Young filmmakers in Bahrain are preparing to shoot a horror film about a deadly virus that turns people into zombies and causes a mass carnage on the streets of the kingdom.

Dead Sands is the fourth movie being produced, directed and filmed by FANtasy, a group of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) students and faculty.

It is a tale of survival, heroics and mankind's savage nature as seven people struggle to find a solution to stop the virus from spreading and save their country.

The Bahraini production, set for a June 2013 release, was the brainchild of writer, producer and actor Ahmed Al Zayani, in co-operation with director Ameera Al Qaed.

Other production team members include producer in charge of funding and sponsorships Noor Al Ebrahim and NYIT computer graphics Professor Zeeshan Shah, responsible for the special effects.

The group's other productions include Paranorma, Gilgamesh Pearl and Silveraven, all screened at Bahrain Cinema Company (Cineco) during the last four years. However, this movie would be their last NYIT-based production as they are graduating.

"Every time we made a movie it was a learning process and the best way to learn is to learn from your mistakes," said Shah.

"We all sat together and watched the three movies and noted down what we wanted to do this time. We wanted this production to be purely youth-oriented."

The young team drew inspiration for this film from the works of US director George A Romero, nicknamed the Godfather of all Zombies, Italian director Dario Argento, US screenwriter John A Russo and Sam Raimi, famous for directing cult horror/comedy films.

"In a way our new film is kind of like the Arab version of the movie 28 days later," explained Al Zayani. "It will pay tribute to the classic films of Romaro and Russo.

"I loved writing this story. On the first day I wrote five pages, by the second day I had 20 done. We want this movie to be as Bahraini as possible," added Al Zayani.

The team has set a nine-month deadline - three months each for pre-production, filming and post-production editing.

Auditions ended yesterday and the team hoped to get at least 200 cast and crew, but the final tally has not been released yet.

Young Bahraini musicians will also be given the opportunity to feature their sounds in the movie as part of the soundtrack.

They should visit DeadSands.com and submit their material by December 22, after which the production team will choose one track and upload the rest on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/DeadSandsFilm, where a second track will be voted on by the public.

Director Al Qaed looks forward to applying her expertise and knowledge in the production, but says she also got her inspiration from YouTube videos.

It will be screened in theatres in Bahrain in May and its official supporter is Cineco. – TradeArabia News Service