Starting Tuesday, September 25, fans of action and drama films will be able to enjoy the film ‘Agent 86’ by Tunisian director, actor, producer and screenwriter Bassem Khayati.
Starting next Tuesday, action fans will discover the diverse creative energy of Tunisian Bassem Khayati, who went from being a martial arts enthusiast and trainer in China to an internationally renowned actor and director with 50 films under his belt, working with Hollywood action icons from Jackie Chan (7 films) to Bruce Willis and others.
Friday was the press screening of ‘Agent 86’ in the presence of its director, producer and main protagonist Bassam El Khayati, along with a number of the film’s protagonists.
‘Agent 86’ which will be screened in Tunisia is the second version of the cinematic work, which was initially filmed in the form of a detective series, and it was expected to film its second part, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented this, so it was decided to shoot it in movie form.
The story revolves around a secret agent (Dali/Bassem Khayati) and his team fighting an international mafia in the drug trade that has flooded the market with an extremely dangerous narcotic substance called ‘Devil breath’.
The film co-stars a number of actors, including British actor Kevin Lee as Raphael, a mafia man.
Although the agents managed to capture Raphael, the drug shipment was still on its way to Tunisia at the end of the film, indicating that another part of the film is on its way to be shot in Tunisia, according to director Bassem Khayati.
Although the film’s direction, actors’ performances and plot were good points, the film’s dubbing was in the Shami dialect, which led to the question of how this dialect was preferred to the Tunisian one. Khayati explains that the first reason is commercial in order to promote the film in the Arab region, and the coronavirus pandemic prevented the director from shifting and staying for a long time in Tunisia to follow the dubbing process. However, he emphasised that the future will see the participation and dubbing in the Tunisian dialect.
Bassam El Khayati is a young Tunisian martial arts enthusiast and trainer in Tunisia. Still, his ambition was great. He travelled to China in 2007 to continue his education and become a trainer, then an action film actor with Jackie Chan and others before deepening his knowledge in film directing, scripting and production.
TunisianMonitorOnline (Dhouha Talik – English: NejiMed)