In Focus | UAE National Day

A true depiction of Dubai

Produced exclusively in Dubai, City of Life paints a realistic picture of life in the emirate

  • By Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 22:23 December 1, 2009

  • Image Credit: Gulf News archive
  • Ali Mostafa briefs actors before filming a scene in City of Life. The young Emirati director wants to show Dubai as a real city

Emirati director Ali Mostafa, the filmmaker behind Dubai’s first home-grown film City of Life, says his movie is not going to be a dazzling travelogue, but an artistic antidote to all those prone to Dubai-bashing.

Tipped to premiere at the forthcoming Dubai International Film Festival this month, Mostafa hopes that this ambitious project — which is made from start to finish in Dubai — will clear the misconceptions surrounding his beloved city.

"My film is not a commercial for Dubai. It shows Dubai as a real city with some real people in it,” says Mostafa. “We are not concerned with propaganda of any kind. It’s a tale about the rich, the middle class and the poor. I am so tired of hearing about Dubai as some kind of Disneyland or an artificial place. I know the city inside out and my film will attempt to clear the air.”

Ensemble cast

The film also features characters from different parts of the world and boasts a multi-ethnic cast. “When you make a film about Dubai, it is important to represent the nationals, the Western expatriates and the South Asian community. My story would have been incomplete if I had not included their perspective and their stories.”

Breathing life into his script was a set of eclectic actors including Saud Al Kaabi, Jason Flemyng, Natalie Dormer, Alexandria Maria Lara and Bollywood stars Sonu Sood and Jaaved Jafferi. The drama is a tale set against the backdrop of the Dubai metropolis and how lives intertwine after an accidental encounter. The 27-year-old director began shooting the film in February 2009, although it was announced earlier in the year.

“We featured more than 42 locations in Dubai and we shot for more than 34 days at a stretch. I can guarantee you that the film will take you to places in Dubai that a regular resident has not been to. It was an exciting venture and I hope to bring the world’s attention to Arabic filmmaking with City of Life,” says Mostafa.

He adds that maintaining international standards was a constant battle and the journey to bring the film to life was far from easy. A number of obstacles including casting decisions, location changes and tweaking of the script awaited him. However, the last day of shooting was a memorable day for all those involved in City of Life.

“It was a proud moment for all of us. This was one of the few projects that had a lot of local involvement. During shooting, we had filmmaking graduates dropping in on the sets, we also had the police and other government agencies lending us full support to shoot the scenes across the city. It was a collaborative effort. Even during the shooting you could feel the buzz around the film. This has never happened before,” he adds.

Mostafa and his entourage were often seen parking their trailers in the bustling cafés in Deira and on the busy Shaikh Zayed Road. “In my next movie, I may not have that many location changes. But making City of Life will remain one of the most memorable experiences of my life.”

Natural progression

With this multilingual feature film, Mostafa will become the first Emirati to write, co-produce and direct a movie made exclusively in Dubai. A natural transition, many would say, since his graduation film Under the Sun won the Best Emirates Film in 2006 at the annual Emirates Film Competition held in Abu Dhabi and generated a stir in the international cinema festival circuits. He was also nominated for Best Foreign Film at the San Fernando Valley International Film Festival in California.

Realistic portrayal

“I have grown up mostly in Dubai and it is one city in the world that I know best. I felt I owed it to Dubai to make a movie about it. Everybody in the UAE will be able to relate to the film,” says Mostafa. But he did not let his love for the city stand in his way of telling an honest story.
“The film will show the world that we are a bunch of confident people. It will show that we are not scared of negative points and that we are proud of our positives. And it will also show that we are not in the habit of covering and making things look beautiful. The film will show the world who we truly are.”

Naturally, his next two features are also going to be UAE-centric. “There are so many stories to be told from this region and City of Life is just the beginning.”  

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