Freesia
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’
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Conor IbrahiemDirector
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Conor IbrahiemWriter
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Conor IbrahiemProducer
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Aqib KhanKey CastWest is West
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Afsaneh DehrouyehKey CastTyrant
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Matthew ThomasKey Cast
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Project Type:Feature
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Runtime:1 hour 31 minutes 16 seconds
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Completion Date:July 1, 2015
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Production Budget:27,000 GBP
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:United Kingdom
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Language:Arabic, English, Urdu
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Shooting Format:Black Magic Cinema Camera 2.5k
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Miami Independent Film FestivalMiami USA
October 25, 2015
Official Selection -
LA CineFestLA
October 18, 2015
Official Selection -
Equality International Film FestivalSacramento, California
November 8, 2015
Official Selection -
Accolade Global Film CompetitionSan Diego, USA
December 1, 2015
Award of Merit -
International Filmmaker Fesitval of World CinemaLondon
December 14, 2015
UK premiere
3 Nominations: Best Director. Best Original Screenplay. Best Original Score -
Focus International Film FestivalUSA
January 31, 2016
Official Selection (Film Trailer) -
Riverside International Film FestivalRiverside
United States
May 9, 2016
Official Selection -
Swedish International Film Festival
Sweden
July 4, 2016
Official Selection -
South Texas International Film FestivalEdinburg, Texas
United States
September 8, 2016
Official Selection & Texas Premiere -
Canadian Diversity Film FestivalToronto
Canada
June 25, 2017
Canadian Premiere
Awarded 'Best New Filmmaker' -
Chandler International Film FestivalArizona
United States
January 14, 2017
Official Selection -
Auckland International Film FestivalAuckland
New Zealand
March 25, 2017
New Zealand Premiere
Awarded 'Best First Time Filmmaker' -
Yosemite International Film FestivalCalifornia
United States
October 30, 2016
Official Selection -
Out of the Can Film FestivalNottingham
United Kingdom
December 12, 2017
Winner 'Best Producer - Male'
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 address social ills - both with a view to sow seeds of positive change. Covered issues include 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.
'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 of £27,000. 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 we hope to develop a trilogy around similar issues in the future.