Abu Dhabi, UAE, March 28th 2011: Principle photography for Imagenation Abu Dhabi’s second local production, the supernatural horror thriller Djinn, begun in the UAE last week, complete with a cast of fresh faces, Emirati talent and international and Arab actors.
Directed by horror genre master, Tobe Hooper and written by U.S writer David Tully, Djinn tells the nightmarish story of a young Emirati couple who return home from the U.S. and discover that their new apartment in a luxury high-rise built on the site of an abandoned fishing village is also home to the malevolent beings known as djinn.
Shooting will take place at various locations in Ras Al Khaima and Dubai over the coming month. International talent, Khaled Laith (Khaled) and up-and-coming Arab actress Razane Jammal (Salama) have been announced in the leading roles, alongside an outstanding cast from across the UAE, wider Arab region and Europe.
Supporting roles include Aiysha Hart (Sarah), Carole Abboud (Zaynab), Paul Luebke (Bobby) and May El Calamawy (Aisha). Emirati actors Ahmed Abdullah (Saeed) and ‘City of Life’ star Saood Al Kaabi (Mubarak) will also appear in the thriller alongside local acting veteran, Abdullah Al Junaibi (Nasser). Many of the new local talent featuring in the film were discovered via the www.emiratifilmstar.com portal, which Imagenation Abu Dhabi launched last year to uncover the region’s untapped acting talent.
Mohammed Al Mubarak, Chairman of Imagenation Abu Dhabi, said: “Imagenation Abu Dhabi is fully committed to developing a world-class film industry in the UAE, and it is with great pride that we begin principle photography on our second local project here in the Emirates. Through the production of quality Arab movies such as Djinn, we will continue to contribute the expertise and infrastructure needed to lay the foundations for a flourishing Arabic film sector.”
Michael Garin, CEO of Imagenation Abu Dhabi, continued: “Our cast and crew for the production of Djinn is comprised of top talent from the global industry teamed with a wealth of outstanding local talent, who together are working to create something truly spectacular. With this unique pool of knowledge and skills, Djinn is certain to set new benchmarks for the Horror genre in this region.”
Djinn was announced during the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, and is produced by Daniela Tully and Tim Smythe, with Filmworks, Jaye Gazeley and Robert Crippen co-producing. Emmy nominated Joel Ransom (Steven Spielberg’s “Taken”, “Band of Brothers”, “The X-Files”) is the director of photography.
Emirati dialogue coach, Nada Shouma, is also consulting on the project. Shouma trained on Imagenation’s first local production, Sea Shadow, and has now established herself as a leading dialogue coach in the UAE. Rising Emirati writer and director Mohammed Al-Otaiba will also be shadowing Tobe Hooper on the set of Djinn, in order to gain valuable industry experience.
‘Djinn’ Lead Cast Document
Khalid Laith (Khaled)
Originally from the island of Bahrain, Khalid grew up and was educated between the Middle East, the UK, and the United States. He trained as an actor at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where he currently resides.
Khalid played the part of Yassem El-Helou in The Devil’s Double – starring Dominic Cooper and directed by Lee Tamahori – which has recently been screened at The Sundance Film Festival and The Berlin Film Festival, and will go on public release Fall/Autumn 2011.
Khalid Laith
Other Film & Television credits include Missing (BBC), Occupation (BBC/Kudos), The Bill (ITV); Saddam’s Tribe, The Mark of Cain, The Hamburg Cell (Channel4/Mentorn); Spooks, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (BBC). Recent Theatre includes Damascus by David Greg (The Tricycle Theatre in London including a North American tour, British Council Middle Eastern tour, and The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh); Shadow Language (Theatre 503), Leaving Home (King’s Head Theatre).
Razane Jammal (Salama)
Razane Jammal
Razane Jammal was born in Beirut and started acting at the age of six at school and her love of drama has carried on all throughout her life. At the age of 15, she was scouted to appear in a hair commercial, which opened a new door in Razane’s life, and she traveled all around the Middle-East for Commercials such as Nivea, Lux, Showtime, Du, Maymouna, Mtc touch.
At the age of 18, she moved to London to study Business management at the prestigious Kings College. However, she never lost sight of her dream to become an actress. As a result, every summer she would take acting workshops in many acting schools such as the ‘Cours Florent’ in Paris, The ‘RADA’ in london and the ‘NYFA’ in New York.
In July 2009, Razane filmed her first feature film, ‘Carlos’, directed by Olivier Assayas and staring Edgar Ramirez, and in May 2010, she attended the ‘Cannes Film Festival’ for ‘Carlos’.
Abdullah Al Junaibi (Nasser)
Abdullah Al Junaibi
Abdullah Al Junaibi has over 25 years in the industry, and is a renowned director, actor and writer for Commercials, A V/O and heritage jingles. He is the Director of the “Hamdoon” animation cartoon, and also won an award for his work on the film “Mata” under the category “Films from the Emirates” in 2002.
His experience includes directing video clips, commercials, TV series, awareness campaigns, radio spots, and plays. Al Junaibi has a wealth of international experience in acting, due to his experience in TV commercials and drama, and has worked with many international directors.
Saood Al Kaabi (Mubarak)
Saoud Al Kaabi is one of the Emirates biggest stars and a much loved TV personality. Born in Al Ain, Al Kaabi’s media career started early, when he was discovered at the age of nine and became the first ever child television presenter on Dubai TV.
Saoud Al Kaabi
Ever since then Kaabi became a firm fixture on Dubai TV, building up a huge fan base. Currently he is presenting the acclaimed talent show “Almaidan” under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, which features Emiratis performing traditional dance.
A recent graduate of mass communication from the American University in Sharjah, Al Kaabi’s biggest achievement in film was his acting debut as the lead Emirati in Ali F. Mostafa’s ‘City of Life’.
Ahmed Abdullah (Saeed)
Ahmed Abdullah, a 24 year old Emirati, started presenting shows in 1997, and in 2001 he won the best presenter award in the Arab world at the Cairo television festival.
Ahmed Abdullah
His first acting experience was in the Emirati feature film “City of Life”, where he played the character “Rashed”, following that appearing in another Emirtai feature film called “Sundress”.
Ahmed is currently hosting his own show on Sama Dubai called “Sama Cinema”, and has covered the red carpet for the Dubai International film festival for the past 4 years.
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About Imagenation Abu Dhabi
Launched in 2008 as a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi has rapidly become one of the world’s leading feature film producers, playing an instrumental role in the development of a film industry in the United Arab Emirates.
Imagenation Abu Dhabi develops, finances and produces Arabic and international features which offer fresh perspectives, have universal appeal and tell compelling stories that inspire, enlighten and entertain.
The company has formed strategic international partnerships to develop those stories with a range of high profile producers, including Participant Media, National Geographic Films, Hyde Park Entertainment, Parkes /Macdonald Productions, Warner Bros., and Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA). Together they are producing commercial films and content that opens a unique window to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In addition, Imagenation Abu Dhabi partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – co- financing video games such as: SpeedRacer: The Videogame, Fear 2: Project Origin, Looney Tunes Acme Arsenal, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, and Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.
Imagenation Abu Dhabi’s feature films include the Bollywood hit My Name is Khan, The Crazies, Shorts, and Furry Vengeance, as well as an upcoming slate including Peter Weir’s The Way Back, Doug Liman’s Fair Game, and Jodie Foster’s The Beaver.
Please contact for more information:
Georgia Thompson
Senior PR Executive, Communications- Abu Dhabi Media
Mob +971 50 641 2955
[email protected]
