AmericanEast” on the Horizon
“First Arab-American” Film

Distant Horizon, the international film financing, production and distribution company headed by Anant Singh, announced today the commencement date for principal photography on “AmericanEast,” a poignant Arab-American drama that its filmmakers are touting as the “first Arab-American film.” Lensing begins on location in Los Angeles July 3rd.

The picture will feature performances by Tony Shalhoub, the Emmy-winning star of the hit series “Monk;” Kais Nashef, leading actor in the international hit and Oscar-nominated Palestinian film, “Paradise Now;” and Egyptian-American actor Sayed Badreya. Badreya co-wrote the script with director Hesham Issawi. Singh and Distant Horizon’s Brian Cox will produce, along with partners Mohannad Malas and Ahmad Zahra of Zahra Pictures. Tony Shalhoub is also a producer and initially developed the project before bringing it to Distant Horizon.

“AmericanEast” examines long-held misunderstandings about Arab culture and puts a human face on a segment of this American population that is presently in the spotlight. The story highlights the pressures under which many Arab-Americans live today.

“Our goal was really to show other people that we are no different from them. We have the same wishes and desires as any other group of people,” says writer/director Issawi. “Most Arab-Americans wish to led a normal life and find a path to success and integration, and they have nothing to do with the fanaticism that gets so much attention nowadays. To do that, we focused on one normal guy, who just happens to be a Muslim, and we show what kind of pressure these external forces can have on a person who’s simply trying to carry-on. I think most people will find that they identify with our hero and they’ll forget what his cultural background might be. If that’s the case, then our project will have succeeded.”

The writing team of Issawi and Badreya came to the attention of Tony Shalhoub when the pair approached him about starring in a short film Issawi directed titled “T for Terrorist.” Shalhoub agreed to the role, the short went on to play in numerous international festivals, and then Shalhoub encouraged the team to create a feature length project and backed them while they wrote it.

“Tony brought the project to us and we immediately saw the value of its message and its timeliness,” said Cox. “Essentially, Hesham and Sayed created a vehicle for themselves in which Hesham could direct his first feature and Sayed could assume his first starring role. This is a timely and very relevant story that we are proud to be producing.”

Casting for the film continues with the final line-up to be announced some time in June.

About Distant Horizon

Distant Horizon has produced over fifty feature films. It supports these productions with its distribution expertise, enabling the films to achieve their maximum potential. The company has strategic relationships with film industry heavyweights, among which are the major studios and leading distribution companies.

Distant Horizon has been involved in all aspects of the motion picture industry and is committed to the independent filmmaker, having produced films in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Africa and the Far East. The company has offices in London and Los Angeles. The company produced “Yesterday”, the first-ever Zulu language film which received an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language category and later this year it will produce the film version of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk To Freedom” which will star Morgan Freeman.

Distant Horizon has also been on the cutting edge of Asian entertainment since the early 1990s. Its film “Black Mask” was the first Jet Li feature to be released theatrically in the U.S., and the company was also responsible for bringing several Jackie Chan titles to the States, including “Police Story 1 & 2” and “Twin Dragons,” as well as the Hong Kong feature “Zu Warriors,” starring Zhang Zi Yi. Other Asian acquisitions include Ryuhei Kitamura’s “Versus” from Japan and Kim Tae-Gyun’s “Volcano High” from Korea, which had its U.S. premiere on MTV. Anant Singh and Distant Horizon’s Brian Cox are producers on this summer’s Dimension Films production of “Pulse,” a remake of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japanese horror, which stars Kirsten Bell and Ian Somerhalder. Distant Horizon is also currently developing a remake of “Don’t Look Up,” an early title from director Hideo Nakata (“Ring”).