SYNOPSIS
A multi-narrative journey that weaves between three families in present-day Bradford, where three worlds collide and leave a Muslim scholar fighting for his life. Now they must face the storm before the calm – and they call it ‘Islamophobia’. Dealing with women’s rights, mosques and the far-right, three young protagonists find themselves propelled into the world of prejudice when their paths collide.
Yusuf is the son of a Pakistani Mosque Scholar doing his best to keep his dad’s dream at arms length. Zac is from a White working class family whose troubles hit fifth gear due to his radical behaviour. Khadija is second generation Iraqi and a recent graduate in Politics whose ambitions are about to be put to the test. Fuelled by yet another grooming case making the headlines, they must decide how Islamophobia will shape their future.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Conor IBRAHIEM began his professional life as an actor in 1999 and appeared in various productions such as ‘DL & Pascoe’, ‘Bad Girls’ and ‘Eastenders’ before taking up scriptwriting in his spare time. That, along with the desire to produce his own work, ultimately led to establishing Arakan Creative in 2009, an Islamic theatre company and Social Enterprise. Arakan looks to address issues within the Muslim world to dispel misconceptions and sow seeds of positive change, having covered issues such as mental health awareness, Hijaab and Extremism. Our latest project addresses Islamophobia, which is explored through our first feature film – ‘Freesia’ – and we hope this is just the first step to building a film production arm to the company.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
‘Freesia’ is my directorial debut, although it was never intended to be a feature – it was originally conceived as 3 short films. Of course the creative mind never rests and the idea to turn it into what it has now become meant pulling out all the stops on a modest production budget. What we ended up with is the first UK film to address Islamophobia and stars Aqib Khan from the British Asian film ‘West is West’ and Afsaneh Deyrouyeh of US TV show ‘Tyrant’. It was shot around West Yorkshire in 2014 over a 13-day period and is now coming to the end of its theatrical release at selected UK cinemas. Plans are already underway to develop a sequel, and from there a third instalment. We have used all our resources to their fullest and not been held back by lack of a big budget – and we don’t want to abandon this method. Indeed, we wish to nurture this model of filmmaking and continue to produce low-budget/high concept Social Realism films. In doing so it means providing work and opportunities to cast and crew in the North of the UK and also prove that you don’t need millions to be a success – just the right story, conviction and a talented cast/crew who share the vision.
CREDITS
Director Conor Ibrahiem
Writer Conor Ibrahiem
Producer Conor Ibrahiem
Key Cast
Yusuf Aqib Khan
Khadija Afsaneh Dehrouyeh
Zac Matthew Thomas
Project Type: Feature
Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes 16 seconds
Completion Date: July 1, 2015
Production Budget: 27,000 GBP
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Country of Filming: United Kingdom
Language: Arabic, English, Urdu
Shooting Format: Black Magic Cinema Camera 2.5k
Film Colour: Colour
First-time Filmmaker: Yes
Student Project: No
Screenings/Awards
- Miami Independent Film Festival
Miami USA
October 25, 2015
Official Selection
- LA CineFest
LA
October 18, 2015
Official Selection
- Equality International Film Festival
Sacramento, California
November 8, 2015
Official Selection
- Accolade Global Film Competition
San Diego, USA
December 1, 2015
Award of Merit
- International Filmmaker Fesitval of World Cinema
London
December 14, 2015
UK premiere
3 Nominations: Best Director. Best Original Screenplay. Best Original Score
- Focus International Film Festival
USA
January 31, 2016
Official Selection (Film Trailer)
- Riverside International Film Festival
Riverside
United States
May 9, 2016
Official Selection
- Swedish International Film Festival
Sweden
July 4, 2016
Official Selection
- South Texas International Film Festival
Edinburg, Texas
United States
September 8, 2016
Official Selection & Texas Premiere
- Canadian Diversity Film Festival
Toronto
Canada
June 25, 2017
Canadian Premiere
Awarded ‘Best New Filmmaker’
- Chandler International Film Festival
Arizona
United States
January 14, 2017
Official Selection
- Auckland International Film Festival
Auckland
New Zealand
March 25, 2017
New Zealand Premiere
Awarded ‘Best First Time Filmmaker’
- Yosemite International Film Festival
California
United States
October 30, 2016
Official Selection
- Out of the Can Film Festival
Nottingham
United Kingdom
December 12, 2017
Winner ‘Best Producer – Male’
News & Reviews
- “Official selection with Miami Independent Film Festival (on line and not for public viewing so premiere status not affected)”
http://miamindiefest.com/official-selections-mindie-october-2015/
- “Official selection with Los Angeles CineFest (on line and not for public viewing so premiere status not affected)”
http://lacinefest.weebly.com/feature-film-1-092015.html
- “Beating back the Bulldog”
D K Powell – Freelance Writer/Critic
Beating Back the Bulldog – The rise of British Asian movies tackling social issues
- “”Contains lessons all communities should heed””
Empire Magazine
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/freesia/review/
- “”Hopefully prompt more studios to examine this fertile ground””
Every Film Blog
http://everyfilmblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/327-freesia-movie-review.html
- “Interview on BBC Breakfast News”
BBC
- “Interview on BBC Worldwide”
BBC
- “Violence on the streets of Bradford calls forth a deeply humane film”
Film Review Daily