I got to LA in 2022, mask on. Breaking into the industry was tougher than it had ever been. Within a year, the (much needed) SAG and WGA strikes made it even harder. So RJ Pratt, Matthew Ross, Hasan Crawford, and I hatched the most ~original idea~ ever. We would mAkE oUr Own StuFF. But now, we have. And we do. RJ and I welcome you to Dirt Roads Productions!
My directing debut! I wrote, directed, co-produced, and starred in my film, Insha'Allah. Shaken and distraught by the ongoing genocide in Palestine, I knew that I had to do something. As a non-Palestinian Arab, it's not my place to put Palestinian trauma on display. But to create a world free of Occupation, of racism, of homophobia, of sexism--that, I could do. So I told a story of joy. A world where Palestine was always free. Where the biggest worry of our heroes was having enough money to fly home to Gaza for Eid. A world that one day, still will be - Insha'Allah.
Dirt Roads Productions' first project! The film whose completion made us realize we really CAN make our own stuff. Starring in this short written and directed by RJ Pratt, we drove to a ghost town in the middle of nowhere, Arizona, and filmed on location for two long days. The result was an intense Western with themes of family, betrayal, corruption, and morality. We're anticipating an early 2025 release date!
Yaser Salamah
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