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Animated poster for "Time Hoppers: The Silk Road" featuring four diverse characters in motion, set against a futuristic backdrop of curved architecture and digital screens, with the title prominently displayed above.
Arts, Culture & Media

First animated feature made by, for and about Muslims hits US and Canadian theaters this weekend

“Time Hoppers: The Silk Road” is an animated movie that follows four time-traveling kids as they travel back to the ninth century to battle villains and protect historical figures along the Silk Road. The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with the film’s co-director Flordeliza Dayrit about the project.

The World

“Time Hoppers: The Silk Road” follows four friends as the time travel to the ninth century along the Silk Road.

Courtesy of Milo Productions Inc.

A movie about four time-traveling kids is hitting theaters this weekend, and when it does, it’ll make history. The Canadian film will be the first animated feature film made by, for and about Muslims to receive a nationwide theatrical release in the US.

The movie is called “Time Hoppers: The Silk Road.” It follows the four friends as they battle villains and protect historical figures during the Golden Age of Islam in the ninth century. Flordeliza Dayrit, the film’s co-director, joined The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler from Calgary to discuss the project.

Carolyn Beeler: Flordeliza, what was the inspiration to make this film?
Flordeliza Dayrit: Well, it’s really about the kids, right? It’s incredibly important for kids to see themselves as heroes and to see their culture and history celebrated, and especially today, when Islamophobia is still very present in our popular culture. So, really for us, this is a conscious effort to counter that narrative.
Each of the four characters have a lot of personality, which really comes through in how they are drawn. Can you describe the approach you took in terms of crafting their appearances and how you draw them?
Yes, so we have Layla, Khalid, Aysha and Abdullah, and we wanted to sort of showcase the different, you know, we wanted it to be representative of the different learning styles. For example, Khalid is book smart, Aysha is physically smart, Abdullah is the street-smart guy and Layla has emotional intelligence. Aysha is with a head covering, or what you call a hijab, and we have a lot of kids throughout North America who wear a hijab by choice, it’s their choice, right?

And so, we want them to know that they can be a superhero in their own movie. And that’s the same thing with all the characters. We want them be highly relatable to kids. They all have lovable strengths and insecurities, and kids really understand and empathize with them.
Illustration of four animated children: a boy with glasses and curly hair named Khalid in a green jacket, a smiling girl named Layla with long brown hair in a pink and blue outfit, a boy named Abdullah wearing a purple hat and green scarf, and a girl named Aysha wearing a beige hijab and yellow outfit, all in individual colorful panels with their names above.
The four time-traveling characters from the animated film “Time Hoppers: The Silk Road.”Courtesy of Milo Productions Inc.
And what are these four kids up against when they go back in time and try to protect these famous figures? Who are they facing off against, and what do they have to do?
Well, they have been brave. They all need to be brave in order to defeat this time-traveling evil alchemist, Fasid. And so, I guess, and that’s really one of the messages that we want children to learn, that as they grow up, they’re not always going to be with their parents, or their parents are not always gonna be with them. And so, we want them to see the world as something they can embrace, love, and be part of. And as they encounter different situations, people, and places, we want them to be brave.
Two animated characters in a close-up, with one wearing a yellow headdress and an intense expression, and the other with gold earrings and a light headscarf, engaged in a conversation.
The characters in “Time Hoppers: The Silk Road” are on a mission to defeat Fasid, a time-traveling evil alchemist.Courtesy of Milo Productions Inc.
You said you really wanted kids to be able to see themselves in these characters. I’m wondering if that influenced your decision to make this an animated film that perhaps people might be able map themselves onto easier than a live action film.
Yes, definitely. We really wanted it to be fun for kids, too. I mean, there’s a little bit of, of course, education attached to it, where you know we’re featuring different times and people and places in history. I guess that’s where the time-traveling aspect comes from. So, we wanted kids to imagine that they can actually time-travel and that there are ways for them to be creative when we’re showcasing their stories on screen.
A group of animated characters standing in a dimly lit barn, featuring a man with dark hair wearing a green outfit and medallion, a child with curly hair and large glasses, a child in a purple cap and jacket, a girl in an orange outfit with a teal headscarf, and a girl in a pink top and blue skirt; all appear to have concerned expressions.
“Time Hoppers: The Silk Road” follows four kids as they time travel to meet historical figures and overcome challenges along the Silk Road.Courtesy of Milo Productions Inc.
In your film, these kids do a lot of action scenes, are jumping from rooftop to rooftop. I’m curious what it means to you personally seeing, for example, a girl in a hijab doing these scenes, being the superhero of a film. What does that mean for you personally?
So, personally, for me, I actually do also wear the hijab, and unfortunately, a lot of times, I have been told that I’m less than somebody else. And so, it definitely has an effect, you’re right. I mean, it affected my self-esteem for a very long time. And so, especially as a Muslim woman, for me, we’ve had great heroes and you know great inspirations in the past that have done amazing work like Fatima al-Fihri, Mariam al-Astrulabi and Lubna of Córdoba, right?

So, these wonderful women in the past were superheroes of their time. And so, after reading that, for me it was a revelation that, yeah, I can be one of those. And I’m hoping the same thing for children, especially the ones who wear hijab, that this is something that they can see, that they are the superhero, and that they be brave to face anything out there in the world and the world is ready for them to conquer.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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