Ali Mostafa ready with Classified

Emirati director Ali Mostafa is in experimental mode as he takes on the digital world with his latest project: An online miniseries called Classified.

But unlike his hugely successful City of Life, credited as UAE's first International feature on general theatrical release, the online suspense drama does not have a massive production. But Mostafa, 30, is convinced that its impact will be equally strong.

"We live in a time where it's difficult to ignore the internet and social media. Facebook and Twitter are taking over everything. We cannot ignore it," he says.

Classified, which will premiere on Wednesday on MBC.net, is a five-episode series of five minutes each. A classic cinematic quickie shot in Dubai, Riyadh and Panama in just 10 days, Mostafa reveals that he even turned stunt director for this one.

"It's never easy for a film-maker. We didn't have enough budget to hire stunt doubles. So I fell off a running car and jumped off the marina bridge," he says, adding: "I am what you call a hands-on director."

After his much-lauded breakthrough 2009 film, the London Film School alumnus has recently been in the news for all the brands he endorses rather than his craft. But all that's about to change. tabloid! caught up with him about his latest foray into the digital world.

How did Classified come about? What made you choose an online project as opposed to a theatrical release?

MBC approached me for this project and I had a bit of time before my next theatrical feature. It sounded like a great idea. We live in a time where everything is about internet and social media. Facebook and Twitter are taking over everything and I knew this project would allow me to get into that side of things. After discussing the idea with MBC, I went home and wrote the script. We did the casting and pre-production in two and a half weeks. We did everything quickly. We shot the five episodes of five minutes each in ten days. We had two days for an episode and that, in film-making parlance, is a very short time and that made it challenging and exciting. As a film-maker, I have always found a challenge intriguing.

Is the virtual world a must-stop for future filmmakers?

Absolutely. We have around 12,000 followers on Facebook and we get hits from people around the world. It just makes you realise that the online world is the next big thing.

Does Classified have anything to do with your next theatrical project about a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut?

It has absolutely nothing to do with it. And it is getting frustrating because my investors from that project are turning to me asking: ‘What's going on here?' The only similarity between Classified and my next is that there are three human beings and a car. The script for my next theatrical venture is being worked upon in Los Angeles.

Classified is an action thriller in which the protagonist's dad invents a device which many wrong people are trying to get their hands on.

It has a bit of suspense, action, drama and thrills. It will be an exciting experience for the viewers as well as MBC and us.

Did the success of Shankaboot — the hugely popular Emmy-winning web-series from Lebanon — provide an inspiration?

Classified is not an ongoing series like Shankaboot and we are not trying to take over the Shankaboot space. Classified is an exciting experiment in exploration. You will all know what I am talking about soon.

Go online

Classified will run exclusively on mbc.net/classified from September 28 to October 26.