“GHANIMAH” by Sai Karan Talwar
A heated argument occurs when Abdullah (Mikhail Sen - House of Dragon, A Suitable Boy) declares he is joining the British Military to the shock of his pacifist father Omar (Adil Akram - What's Love got to do with it?) and anger of his fundamentalist older brother Moh (James El-Sharawy - Tyrant, EastEnders). As their debate unfurls past resentments and revelations rise to the surface, boiling to a point where they can no longer contain themselves. The war on terror, the 7/7 bombings, the loss of the son's mother and the allegiance to either Islam or Britain. What will unfold. Family, Duty or Honour?
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“Recent statistics published by the Ministry of Defense indicate that there are 650 Muslims serving in the UK armed services and of these, 550 are in the British Army, constituting 0.5% of the total. Highlighting an interesting and controversial subject that hasn’t been covered widely in the media.
Our key motivation for this project was to shine a light on Islam, which tends to only be represented in terms of violence and hate. The Quran is much denser and more complicated than what is interpreted and presented in the modern media, and in some cases even when presented with sympathy, it is inherently vilified. In the world we live in today, it goes unsaid how relevant the topic is and the resonance it will have with an audience. Via our characters we are exploring why certain ideologies around Islam exist and the angst that surrounds these given interpretations.
We see so few quality projects about the non-white British experience, it feels like every story about Muslims centres on a young person being radicalised, these are perpetual two-dimensional stereotypes for ethnic minorities. Hence, giving us a strong motivation to put together this project. We have also seen many South Asian or Muslim actors offered terrorist roles, they are all frustrated that they do not get interesting characters, and that their faith tends to only be represented in terms of violence and hate. We are looking to expand the scope of what it means to be an immigrant in the UK through this narrative. To the extent, where we had to independently finance the project on a very low budget and shoot in one day in order to get the film made.”
-Sai Karan Talwar
CREDITS:
Cast:
Mikhail Sen as Abdullah
Adil Akram as Omar
James El Sharawy as Moh
Crew:
Written & Directed by Sai Karan Talwar
Produced by Adi Alfa
Production Company// Mediaworx
Executive Producers// Sai Karan Talwar & Shamender Talwar
DoP & Grade// Eric Myers
Editor// Tom Ryan
Composer/ Sound design/mix// Simon Lee
1st AD// Olivia Fraser
Production Manager// Chelsea Bostwick
Assistant Producer// Geniva Chisholm
1st AC// Rob Hayward
2nd AC// Bryce Glass
Gaffer// London Lighting
Hair and Makeup// Vaneza Londono
Script Supervisor// Lola Michaels
Sound// Majer Christian
Photographer Shots by Nee
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