BILAL: A NEW BREED OF HERO

A FILM BY AYMAN JAMAL

DIRECTOR: KHURRAM H.ALAVI - AYMAN JAMAL

PRODUCER: AYMAN JAMAL

SCRIPTWRITERS: ALEX KRONEMER - MICHAEL WOLFE

KHURRAM H.ALAVI - YASSIN KAMEL

EDITOR: PATRICIA HENEINE

COMPOSER: ATLI ÖRVARSSON

PRODUCED BY 

BARAJOUN ENTERTAINMENT

DUBAI / UAE

DURATION: 105 MIN

2016

Ayman Jamal \ Producer & Director 

is the founder and Producer of Barajoun Entertainment.

He has extensive expertise in developing and producing media content, branded entertainment, animation and documentaries, which led him to his real passion for storytelling and sharing BILAL, his first full animation feature film with the world.

“The film is the remarkable story inspired by an African hero “Bilal” as he goes from braving oppression to becoming a noble leader and an inspiration to generations.

This is a story of faith, hope and self-discovery.

The story is about finding one’s inner voice and breaking from chains not worn on wrists, but around the heart!

It is about learning to honor and respect yourself and those around you – and what better message to share in today’s world?

A project like Bilal is no easy feat. The combination of realistic textures and stylized features is rare in animation.

It is as exciting as it is challenging.”

Khurram H. Alavi \ Director

A graduate of the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Khurram spent his initial years excelling in various aspects

of content creation for animation. With over 10 years of experience, Alavi makes his directorial debut with BILAL.

Having also served as the resident concept sculptor for characters in BILAL, Khurram has been instrumental in

the development of the animated feature - from script to screenplay all the way to the big screen.

“Animation is a very liberating art form.

We can tell stories abstract and unique ways.

We have taken artistic liberties in order heighten dramatic value of the actual account of Bilal’s life.

Fictional characters as well as fictional depictions of various sets and props - supernatural entities,

animal companions, evil merchants, massive armies – you name it. It’s going to be a truly beautiful piece.”

SCREENPLAY

Alexander Kronemer: is the co-founder and executive producer of Unity Productions Foundation. He is also a writer, lecturer, and documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on religious diversity and cross-cultural understanding.

Michael Wolfe: is an American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation.

He is a frequent lecturer at universities across the United States including Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford, SUNY Buffalo, and Princeton. He holds a degree in Classics from Wesleyan University.

Yassin Kamel: Writer of "El Alamy" movie at just 25 years of age. Yassin co-writed the animation movie Bilal, first animation feature film coming out from the middle-east and produced by Barajoun Entertainment in Dubai.

Atli Orvarsson \ Score Composer

Atli Örvarsson is an Icelandic film score composer.

Atli's credits include composing and orchestrating music for some of Hollywood's biggest projects, including the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Angels and Demons, The Holiday, The Eagle, Vantage Point,Babylon A.D., Thick as Thieves, The Fourth Kind, and Season of the Witch. Atli's most recent credits include Bilal, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, NBC series Chicago Fire, and together with Hans Zimmer contributed music to the Zack Snyder Superman reinstallment Man of Steel.

CAST

PRODUCTION NOTES

BILAL reimagines the life of Bilal ibn Rabah, a very famous personality in History. It is a feature-length animated film from the Dubai-based Barajoun Entertainment costing $30M to make with a dedicated team of 360 people involved in its creation.

The international team of seasoned professionals is comprised of over 20 nationalities who converged towards Dubai to work on the historic epic.

The film boasts an exquisite score by world renowned film composer, Atli Örvarsson most of which was recorded at Abbey Road Studio, London with some sections recorded in Iceland. The musical score is a fusion of Middle Eastern elements fused with Norse and European sentiments.

The team of soloists and musicians carries with it an impressive body of work including Hollywood blockbusters and renowned television content.

Post production services were handled by the highly experienced Park Road Post Productions in New Zealand.

The film was mixed by Academy-Award winning Michael Hedges (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) who joined a team of highly experienced (and skilled) sound designers, dialogue supervisors and foley artists, some of Sir Peter Jackson’s very own.

BILAL is the first historic epic to be reimagined as a Computer Graphics animated feature. The film presented the team with numerous challenges. From character design to final asset creation, the hyper realistic benchmarks fused with stylized designs proved to be a daunting task for the artists. The team carefully tailored each character making sure the balance was maintained throughout the production phases.

BILAL features an eleven minute long battle sequence pitting an army of 300 soldiers against an army of 1000 soldiers while addressing three key story arcs.

BILAL features characters with highly detailed hair and cloth setups with textures and designs based on the region’s history.

It depicts heroic and noble characters from 1400 years ago that have never been shown on screen before.

Complex setups and fur systems were developed for the animals used in the film. BILAL boasts an impressive ensemble of hyper realistic wildlife – The animals were stylized to a great extent.

BILAL offers a compelling and complex story that spans the lifetime of Bilal Ibn Rabah. It is the first time in an animated feature that a character’s journey has been shown through so many stages of life.

ABOUT BARAJOUN

Barajoun Entertainment is a Creative Leading Animation & Visual Effects Studio, Most of our Team Involved in International Film Productions.We are based in the MENA region, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Barajoun is born out of great passion for storytelling, art and innovative technologies, bringing to life enchanting stories and lovable characters.

Our technical capabilities allow us to create a full suite of animation and CGI productions from concept design to final render.

We are proud of our technical capabilities but what really sets us apart is our passion for storytelling. In the world of fiction narrative, some argue that technology is but a better pencil and is the story, that gives life to technology.

MAIN CREW

Executive Producer [ ARIF JILANI ]

Executive Producer [ ANDREA IERVOLINO ]

Executive Producer [ MONIKA BACARDI ]

Co-Produced By [ CARLA POLKINHORN ]

Associate Producer [ PATRICIA HENEINE ]

Editor [ PATRICIA HENEINE ]

Director of Photography Camera [ AJDIN DURAKOVIC ]

Director of Photography Camera [ NAREG KALENDERIAN ]

Lighting Supervisor [ MUHAMMAD JUNAID BAIG ]

Look Development Supervisor [ HASSAN SARWAR ]

Mood Board Supervisor [ QING ZHU ]

Crowd / Massive Supervisor [ BELAL SALEM ]

Rendering Supervisor [ ARIF JILANI ]

Simulation Supervisor [ IQBAL HAIDER ]

Animation Supervisor [ JAYESH YATGIRI ]

Animation Supervisor [ ANIRUDH IYER ]

Set Supervisor [ EYAD ARABI ]

Character Supervisor [ ANDREA PAOLINO ]

Line Producer [ IQBAL HAIDER ]

Production Manager [ NOUR CHEIKH ALARD ]

Production Manager  [ ROSIL AZAWI ]

Art Director [ MAHA AL SHAFIE ]

Art Director [ HELEN SAWMA ]

Art Director [ Yassin Kamel ]

Sound Design by [ HAYDEN COLLOW ]

Sound Design by [ JUSTIN WEBSTER ]

Dialogue Supervisor [ MARTIN KWOK ]

Re-Recording Mixers [ MICHAEL HEDGES ]

Re-Recording Mixers [ PETER SMITH ]

System Technical Lead [ MUHAMMAD NOMAN ]

System Technical Lead [ SAYEED SAYED ]