UAE movie Bilal proves a home run for animation

The project has already attracted an impressive cast, including global names such as Game of Thrones’s Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Pirates of the Caribbean and Lovejoy’s Ian McShane, and a team of about 250 animation professionals featuring members who have worked on movies such as Shrek, Life of Pi, Star Wars and The Avengers.

However, for Ayman Jamal, who founded Barajoun Entertainment, the animation studio that is producing the film, the inspiration was less star-studded and far more personal.

“My inspiration was my kid, and myself,” says the banker-turned-movie producer. “When I watched movies like Braveheart or Malcolm X when I was in my late 20s and early 30s, I was inspired. Why wasn’t I inspired when I was 10, I asked myself? I asked my 5-year-old son what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said: ‘Superman’. I love Superman, but I wish he’d said something possible, and I wanted to create this. To inspire kids with a real human superhero that they can aspire to.”

He adds: “Superman is the reason I did this. I had to save my kid.”

What Jamal claims to have done is set up the first animation studio of its kind in the Middle East. Animation itself is no newcomer to the region, but in terms of full-feature production, Jamal is convinced Barajoun is unique.

Original article by Chris Newbould

Continue reading at The National:

UAE movie Bilal proves a home run for animation