Info

Kalamu ya Salaam's information blog

 

okay africa

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

 

 

 

bilal-animated-ethiopia-film-dubai-barajoun-studio-05

Dubai-based animation and special effects studio Barajoun Entertaiment has revealed the teaser trailer for its first feature project, titled BilalThe animated film is inspired by the true story of Bilal Ibn Rabaha freed slave of Ethiopian origin who converted to Islam and became a trusted companion of the Prophet Muhammad after his emancipation. Impressed by Bilal’s sonorous voice and unwavering faith, Muhammad handpicked him to call Muslims to prayer as Islam’s first muezzin. Bilal’s descendants are also believed to have established the Mali Empire’s Keita Dynasty

British-Nigerian actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost) will be lending his voice to the forthcoming animated epic as the adult version of the titular character. News of Akinnouye-Agbaje’s involvement with Bilal came during a press event at the recent Dubai International Film Festival, where the film’s screenwriter Ayman Jamal revealed that the project has been in development for the last eight years.

No official release date has been announced yet, however producers say the film is due to arrive in the final quarter of 2015. Read the synopsis and watch the trailer for Bilalbelow. Keep up with future developments via Facebook and Twitter.

What do you think?

Bilal is a bright eyed, carefree Ethiopian boy ignited with fanciful imagination and the dreams only a 7 year old can conjure. His voice is gifted from the gods. Then, on a day as similar as any, his dreams become nightmares when his village is ransacked and his tribe murdered, orphaning he and his sister, Ghufaira. They are uprooted, enslaved and thrown into the chaotic wills and wants of their new master, Umayya. Ruthless taunting from Umayya, his spoiled son Safwan and the merchant class force Bilal and Ghufaira down narrow paths of zero resistance. Dreams of freedom and the warrior he fantasized he would become are kept deep in his yearning heart. So it goes for years, the same oppression, insult and enslavement. Grown into a strong young man, Bilal’s spirit is finally quenched with the promise of freedom in a new beginning with God. The physical chains are rendered temporary. The chains on his heart are released, but not before Umayya and Safwan punish and torture him for his new faith. Beaten within an inch of death, a stranger’s charity and Umayya’s greed start Bilal on his final journey. Ghufaira is not so fortunate as she is doomed to stay in the service of Umayya’s household, her fate unknown. Bilal’s destiny is fulfilled when he becomes the great warrior he always dreamed of and joins other free men. They set on a difficult and violent path of liberation; town by town, village by village. Freedom is spread with every battle, culminating in the return to his home town.

bilal-animated-ethiopia-film-dubai-barajoun-studio-04

bilal-animated-ethiopia-film-dubai-barajoun-studio-02

bilal-animated-ethiopia-film-dubai-barajoun-studio-03

 

>via: http://www.okayafrica.com/news/bilal-film-ethiopian-slave-islams-first-muezzin-animated-feature/