By Emmy Abdul Alim, Editor, Salaam Gateway
Music is officially outlawed in Iran but in Malaysia a new online marketplace is pushing up the Islamic music charts, and a new animated movie about a pre-teen superhero just made $3.7 mln at the box office with more to come when it opens in Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.
Islamic-oriented and family-friendly entertainment? It’s practically bursting at the seams!
Here’s what you need to get started to keep up with the scene.
1. Malaysia pushing music up the charts in Islamic Economy ecosystem
“Founded late last year, IslamicTunes is a self-styled halal entertainment digital content marketplace. It claims to attract 30,000 visitors per day and says it now offers about 20,000 items in music content.”
2. Iran’s answer to pop stars: religious singers serenade Syria war
“In a country where music is outlawed and there is no outlet for young people to expend their energy, you have to have a replacement that is more official and without problems,” said Mohammad Javad Akbarein, a former cleric and Shi’ite scholar who studied in the holy city of Qom and now lives abroad.
3. Malaysia’s Boboiboy The Movie closed the weekend with 15 million ringgit
The animated movie’s director and creator Nizam Razak of Animonsta Studios recently announced that the strong support of RM5 million Boboiboy The Movie by viewers has inspired them to create a sequel, and Animonsta will begin work on it soon.”
4. INTERVIEW-Meet Joshua van Alstine, the all-American taking Middle East TV by storm
“In 2012, a guy from Texas launched his YouTube channel, Americanbadu, and soon became one of the biggest TV stars in the Middle East. Meet Joshua Van Alstine, also known as Abu Muteb.”
5. UK filmmaker launches crowdfunding campaign for Islamic social realism films
“Conor Ibrahiem wants to do for Islamic cinema what Charlie Chaplin once did for comedy. A former actor, UK-based Ibrahiem intends to create an entirely new genre of Islamic social realism.”
6. Alchemiya Media – Disrupting the video-on-demand market in the Muslim media sector
“Alchemiya Media is a UK-based online, subscription-based, video-on-demand platform that aims to present the world’s best content about Muslim life. It has raised $247,000 in total financing and is on track to reach 5,000 subscribers in 2015.”
7. Everyday goofiness of ‘Being Bilal’ offers new Muslim reality for British TV audiences
“British Muslims, Bilal Hassam likes to say, are as diverse as Britain itself. That’s one of the key takeaways of his show on British Muslim TV, which aims to offer just one alternative look at the life of a British Muslim that diverts from the negative depictions found in the news.”
“With UAE-based Al Ahli securing rights to distribute Arabic-language copies of international comics in the region, and with Islamic superheroes such as Kamala Khan, Buraaq, and The 99, there is a growing market for new Islamic comic books taking hold in the Middle East.”
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