Biography
Writer-Director, Malik Salaam, proudly wears the label of Old Atlanta. It is through this lens that his voice and perspective have been formed. Malik's pen started as scribbles in a notebook as he sailed across the Western Pacific. After being discharged from The United States Navy, Salaam embarked on a career as a performance poet. It was touring across the country at various colleges and nightclubs- eventually performing on HBO Def Poetry- where Salaam would find his true passion.
Always searching for ways to present his gift, Salaam- armed with a Hi-8 camera- began to interview people as he traveled across the country. Eventually, those interviews- along with footage of Malik's poetry- formed into a documentary entitled Lost in the Rubble: A Docu-Poem. The interviewees included a talented jeweler (who lived on the street as a crackhead), a Vietnam Veteran turned community activist and an aspiring pimp, who was living with HIV. With this motley crew, Salaam delved into an examination and a celebration of Black Men. It was through this project that Malik Salaam further developed his platform: to be a voice for the voiceless.
Lost in the Rubble gained critical acclaim in the film festival circuit and was featured at the 2007 Congressional Black Caucus, where Salaam was invited to sit on a panel with the likes of Reverend Jessie Jackson and Armstrong Williams. The impact of LITR hooked Salaam on the power of the moving picture. As a father of four, he knew he had to take a more practical, hands-on approach to film school and did so by writing, directing and producing a feature-length narrative entitled Every Scar and Dimple. Although perfectly imperfect, it was through this experience that Salaam began to submerge himself into film.
Salaam would go on to produce several short and long-form documentaries, narrative films, a season of a web series, commercials and music videos. Salaam fell in love with every phase of filmmaking, pushing himself to write, produce, direct, edit and distribute every project- all while engulfing himself in books and workshops in an effort to master his craft. Almost 20 years later, Malik Salaam is still in that pursuit.
Although Salaam will always be a student, he considers himself a graduate of the film school he crafted for himself and is confident that he is producing work at a very high level. His most recent documentary, Spring and 3rd: The Story of the Yin Yang Café was selected for the Bronze Lens Film Festival, received a grant for the City of Atlanta's Elevate Art Series and is being distributed by Dame Dash Studios. His latest narrative feature, Cut, is a partnership with Atlanta Rap Mogul Big Oomp and is slated for distribution.
Malik Salaam's platform is still the same: to shed light on stories that are overlooked and have been marginalized. He aims at creating multi-layered characters that have been traditionally shoved into stereotypes. Salaam has set his sights on creating opportunities for himself and other filmmakers outside of the studio system. His production company owns all of its equipment, in order to self-produce high-quality work without asking for permission. It is the Old Atlanta in him: ownership, doing for self and the will to rise from the ashes and soar to unfathomable heights.
