Street Level: Anik Khan

2021 WEBBY AWARD WINNER, VIDEO>MUSIC CATEGORY

Bangladesh-born, Queens-raised, Anik Khan is a young hip hop artist whose music sketches the immigrant experience with rare poetic flare and incisive depth in this short documentary for PBS’ American Masters digital series “Masters in the Making”, produced in partnership with Firelight Media and WNET and released through Topic and PBS.

Watch the film here.

This series is about up-and-coming artists, with a focus on people of color in front of and behind the camera. In front of the camera: Anik Khan – a rapper, poet of the immigrant experience, a son of Bangladesh and Queens, and someone whose music we’ve appreciated since he arrived on the scene. Behind the camera: director/cinematographer Sofian Khan and director Joseph Patel, both of whom have had the pleasure of knowing Anik personally, and both of whom jumped at the chance to collaborate with him.

We shot over two months in Queens, catching a day here and a day there following Anik and his friends and collaborators through the rhythm of their lives over the course of a summer. In the process, we see Anik celebrate Eid with his family, perform onstage with his friends, get his citizenship and start a business — all set against the backdrop of his evolving body of work. It’s a laid back ride down Queens Blvd with the sound of hip hop and laughter filling the humid air.

And, the food was dope. From the Jamaican jerk Salmon to the delicious Bangladeshi biryani, and all coming together at the end with a hot cup of sweet chai. 

The film made its premiere at DOCNYC, and in a private event at the Paper Factory Hotel in November 2019, where we all took part in a Q&A with Teen Vogue’s Executive Editor Samhita Mukhopadyay. And it will be available to stream online in 2020.

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