinement and then another 12 years in prison. Tarik endured this harrowing experience by keeping faith and music alive within himself, and came out of incarceration a better, stronger person.
Shah’s experience echoes today’s urgent debates about civil liberties, surveillance, and racial profiling. Rubinow’s documentary connects Shah’s story to a broader national conversation about security versus freedom.
At a time when questions of civil rights and government accountability dominate headlines, Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them resonates as both a personal survival story and a warning about the fragility of freedom in a democracy.
Film Screenings
Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them will screen at the Montclair Film Festival in Montclair, NJ, on October 26th. Also, there will be a special screening event at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, NY, on October 24th.
https://montclairfilm.org/events/tarik-shah-dont-play-like-them/
https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/forever-war-on-terror/
Barry Rubinow
Rubinow Productions
+1 818-314-6110
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Tarik Shah: Don't Play Like Them trailer
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