Crash on Shaikh Zayed road: First take

Tyres screech as yet another car slams into a pile of twisted metal and shattered glass on Shaikh Zayed Road (SZR). Oil leaks out of this misshapen mass of what used to be 20 cars. Traffic comes to a standstill as police and ambulances rush to the scene.

This accident hasn’t happened yet, but it will later this year, when filming begins on the first big-budget multi-lingual international movie to be shot and produced in Dubai.

Emirati filmmaker Ali Faisal Mostafa, 26, has worked hard to get to this stage. "I’ve been working on the movie for over two years. In the beginning it was tough raising funds, but the support later has been overwhelming," Mostafa, who is the writer, director and producer of the movie, got local investors to come up with an unprecedented figure for his multi-million dollar movie titled City of Life, though he doesn’t want to reveal the exact amount of funding.

The film revolves around three different but parallel stories of people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Roping in bigwigs

"It would still be considered a small budget in the movie business, but for a regional project it’s a huge amount."

Mostafa has included bigwigs of the movie world in his project with hopes of signing a few Hollywood names.

"I’m working with Debbie McWilliams, a big-time casting director. We’ve also managed to rope in Bollywood actor Sonu Sood for a lead role in the movie."

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McWilliams has been the casting director on 11 of the 22 James Bond movies, including the upcoming Quantum of Solace.

Mostafa has already signed stand-up comic Ahmad Ahmad (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour). He is also introducing TV presenter Saoud Al Ka’abi (Al Maidan) to play the Emirati lead. Local producer, Tim Smythe, CEO of Film Works, is working with Mostafa to co-produce the film. Film Works previously worked on Syriana and The Kingdom.

"I do not want to reveal too much as we will officially publicise it all at a press conference soon. Our team, our investors and, hopefully, some actors will be present to announce the details," said Mostafa.

The plot

The plot of City of Life revolves around a Western woman, an Indian taxi driver and a young, wealthy Arab. All three are living a lie, until their paths cross in the briefest of exchanges, setting off a chain of events that result in horrific accidents, which change their lives forever.

"I’ve always had the idea of making a movie in multiple languages, but then Babel beat me to it," Mostafa said.

Though some of the shots of SZR will be done on a green screen (background), Mostafa plans to actually shoot a 20-car collision on SZR for real. "That scene will be the toughest to pull off; we’re going to have to plan it right because we only get one shot at it."

Biography

After a stint in interior design, Mostafa decided to pursue his passion, and in 2003 he enrolled at the London Film School. He got rave reviews for his first short film Under the Sun (Taht Al Shams), which follows the trials of a 13- year-old-boy fasting on the first day of Ramadan. The film was adjudged Best Emirates Film 2006 in the Emirates Film Competition in Abu Dhabi and toured the globe at international festivals gaining a nomination for Best Foreign Language Short Film in an American festival in Hollywood. He also received an award for Best Emirati Filmmaker at the Dubai International Film Festival 2007.