Two-and-a-half years ago, Iraqi-Canadian hip-hop artist Yassin Al Salman, better known as The Narcicyst or “Narcy”, moved to the UAE with hopes of opening a record label. What he found himself doing, instead, was writing a fever-dream of a story.
“The music industry was not ready to be a successful business model,” he said on Saturday afternoon at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF). “I was feeling like I was going crazy. I was working on my album, and I had a nightmare and woke up at 4am and wrote this story.”
The result? A short film titled Rise, directed by Emirati filmmaker Ali Mustafa, which screens on Monday at 3.15pm at Vox 3 in Marina Mall.
The 15-minute short promises to be a dizzying ride. It contains delirious and frenzied imagery such as men in animal masks running around with torches, juxtaposed against the “clean, new, modern feel that the Emirates has”.
Rise is set in 2025, and provides commentary on the modernised Arab world. It dissects a struggle that any artist who needs to feed themselves is familiar with: business versus creativity.
“I was scrambling,” he said. “I was writer, producer, made the music and I ended up acting in it as well.”
Production
On top of that, he had just found out his wife was pregnant. He wanted to finish the project before his attention was needed elsewhere. It took a mere three months to go from creating the story to working on set, with support from Abu Dhabi media company twofour54 in place. But the post-production proved a lengthier process, taking up a whole year.
Despite his impatience, Al Salman was pleased with the out-of-the-box result.
“It’s a challenge to what’s done by a hip-hop artist, an Arab hip-hop artist and an Arab,” he said.
Rise was his second acting experience in a short, with his music video for P.H.A.T.W.A (Political Hatred Attracting the Wrong Arabs) being his first. The clip is laced with humour and uses Al Salman’s own rhymes as a soundtrack. It sees him and his friend, who is black, deciding between the two of them who will be searched by security. Al Salman insists it will be him, because “Iraq is the new black”.
“It plays on the paranoia of Western Arabs in airports,” Al Salman explained. The Montreal-based artist has experience with being detained, harassed and even strip-searched.
Breakout role
His breakout acting role in the UAE, however, was the role of Khalfan, an aggressive and bulked-up character in Mustafa’s successful feature film, City of Life.
“You and I both know you can’t approach Ali Mustafa,” joked Al Salman.
Instead, Mustafa — in cowboy boots and blonde highlights — approached Al Salman at one of his shows at Knowledge Village. He told him he had been listening to his music since he was in film school in London, and that he had the perfect role for him. He chased Al Salman until he convinced him to audition for the part.
“It was a life-changing experience,” Al Salman admitted.
Rise, their second collaboration together, is in the process of being pitched to festivals around the world. It premiered on Friday night at ADFF. Eventually, it will be online for all to see.
“You have to watch it several times to realise what’s going on,” Al Salman said.
