Bilal : A new Animated Film

[nebsen]

This is a new animated film that just had it's premiere at the Dubai international film Festival.

Based on a true story of an African slave in the Arab world 10000 years ago, who fights for his freedom. This film is a product of Barajoun Entertainment. This animated film looks great , alto the timing for such a film esp. for western audiences might get a cold reception due to all that's going on with terror in the world. I would really like to see this film serve serve as a model for African story telling . a animated film of such caliber, would be great, for a film about ancient Egypt.

[anansi]

Hmm teaser and production value looks good,and I am guessing this is the Bilal is of the Prophet Muhammad fame, and If so then you are right audiences especially in America ain't gonna have no time for that, it may even be seen by some as proselytizing especially coming from the FOX crowd.
Bad timing if this is so.

[nebsen]

Dec 15, 2015 0:51:42 GMT -5 anansi said:

Hmm teaser and production value looks good,and I am guessing this is the Bilal is of the Prophet Muhammad fame, and If so then you are right audiences especially in America ain't gonna have no time for that, it may even be seen by some as proselytizing especially coming from the FOX crowd.
Bad timing if this is so.

Anansi yes, this is about the story of Bilal Iban Rnbah who was a freed slave of Ethiopian origin/decent who converted to Islam & became a trusted companion of Prophet Muhammad after he gained his freedom.

[africurious]

This movie is funny. Where are those European looking men supposed be roaming about and kidnapping people in the 7th century Ethiopia or Yemen? Those men couldn't even be mistaken for Yemenites in the much whitened Yemen of today. I assume tho they're supposed to be Arabs. Arabs who are described with the same complexion as that used to describe Bilal in the same early Arab writings. This is another fictional work that reads recent racial history into ancient history where it never existed. Like that play Aida that is supposed to be about love conquering all and equality but yet does this by having a white Egyptian prince fall in love with a black slave girl and the creators of said play completely miss the racist irony in such a notion.

Btw, if anyone wants a more accurate view of Bilal, they can start here: blackarabia.blogspot.com/2011/09/bilal-b-ribah-not-first-black-muslim.html?m=1

[nebsen]

Dec 18, 2015 12:49:22 GMT -5 africurious said:

This movie is funny. Where are those European looking men supposed be roaming about and kidnapping people in the 7th century Ethiopia or Yemen? Those men couldn't even be mistaken for Yemenites in the much whitened Yemen of today. I assume tho they're supposed to be Arabs. Arabs who are described with the same complexion as that used to describe Bilal in the same early Arab writings. This is another fictional work that reads recent racial history into ancient history where it never existed. Like that play Aida that is supposed to be about love conquering all and equality but yet does this by having a white Egyptian prince fall in love with a black slave girl and the creators of said play completely miss the racist irony in such a notion.

Btw, if anyone wants a more accurate view of Bilal, they can start here: blackarabia.blogspot.com/2011/09/bilal-b-ribah-not-first-black-muslim.html?m=1

If you noticed I said he was of Ethiopian origin/decent. From my understanding his mother was Ethiopian & father Arab; as we all know in Arab society the father denotes origin & decent, not the mother. Also many African Americans are of African decent but many due to slavery, have mixed ancestry even if it does not show . Many Africans were taken to Arab countries in servitude/slavery & raped by their Arab masters not unlike in the American south & from these unions produced mix raced children.

[snakepit]

Dec 19, 2015 16:49:09 GMT -5 nebsen said:

Dec 18, 2015 12:49:22 GMT -5 africurious said:

This movie is funny. Where are those European looking men supposed be roaming about and kidnapping people in the 7th century Ethiopia or Yemen? Those men couldn't even be mistaken for Yemenites in the much whitened Yemen of today. I assume tho they're supposed to be Arabs. Arabs who are described with the same complexion as that used to describe Bilal in the same early Arab writings. This is another fictional work that reads recent racial history into ancient history where it never existed. Like that play Aida that is supposed to be about love conquering all and equality but yet does this by having a white Egyptian prince fall in love with a black slave girl and the creators of said play completely miss the racist irony in such a notion.

Btw, if anyone wants a more accurate view of Bilal, they can start here: blackarabia.blogspot.com/2011/09/bilal-b-ribah-not-first-black-muslim.html?m=1

If you noticed I said he was of Ethiopian origin/decent. From my understanding his mother was Ethiopian & father Arab; as we all know in Arab society the father denotes origin & decent, not the mother. Also many African Americans are of African decent but many due to slavery, have mixed ancestry even if it does not show . Many Africans were taken to Arab countries in servitude/slavery & raped by their Arab masters not unlike in the American south & from these unions produced mix raced children.

His point is that the Arabs didn't look any different from East African peoples (or a certain set of East-Africans) at the time, so Bilal's appearance shouldn't have been biracial at all.

[africurious]

Dec 21, 2015 23:22:22 GMT -5 snakepit said:

Dec 19, 2015 16:49:09 GMT -5 nebsen said:

If you noticed I said he was of Ethiopian origin/decent. From my understanding his mother was Ethiopian & father Arab; as we all know in Arab society the father denotes origin & decent, not the mother. Also many African Americans are of African decent but many due to slavery, have mixed ancestry even if it does not show . Many Africans were taken to Arab countries in servitude/slavery & raped by their Arab masters not unlike in the American south & from these unions produced mix raced children.

His point is that the Arabs didn't look any different from East African peoples (or a certain set of East-Africans) at the time, so Bilal's appearance shouldn't have been biracial at all.

Nebsen I wasn't referring to anything you said but to the clip of the movie and depictions of the characters therein. Among Arabs when it came to slaves, the mothers ancestry is all that counted so as you say Bilal wouldn't have been considered Arab.
Snakepit has my point only partially correct. I was saying those European looking ppl have no basis in Ethiopia or Yemen of the 7th century. The Arabs who would've enslaved Bilal would've looked similar to him. The depiction in the movie seems based on false notions of the transatlantic slave trade where whites ran around Africa kidnapping Africans. That largely didn't happen, nor did it happen in Yemen or Ethiopia. I didnt even think about any biracial aspect.

[nebsen]

Dec 22, 2015 1:25:25 GMT -5 africurious said:

Dec 21, 2015 23:22:22 GMT -5 snakepit said:

His point is that the Arabs didn't look any different from East African peoples (or a certain set of East-Africans) at the time, so Bilal's appearance shouldn't have been biracial at all.

Nebsen I wasn't referring to anything you said but to the clip of the movie and depictions of the characters therein. Among Arabs when it came to slaves, the mothers ancestry is all that counted so as you say Bilal wouldn't have been considered Arab.
Snakepit has my point only partially correct. I was saying those European looking ppl have no basis in Ethiopia or Yemen of the 7th century. The Arabs who would've enslaved Bilal would've looked similar to him. The depiction in the movie seems based on false notions of the transatlantic slave trade where whites ran around Africa kidnapping Africans. That largely didn't happen, nor did it happen in Yemen or Ethiopia. I didnt even think about any biracial aspect.

I'm a little confused, Ethiopian, & Yemen ? For one they would not be Arabs; maybe Yemen more so than Ethiopia . As far as Ethiopia( Not the Sudan)there was a migration to the Mideast & than back again eons ago for as my understanding Ethiopia spoke a Proto-semtic language that was introduced into the Mideast.But they would still be Africans & not Arabic unless their was a large gene pool sharing.Those that are into DNA probably could explain it better than myself, with some corrections. Also many confuse being of Islamic faith with being Arabic, alto many Africans adopted Arabic culture/Islam, & many claim Arabic identity, because the decent in Arabic culture is thru the male, & not the female, unlike many African cultures of old. That's why you have African people in the Sudan claiming to be Arabic, & not Africans, because they trace the decent back to the father ( Arabic) : because of rape, or forced marriage & not he African mother, & therefor can slaughter" real Black Africans, " like the Dinka etc.