The Citizen, Sam Kadi’s first feature film, which had its international premiere at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on Sunday night, was five years in the making. The American film, starring Egyptian actor Khalid Al Nabawy, tells the story of an Arab immigrant who wins the green card lottery and thus the chance to become an American citizen. He arrives in New York City a day before 9/11 and the events that follow shape the struggles in his life.

Kadi, a Syrian who immigrated to the United States 13 years ago, said that the story is very much a personal one, inspired by true events that have happened to him and to other people. “It’s not my life story,” he said. “I’m glad my life is not as dramatic as Ibrahim’s life is in the movie,” he said, laughing. “As an immigrant, making a movie about an immigrant makes it something really special and personal because I felt what Ibrahim felt when he first came to this country.”

Al Nabawy was cast because Kadi felt the Egyptian actor could be the best representation of an Arab person on screen, one that could be loved by an international audience. “The character had to be an Arab character. The character needed to be as authentic as possible and needed to come from that [Middle East] region,” he said.

Al Nabawy told tabloid! that he loved the role and the story right away. “I loved that 9/11 is just a point of attack. It’s not everything in the film,” he said.

This is Al Nabawy’s first leading role in an English-language film, one that could possibly open doors for him in Hollywood. When asked about whether this could be his break into Hollywood, Al Nabawy said that for him The Citizen is more about a great story and a great role than anything else.

“I would love to go through a great experience in a role to add a great role to my career and to add more entertaining elements for the audience,” he said.

Kadi, who’s actually an engineer by training, said that making The Citizen had been really by “pushing beyond expectations.”

“Nobody thought we could get Khalid all the way from the Middle East to shoot this film,” he said.

The Citizen raises the bar to deliver an even better movie next. “A lot of people make one successful and disappear because this is such a tough industry we’re in,” said Kadi. “It sucks so much of your life... this [The Citizen] is already five years of my life.”