About Michael Singh

Michael Singh grew up in the Punjab and in the Himalayas, where he attended Woodstock School. He studied Indian history at The University of Chicago and filmmaking at USC’s Division of Cinema-TV in Los Angeles.

His career has spanned multiple creative fields. He once wrote billboard copy for 20th Century Fox’s big-budget movies and played Mr. Patel in the hit stage production of Comedians at Chicago’s Wisdom Bridge Theatre.

Now based in Princeton, MA, Michael is an internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker. His latest feature-length film, Valentino’s Ghost: Why We Hate Arabs and Muslims, premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a standing ovation, was designated a New York Times Critics’ Pick, and has been called "the decade’s most important film" (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs). The film has aired in over 100 countries.

However, Valentino’s Ghost was banned by PBS and Sundance due to its uncompromising exposé of Islamophobia in Hollywood.

Michael has written, produced, and directed multiple award-winning films centered on Sikh history and identity, including Prisoner’s Song, Rebel Queen, The Visionary, and Uncommon Ground.

His television work includes serving as Senior Producer/Writer for Discovery’s Chicago’s Lifeline, where his episodes won two national awards for Best Science Series. He is also co-writer of the romantic comedy feature film Good Sharma, starring Joan Allen and Billy Connolly.

Michael is currently seeking completion funds for Riding the Tiger, a 93-minute rough cut documentary that offers a firsthand account of the 1984 Sikh massacres. The film features one-of-a-kind archival recordings captured at great personal risk.

A bi-racial, bi-cultural, tri-lingual storyteller, Michael is driven by a passion for revealing hidden truths, smashing taboos, and crafting stories that, in the words of Finley Peter Dunne, “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”