Roads of Ithriyah
Ahmad, a young Syrian militant, regains consciousness in the desert battlefield after being shell-shocked to realize that he has no recollection of what faction he was fighting for. As memories of his mother and sister begin to remind him of the reasons he joined the conflict, he is forced to follow a mysterious soldier towards Ithriyah, a military outpost that would lead them back into the war.
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Javier BadilloDirectorCoco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
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Javier BadilloWriterCoco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
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Shayan BayatWriterFaith and Conviction, Prison Break
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Javier BadilloProducerCoco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
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Shayan BayatProducerFaith and Conviction, Prison Break
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Jay KamalProducerTerrorist, Jikirag
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Shayan BayatKey Cast"Ahmad"Prison Break, Sanctuary
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Lochlyn MunroKey Cast"Leland"Riverdale, The Unforgiven
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Juan RiedingerKey Cast"Mauricio"Narcos, The Romeo Section
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Mitra LorazKey Cast"Atifah"Bionic Woman, Masters of Science Fiction
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Priya KoonerKey Cast"Safiyyah"College Dating App
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Sarah KelleyKey Cast"Gudrun"Arrow, Kayak to Klemtu
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Garry ChalkKey Cast"Khalid (Voice)"Cold Squad, Freddy vs Jason
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Bahram HeidariKey Cast"Khalid"Bewilderment
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Jay KamalCinematographyBaba, Jikirag
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Panta MoslehCo-Produced byDama Branca, Baba
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Juan Carlos Lopez MoranCo-Produced bySaddling up the World, Children on the Summit
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Paul LoweyCo-Produced byCrime Stories, TK630 - A Star Wars Fan Film
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Jaz GillExecutive ProducersBlue Flame (The Lost City of West River), Dominant Chord
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Kelly WhiteExecutive ProducersThe Stories From the Salish Sea
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Drama, war, adventure
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Runtime:1 hour 15 minutes
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Completion Date:June 21, 2021
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Production Budget:50,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:Arabic, English
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Shooting Format:RED Dragon
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Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Middle East North Africa Film FestivalVancouver
Canada
November 24, 2021
World Premiere
Official Selection -
Milton Film FestivalMilton
Canada
February 3, 2022
Ontario Premiere
Official Selection -
Leo AwardsVancouver
Canada
July 9, 2022
Nominee, 5 Awards
Distribution Information
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Indie Rights LLCDistributorCountry: WorldwideRights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV
Javier Badillo is a Venezuelan-Canadian film writer-director and producer whose films explore themes of displacement and belonging. After a stint as a 2D animator, Javier switched to live action independent filmmaking in 2008.
Under his company Spitshine Flicks, Javier's short films have screened and won awards at international film festivals, including Edmonton International Film Festival, Regina International Film Festival, Toronto Independent Film Festival, Toronto International Black Film Festival, Cannes Short Film Corner, Charlotte International Black Film Festival, and Harrogate International Film Festival (UK), where he won an Audience Choice award for his dark comedy Fatal Rhapsody.
In 2021 he co-wrote and produced the Crazy8s short film winner BABA, (with Jay Kamal and Panta Mosleh), which has been selected to multiple film festivals, including the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival and the 20th Reelworld Film Festival, where it won Best Script and Best Picture. In 2018, his drama Coco Blue received a nomination for a Leo Award (best performance, Kendra Westwood). It also won Best Actress and Best Music at the Short Circuit / Pacific Rim International Film Festival, and was nominated for 8 categories, including Best Canadian Film and Best Director, at the Hollywood North International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.
In 2019 Javier co-wrote, produced and directed his first feature length film, Roads of Ithriyah, with his collaborators actor/writer Shayan Bayat and DOP Jay Kamal. The film is a drama about a Syrian combatant who suffers a concussion and forgets what side of the Syrian war he was fighting for.
Javier volunteered as the Director of Programming for the Vancouver Short Film Festival from 2012 to 2020 and was the first Vancouver Director for Raindance, an international filmmakers society and film festival.
In 2019 Javier won the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award for his contributions to Canadian multicultural society, with a monetary prize he donated to the Venezuelan Refugee cause. In 2018 he was nominated for Latincouver Society's "Most Inspirational Latin" Award. He currently serves on the boards of the Venezuelan Canadian Society of BC (VCSBC) and the Vancouver Short Film Festival.
There are two kinds of war films - those that deal with two opposing sides in a conflict, and those that are not about the war, but about the characters who inhabit it. Roads of Ithriyah falls into the latter, finding company in introspective, character-driven films like Apocalypse Now and The Thin Red Line.
When our protagonist Ahmad suffers a concussion in the Syrian war zone and loses all his memories, he is also given the unique opportunity to rediscover who he was before the war and search who he really wants to become, allowing us to dive into human dilemmas, such as whether our identity comes from family, religion or country - questions I ask myself, as a Venezuelan immigrant to Canada.
Although we may never find (or even want to find) the answers to these philosophical conundrums, the simple fact of thinking about or discussing them can lead us to find the value in our differences– and hopefully lead us to become more empathetic and compassionate towards each other. And this is something we desperately need in these times of global uncertainty.