Bilal: A New Breed of Hero

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Bilal: A New Breed of Hero
Directed by	Khurram H. Alavi Ayman Jamal
Screenplay by	Alex Kronemer Michael Wolfe Khurram Alavi Yassin Kamel
Story by	Ayman Jamal
Produced by	Ayman Jamal Arif Jilani
Starring	Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Ian McShane China Anne McClain Jacob Latimore Thomas Ian Nicholas Fred Tatasciore Michael Gross
Edited by	Patricia Heneine
Music by	Atli Örvarsson
Production company	Barajoun Entertainment
Distributed by	Gulf Film[1]
Release dates	9 December 2015 (2015-12-09) (Dubai Film Festival) 8 September 2016 (2016-09-08) (Dubai)[1] 2 February 2018 (2018-02-02) (United States)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United Arab Emirates
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[2]
Box office	$4.3 million

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero is a 2015 English-language Emirati 3D animated action-adventure film about the birth of Islam, produced by Barajoun Entertainment and co-directed by Khurram H. Alavi and Ayman Jamal. With a story by Jamal, the screenplay was written by Alavi, Alex Kronemer, Michael Wolfe and Yassin Kamel. With this film, Jamal aimed to depict heroes from the history of the Arabian Peninsula.

The film depicts the life of Bilal ibn Rabah, who, known for his beautiful voice, was freed from slavery and rose to a position of prominence in 632 AD. The voice cast features Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ian McShane, China Anne McClain, Jacob Latimore, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Fred Tatasciore, Cynthia McWilliams, Jon Curry, Dave B. Mitchell and Michael Gross.

Bilal premiered on December 9, 2015, at the 12th Annual International Dubai Film Festival. Starting September 8, 2016, the film released throughout the MENA region. The film began an international rollout in February 2018.

Bilal won "Best Inspiring Movie" on Animation Day at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It won "Best Innovative Movie" at the BroadCast Pro Middle East Award 2016. Bilal was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2016 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the region's highest accolade for film.