Top VIPs, media, mixed martial arts athletes and champions and invitees were treated to a thrilling night full of laughter, action and drama, last night in Juffair. a who’s who of Bahrain’s film industry convened at the Mukta Cinemas to celebrate an exclusive premiere of ‘The Martial Artist’, the first movie of the partnership between KHK Media Group and BRAVE Films in association with Odysseus Entertainment.
KHK Media Group has entered the movie industry in a partnership with BRAVE Films, the subsidiary of BRAVE Combat Federation, the most global MMA organization in the world, born in the Kingdom of Bahrain. So it’s an obvious step to have the premiere of the first movie of the partnership taking place in Bahrain. The movie premiere was attended by the likes of Mr. Faisal Al Arayadh, Head of Creative Sectors at Tamkeen, Mr. Mohammed Qamber, president of the Bahrain MMA Federation and president of the Asian MMA Federation, Mr. Mohammed Mansoor, president of Life ‘N Style Magazine, Mr. Eldar Eldarov, head coach of the Bahrain National MMA Team and BRAVE CF world champion, amongst a host of other notable names.
Shaz Khan, the lead actor and director of the movie, has been thrilled by the reception of the movie in Bahrain and has hinted he would like to film one of his next projects in the Kingdom.
‘’This is my third time in Bahrain and what really draws me to the Kingdom is that mix of tradition and modernity, of West and East, and the harmony of the people. Everyone is happy and I’m delighted to be here, I truly am. And not to mention that Bahrain is one of the most beautiful places in the world, so that helps too (laughs). I believe that there is a lot of potential for Bahrain to become a hub of the film industry and I have been thinking about doing a project here, filming here would be a dream’’, says Khan, who plays Ibby Bakran, a fighter in search of himself following a fall from grace.
‘’Fighting is such a beautiful sport, and I started to get into it way too much, I trained jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, and then I just began to add more training, going into karate, taekwondo and many more. So, there’s potential for a lot of interesting and different stories to be told through MMA and I hope this partnership with BRAVE Films brings us BRAVE CF fighters to participate in our movies’’.
A BRAVE CF fighter in attendance was Hamza Kooheji, the best Bantamweight fighter in the Middle East and one of the biggest icons in Bahrain sports. In the final stages of recovery from an injury, Hamza let his hair down for just a minute to enjoy the premier of ‘The Martial Artist’.
‘’The movie was great, and you could see how well it was done by the progression of his techniques. As the film went on, the character improved accordingly which shows a lot of attention to detail. The scenes were very well done, and this is something I could see myself doing in the future. I am still hitting my prime as a fighter, so my focus is completely on that, but this was a nice experience’’.
Mohammed Mansoor, president of Life ‘N Style Magazine, one of the sponsors of the event, spoke of his delight at the movie following the private screening and is hopeful this will lead to many more martial arts movies in the region as well as a leadership role for BRAVE Films and KHK Media Group in this segment.
‘’This has honestly been one of the best martial arts movies done recently. The human element, the fighting sequences, they were all very well done. It’s a really inspiring story and I believe this will have a very positive effect in the film industry in Bahrain and in the Middle East. I can see that BRAVE Films and KHK Media Group are already taking the lead in this process and I believe there will be a lot of success in this enterprise’’.
