SHANKABOOT is the world’s first Arabic web drama, produced by Batoota Films in association with the BBC World Service Trust. Set in Beirut, we follow the antics of Suleiman (HASSAN AKIL), a fifteen-year-old delivery boy who races around the city on his moped, Shankaboot. In order to portray Beirut as realistically as possible, the show’s creators have cast actors with little or no acting experience.

Suleiman can get you anything you want, whenever you want, but he gets more than he bargained for with the arrival of the beautiful Ruweida (SAMIRA KAWAS) and enigmatic Chadi (NASRY EL-SAYEGH), two passengers with a lot of baggage.

In addition to the main story, we can watch the chaos and mishaps caused by  Waheed El-Booz (HISHAM JABER), Shankaboot’s comedy electrician who provides light relief with disastrous consequences, in his own series, released alongside new episodes of Shankaboot. Each episode of Shankaboot and Waheed El-Booz is also accompanied by its own point-and-click game, adding an interactive element to the Shankaboot world.

In Arabic, with english subtitles if needed, each five-minute episode is dynamic and endearing, and Suleiman’s hospitality and openness will find a place in your heart. Quite apart from the journey the characters go on within themselves and with each other, it paints a vivid picture of Beirut’s bustling city life, a life expertly navigated by Suleiman’s quick reactions.

www.shankaboot.com

Written by Tom Godfrey

Images courtesy of Batoota Films