Private Project

Roads of Ithriyah

​​Ahmad, a young Syrian militant, regains consciousness in the desert battlefield after being shell-shocked to realize that he has no recollection of what faction he was fighting for. As memories of his mother and sister begin to remind him of the reasons he joined the conflict, he is forced to follow a mysterious soldier towards Ithriyah, a military outpost that would lead them back into the war.

  • Javier Badillo
    Director
    Coco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
  • Javier Badillo
    Writer
    Coco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
  • Shayan Bayat
    Writer
    Faith and Conviction, Prison Break
  • Javier Badillo
    Producer
    Coco Blue, Fatal Rhapsody
  • Shayan Bayat
    Producer
    Faith and Conviction, Prison Break
  • Jay Kamal
    Producer
    Terrorist, Jikirag
  • Shayan Bayat
    Key Cast
    "Ahmad"
    Prison Break, Sanctuary
  • Lochlyn Munro
    Key Cast
    "Leland"
    Riverdale, The Unforgiven
  • Juan Riedinger
    Key Cast
    "Mauricio"
    Narcos, The Romeo Section
  • Mitra Loraz
    Key Cast
    "Atifah"
    Bionic Woman, Masters of Science Fiction
  • Priya Kooner
    Key Cast
    "Safiyyah"
    College Dating App
  • Sarah Kelley
    Key Cast
    "Gudrun"
    Arrow, Kayak to Klemtu
  • Garry Chalk
    Key Cast
    "Khalid (Voice)"
    Cold Squad, Freddy vs Jason
  • Bahram Heidari
    Key Cast
    "Khalid"
    Bewilderment
  • Jay Kamal
    Cinematography
    Baba, Jikirag
  • Panta Mosleh
    Co-Produced by
    Dama Branca, Baba
  • Juan Carlos Lopez Moran
    Co-Produced by
    Saddling up the World, Children on the Summit
  • Paul Lowey
    Co-Produced by
    Crime Stories, TK630 - A Star Wars Fan Film
  • Jaz Gill
    Executive Producers
    Blue Flame (The Lost City of West River), Dominant Chord
  • Kelly White
    Executive Producers
    The Stories From the Salish Sea
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama, war, adventure
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 21, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    Arabic, English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED Dragon
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Middle East North Africa Film Festival
    Vancouver
    Canada
    November 24, 2021
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Milton Film Festival
    Milton
    Canada
    February 3, 2022
    Ontario Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Leo Awards
    Vancouver
    Canada
    July 9, 2022
    Nominee, 5 Awards
Distribution Information
  • Indie Rights LLC
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Video / Disc, Free TV, Paid TV
Director Biography - Javier Badillo

Javier Badillo is a Venezuelan-Canadian film writer-director and producer whose films explore themes of displacement and belonging. After a stint as a 2D animator, Javier switched to live action independent filmmaking in 2008.

Under his company Spitshine Flicks, Javier's short films have screened and won awards at international film festivals, including Edmonton International Film Festival, Regina International Film Festival, Toronto Independent Film Festival, Toronto International Black Film Festival, Cannes Short Film Corner, Charlotte International Black Film Festival, and Harrogate International Film Festival (UK), where he won an Audience Choice award for his dark comedy Fatal Rhapsody.

In 2021 he co-wrote and produced the Crazy8s short film winner BABA, (with Jay Kamal and Panta Mosleh), which has been selected to multiple film festivals, including the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival and the 20th Reelworld Film Festival, where it won Best Script and Best Picture. In 2018, his drama Coco Blue received a nomination for a Leo Award (best performance, Kendra Westwood). It also won Best Actress and Best Music at the Short Circuit / Pacific Rim International Film Festival, and was nominated for 8 categories, including Best Canadian Film and Best Director, at the Hollywood North International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.

In 2019 Javier co-wrote, produced and directed his first feature length film, Roads of Ithriyah, with his collaborators actor/writer Shayan Bayat and DOP Jay Kamal. The film is a drama about a Syrian combatant who suffers a concussion and forgets what side of the Syrian war he was fighting for.

Javier volunteered as the Director of Programming for the Vancouver Short Film Festival from 2012 to 2020 and was the first Vancouver Director for Raindance, an international filmmakers society and film festival.

In 2019 Javier won the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award for his contributions to Canadian multicultural society, with a monetary prize he donated to the Venezuelan Refugee cause. In 2018 he was nominated for Latincouver Society's "Most Inspirational Latin" Award. He currently serves on the boards of the Venezuelan Canadian Society of BC (VCSBC) and the Vancouver Short Film Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

There are two kinds of war films - those that deal with two opposing sides in a conflict, and those that are not about the war, but about the characters who inhabit it. Roads of Ithriyah falls into the latter, finding company in introspective, character-driven films like Apocalypse Now and The Thin Red Line.

When our protagonist Ahmad suffers a concussion in the Syrian war zone and loses all his memories, he is also given the unique opportunity to rediscover who he was before the war and search who he really wants to become, allowing us to dive into human dilemmas, such as whether our identity comes from family, religion or country - questions I ask myself, as a Venezuelan immigrant to Canada.

Although we may never find (or even want to find) the answers to these philosophical conundrums, the simple fact of thinking about or discussing them can lead us to find the value in our differences– and hopefully lead us to become more empathetic and compassionate towards each other. And this is something we desperately need in these times of global uncertainty.