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BAHRAINI filmmaker Ali Esbai has announced that his latest production Mixtape, inspired by the life of the kingdom’s music sensation DJ Outlaw, founder of Outlaw Productions, is set to release this year.
Ali collaborated with many local talents, as well as international cinematographer and gaffer Mayur Patankar, his mate from his film school days at New York Film Academy, for the project – their fourth creation together.
Mixtape is the story of a 13-year-old ‘mischievous’ Bahraini boy from a lower income family who pretends to be sick so he can spend the day alone at home, listening to his older brother’s special mixtape. He plays it so much that the tape gets ruined, causing a fallout between the brothers. The young lad then decides to make a new tape for his brother, discovering his passion for music in the process.
“The film is loosely inspired by my cousin DJ Outlaw,” the 37-year-old told GulfWeekly. Growing up with him, I watched this young boy from Isa Town with a passion for music, who over the span of 20 years transformed into a full-fledged music producer with a Bahraini hip-hop production label (Outlaw Productions), with popular artists like Flipperachi, Daffy, and Ala Alhendi from Kuwait signed to it.”
The journey began when one of Ali’s friends encouraged him to participate in the Made with Passion short film festival. Winning scripts would receive a grant from the Isa Cultural Centre, where the festival is hosted. Ali submitted the screen play for Mixtape, which won first place.
“In tune with the name of the festival, I wanted to make a film about a Bahraini character with a ‘passion’ for some kind of art. I believe that many Bahrainis are so talented but don’t get the necessary support either from family or society. Sometimes, they don’t even realise how talented they are,” the founder of Wikkid Productions, a boutique production house that specialises in cinematic storytelling, added.
Winning the grant was just the first step and Ali had to overcome many challenges – including financial as the grant money covered only a small part of the production costs – to bring the story alive. He attributes his success to the collective support of the local creative community, including Isa Cultural Centre, Outlaw Productions, Nooran Pictures, Framebox Production, Tilal Towers Amwaj, and Saleh Nas and Elements Production.
“I first pitched the idea to my cousin DJ Outlaw, who composed the music score for the film, and invited him to come on board as an executive producer. He was invested in the project from the get go. However, we still needed more funds so, we approached our filmmaker friends, family members, and network of professionals to help and they didn’t hold back. I was generously offered equipment, discounts and, most importantly, people’s time, energy and trust.
“Once I got a bit of a decent budget and a production team on lock, the rest of the challenges were all logistical like casting and location. Bahraini veteran actor Abdulla Swaiyd played the father. He brought a different energy to the project and it was such a pleasure working with him, as it was collaborating with Bahraini hip hop artist Flipperachi.
“I also remember it rained heavily on day three of our shoot so, I had to re-write some of the scenes and adjust according to the weather. The cast and crew were very supportive and understanding, so the re-writes ultimately made it a better film,” the Sanad resident revealed.
Not one to rest on past laurels, Ali has other projects in the pipeline, few of which are slated for release over the next few months. Furthermore, he is working toward a bigger goal and dreams of an official film industry for Bahrain.
“Our strongest asset is our human resources and paired with the many initiatives and programmes by government organisations like Isa Cultural Centre and Tamkeen, we can surely get there,” the 2016 recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship from the US embassy in Bahrain added.
Ali completed his Masters in Fine Arts with High Honours from the famous New York Film Academy in Los Angeles in 2019. Earlier this year, he was among the 36 creative talents in the kingdom to receive recognition for his work by Information Minister Dr Ramzan bin Abdulla Al Noaimi, during the Bahrain Film Festival.
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