Private Project

GHANIMAH

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? 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.

  • Sai karan Talwar
    Director
  • Sai Karan Talwar
    Writer
  • Adi Alfa
    Producer
    Uncle, 'Til Death, Traces
  • Sai Karan Talwar
    Producer
  • Shamender Talwar
    Producer
  • Mikhail Sen
    Key Cast
    "Abdullah"
    House of Dragon, A Suitable Boy
  • Adil Akram
    Key Cast
    "Omar"
    Spectre, What's Love got to do with it?
  • James El-Sharawy
    Key Cast
    "Moh "
    Tyrant, Eastenders
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 11, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    8,750 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 11th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival-22
    Mumbai
    India
    December 11, 2022
    Official Selection - CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE
  • Oaxaca FilmFest
    Oaxaca
    Mexico
    Official Selection
  • Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival
    Kathmandu
    Nepal
    December 21, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Newham Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    WINNER - Best Actor (Mikhail Sen) & NOMINEE - Best Actor (Adil Akram)
  • Pambujan International Film Festival
    Northern Samar
    Philippines
    January 16, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Tagore International Film Festival
    West Bengal
    India
    January 21, 2023
    WINNER - Best Debut Filmmaker & OUTSTANDING ACHEIVEMENT AWARD - Best Short Film
  • Bharat International Film Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    January 22, 2023
    Official Selection
  • 10th Noida International Film Festival-2023
    Noida
    India
    January 29, 2023
    Official Selection - Certificate of Excellence
  • Indian Panorama International Film Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    February 1, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Samskara International Film Festival
    Uttar Pradesh
    India
    February 18, 2023
    WINNER - BEST 2ND ACTOR (Mikhail Sen)
  • Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival
    Chennai
    India
    February 20, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Darbhanga International Film Festival
    Bihar
    India
    February 24, 2023
    Official Selection
  • New Delhi Film Festival
    New Delhi
    India
    March 26, 2023
    WINNER - BEST SHORT FILM
  • 13th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival-23
    Delhi
    India
    April 30, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Rochester International Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    Certificate of Merit
  • Asia South East Short Film Festival
    Phnom Penh
    Cambodia
    Special Mention
  • IFF Integrazione Film Festival
    Bergamo
    Italy
    Semifinalist
  • UK Asian Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 13, 2023
    UK Premiere
    Finalist
  • Pune Short Film Festival
    Pune
    India
    May 26, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Wolverhampton Film Festival
    Wolverhampton
    United Kingdom
    May 26, 2023
    WINNER (HONOURABLE MENTION AWARD) & NOMINEE (Best Male Actor - Adil Akram & First Time Filmmaker)
  • 12th Bangalore Shorts Film Festival-23
    Bangalore
    India
    June 18, 2023
    Special Festival Mention
  • Brighton Rocks International Film Festival
    Brighton
    United Kingdom
    July 20, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Ignite Film Festival
    Swindon
    United Kingdom
    June 22, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Dances With Films
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    June 26, 2023
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Figari International Short Film Market

    Official Selection
  • Rob Knox London Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    July 8, 2023
    WINNER (Best Screenplay)
  • WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival
    Houston, Texas
    United States
    Remi Award Finalist
  • Nawada International Film Festival
    Nawada, Bihar
    India
    July 11, 2023
    WINNER (Best Short Film)
  • Swindon Independent Film Festival
    Swindon
    United Kingdom
    July 27, 2023
    NOMINEE (Best Actor - Adil Akram)
  • No Coast Film Festival
    Emporia, Kansas
    United States
    August 25, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Richmond International Film Festival
    Richmond, Virginia
    United States
    Finalist
  • LA Indie Film Festival
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    September 7, 2023
    Official Selection
  • LA Asian Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Official Selection
  • 21st Oakland International Film Festival
    Oakland, California
    United States
    September 19, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
    Providence, Rhode Island
    United States
    Semifinalist
  • North East International Film Festival
    Newcastle
    United Kingdom
    September 25, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Spirit of Independence Film Festival
    Sheffield
    United Kingdom
    September 29, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Worcester Film Festival
    Worcester
    United Kingdom
    October 4, 2023
    Nominee - Best Screenplay
  • Urban Mediamakers Festival
    Liburn, GA
    United Kingdom
    October 9, 2023
    Official Selection
  • British Urban Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    October 17, 2023
    NOMINEE (Best Actor)
  • Milton Keynes International Film Festival
    Milton Keynes
    United Kingdom
    October 21, 2023
    WINNER - BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR
  • 12th Delhi Shorts International Film Festival-23
    Delhi
    October 29, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Big Syn International Film Festival, London
    London
    United Kingdom
    November 10, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Goa Short Film Festival
    Goa
    India
    November 4, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Waterford International Film Festival
    Waterford
    Ireland
    Official Selection
  • DC South Asian Film Festival
    Washington DC
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Ayodhya Film Festival
    Hukumpura, Uttar Pradesh
    India
    December 2, 2023
    WINNER (Best International Short Film)
  • Lisbon Film Rendezvous
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    December 5, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Florida South Asian Film Festival
    Tampa, Florida
    United States
    December 23, 2023
    Official Selection
  • NewFilmmakers NY
    New York
    United States
    January 1, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Covent Garden Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    February 2, 2024
    NOMINEE (Best Writer & Best Ensemble)
  • Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    February 20, 2024
    Official Selection
  • NC South & East Asian International Film Festival
    Cary, North Carolina
    United States
    May 4, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Sai karan Talwar

Sai Karan Talwar is an award-winning writer and director. He is a 2023 Alumni of the Respectability Entertainment Lab, with over forty accolades as a writer in some of the most esteemed screenwriting competitions. His Debut ‘GHANIMAH’ is a BAFTA & BIFA Qualified Short Film, that has been selected at just over 50 film festivals, with 11 wins (4 for Best Film) and over a dozen nominations, the film is about Islamic enrolment into the British Military. His upcoming short ‘What Men Do for Love’ is a 15-minute single take film about the masculine ego at breaking point, that will hit festivals this summer.

Film has always been a passion for Sai dating back to growing up in his late Grandfather’s video shop. Initially working with MADE from 2016, a charitable organization with a vision to reduce discrimination against BAME & LGBTQ+ Londoners. With MADE, he ran filmmaking workshops, screening events, held exhibitions at BFI Southbank and co-produced over 30 short films with 100,000+ online views. He worked in production companies such as Origin Pictures and 42 Management and Production within the development departments. He studied Economics and Finance at Durham University, leading to his undergraduate dissertation: ‘What are the key determinants of success for the box office within the UK motion picture industry?’ which received a first. Sai is currently a fellow in the BBC Writersroom Writer’s Access Group.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Recent statistics published by the Ministry of Defence 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. GHANIMAH is now BIFA qualifying and BAFTA qualifying film and we have been so grateful for the support and the journey so far!

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.

We feel it roots down to the concept of hereditary dread; the atavistic sins of the father passing onto the son whether it is in the Godfather, East of Eden, All my Sons or House of Strangers. As well as the traditional idea of the burden of the brother, best exemplified in films such as: On the Waterfront, Rocco and his brothers, Mean Streets and Mickey & Nicky. However, we are transposing these mid twentieth century examples onto not just the British Muslim experience and what it means to be a Muslim in the western world, but the immigrant disposition in a post-Brexit Britain. An ideological battle between the three men versed in their shared holy doctrine yet hold differing interpretations. It is as much influenced from the works of Ibsen to Mamet, Kazan to Coppola, as it is by the Quran, and the politics of today. A film that feels raw and rooted in reality, yet stylish in composition only accompanied by it's rhythmic back and forth repartee, playing out like a piece of musical theatre where the lyrics are substituted with cutting and socially relevant dialogue, something I believe that has been missing from dramatic cinema in decades; an important subject enhanced by it's stylistic flourishes.