As a Moroccan, the pull towards the west was like a powerful and seductive drug... and Hollywood was the fix. With the promise of a fresh beginning and the lore becoming a star forcing him to act, Demon Shadow tells the haunting story of Hassan, whose quest for fame runs headlong with a dark and troubled alter-ego, wrought with cultural disconnect. To realize his dream, he confronts an unavoidable conflict: To turn his back on the only identity he has ever known in order to become the only person he has ever wanted to be. Fueled by the struggle, Hassan’s inner Demon emerges and has but one mission – to destroy him.

In selfless pursuit of his dreams, Hassan’s demon lures him into a savage world of addiction, violence and revenge. Hardened by persistent rejection, Hassan evolves into a shadow of his former self, consumed by the despair around him and under siege by an evil force from within. The characters of Hassan, his manipulative Demon, along with his emerging Shadow, exchange heated dialogues questioning each others beliefs and dreams and probing for weaknesses to exploit, but his Shadow has a keener sense of the world around them, and watches Hassan’s rapid and immoral reach for fame. As the characters attempt to destroy each other, the conflict escalates as one’s desire for fame and the other’s desire for faith cannot be reconciled. Hassan’s shadow and his disillusioned Demon dramatically collide with only one force poised to prevail. Can Hassan’s inner good overcome destructive evil
if they both share a common soul?

Background

Good versus evil is the underlying theme of Demon Shadow, played out in both real life and in the story. In a classic confrontation of these two formidable forces, good must descend from evil itself in order to preserve its power, combat evil on its own terms in order to ultimately persevere.

Demon Shadow is chaptered in four parts, each drawn from aspects of a true story behind the creation of the film. Behind the Story of Demon Shadow: A Secret Plan After two years of collaboration, Samad Naamad and his film-making partner completed the process of readying the footage of their first film together in preparation for a much anticipated production. In June of 2006, the source footage of the film disappeared without a trace. Executing a pre-meditated plan, Naamad's partner took the footage, changed his address and contact information... and vanished.

Later, when found and confronted, the partner refused compromise of any kind and insisted on possessing the material. The standoff would come before a Superior Court, with the much-anticipated judgment being for the partner to return all the original footage on tape, barred from ever using it until the dispute could be legally resolved.

Reflected in the Movie, Chapter 1:
Hassan's journey to Hollywood is illustrative of how man will stop at nothing, regardless of consequences, in pursuit of a dream. Behind the Story of Demon Shadow: Replaced Less than a year later, a film of striking similarity was released overseas under a different title by the very partner that was prohibited from using the footage. The court acknowledged the violation of the judgment, ruled against the partner and awarded Naamad sole ownership of the original footage. Reflected in the Movie, Chapter 2:
The character of The Shadow, in Demon Shadow, represents the perseverance of the human spirit and a new beginning made possible as the product of inner conflict.