S QATAR
Dubai, at the same time you are proud as an
Ali F. Mustafa
Dubai is no
Disneyland
It’s not difficult to envisage
Ali F Mustafa on the silver screen,
but he is certain that he is a
better fit behind the camera,
as a filmmaker, a passion
that took roots when he was
barely nine years old.
Vani Saraswathi
te x t by
56
B
Emirati for what your city has achieved.”
Expatriates living in Dubai who have watched
my film have said to him that they had no idea
this stuff existed. “Because they keep to
themselves – within their community, in their
box or in a bubble,” says Ali.
That seems to be true of most of the Khaleeji
cities, where the different communities haven’t
really integrated. The bane of living in a society
whose main draw is tax-free income, where the
immigrant is there for the money and little else,
negating any cultural exchange that could
happen?
He throws back: “Why is it the problem of the
city, not of the individual? Isn’t it up to the
individual to go out and explore? Aren’t Arabs
known to be the most hospitable people in the
world?”
Entertainment first On how his film
speaks to that scattered audience, he says: “I
was making a film, a form of entertainment, it
orn in London to a British had some dramatic moments... I wasn’t setting
mother and an Emirati father, Ali’s earliest influences were Western arts and Arab culture. In terms out to try and politicize anything, or get into any
of appearance, his Arab roots are more visible — but in attitude, the suave and handsome Ali is type of deeper meaning. I am showing what I
nothing but cosmopolitan. He switches between a lazy drawl (while talking about his life and see as a real place. What I see as real people
influences) to animated indignation (when he talks about the flak his city receives). And there is an going through real issues. I was primarily
air of listless boredom that we’d prefer attributing to his age (29) or to the flight he has to rush to making a movie — but it was at the same time
catch in an hour. trying to showcase one of the most
misunderstood cities in the world.”
Ali caught up with T Qatar when he was in the city to participate in a session at the Doha Tribeca His point is further illustrated by one
Film Festival. He set out to make City of Life, a multilingual film, to show the heart of Dubai. particular review he received. Amongst the
Considered the ‘first international Emirati feature film’, it had a fairly long run at the box office in overwhelming bouquets and some brickbats,
UAE and other Gulf states. Though he penned the script in the English, Ali is well-versed in Arabic was one that he finds difficult to stomach.
and Hindi as well, the other two languages of the film. He thinks and dreams in English, he says but
is greatly influenced by his culture — the Arab culture. His father had a large collection of Western
films that served as fodder for his childhood ambition.
“There was this one really bad review, in an
internationally-renowned publication. The
editor, whom I know quite well, didn’t agree
“I didn’t get into Arab cinema until fairly recently. I am pretty much influenced by Western films.
That’s what I knew, and those are the standards I aspire to reach...” Using those standards and that
medium he wants to provide a fitting retort to the West’s dismissal of Dubai.
with the review. A lot of the people I know who
work there, didn’t agree with it. But this woman,
the reviewer, was at the world premiere. She
said the film was ‘as soulless as the city itself ’.
City pulse “The Western media portrays Dubai as a very artificial place, like Disneyland. I was And I thought to myself: ‘What kind of a review
just trying to show that that’s ridiculous. You can’t say that to the people who were raised there, who is that? How do you take a review of a film and
grew up there, that they live in a fake place. Like any other major city in the world it has both compare it to a dislike of a city?’ It was
negatives and positives.” something that touched a nerve. She was hitting
However, he is clear that he didn’t set out to make a documentary on Dubai. “All I wanted to do out at Dubai and using my film as catalyst for
was show that Dubai was a real place — not necessarily show the grit of the grit — I was giving a very that. Even the film review turned into a bad
balanced view of how I see it. Through my eyes. The city I grew up in and what I know of it.” review of the city. It was surreal.”
He understands where the criticism stems from, but doesn’t agree with it. “It’s unfortunate that
the people who speak of Dubai in this manner and the Western media, haven’t really visited the Arab tag Dealing with more than just the art
city. It’s the perception of Dubai. If they do visit, then again, they will only stay in the places that at hand is something Arab filmmakers have to
were newly built. get used to. Given the geo-politics of the age,
“It is different for people like us who grew up there — long before Sheikh Zayed Road became the isn’t being an Arab-anything both a challenge
16-lane motorway it is today, when it just had two lanes, and the World Trade Center was the tallest and a responsibility?
building then, it’s the shortest now. It has grown so rapidly, it makes you feel like you miss old “Yes and no,” says Ali.
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Calling the shots

“Yes, because post 9/11 or even before that, “At a personal level, I would like the audience
we haven’t been depicted very well in either the to leave the hall having learnt something new.
media or in films, as Arabs. So I think it’s almost So I am right in the middle of it — I want to
our duty to try and change that. We need to try defend and I want to entertain.”
and counterbalance it with films we make. On the future of Khaleeji cinema, he says
“No, because you don’t have to. As a there is both financial and strategic support, but
filmmaker you make films you want to make a lot hinges on how the next few films fare.
and tell stories you want to tell. You are not “I think we are going to get a lot of support. A
obliged to defend an entire nation, people or lot of people are using my film as a case study to
religion. Because you are a filmmaker at the try and attempt something new. It will get a lot
end of the day — you make films, you try and of support if film number one does well, and
captivate an audience. film numbers two and three do well too...
“We are under a lot of
Bioscope pressure. I was with this film.
City of Life is a 2009 multilingual Emirati film written, directed, and The next filmmaker, with his...
produced by Ali F. Mustafa. Set in the United Arab Emirates, the film
because if his film doesn’t do
revolves around three parallel lives, amongst many cultures in one city.
well, then the guy after him will
A privileged young male Arab at odds with his cultural identity and
his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver have a problem. Because support
who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous Bollywood star; and a will depend on the success of the
former Romanian ballet dancer now working as a flight attendant and films. The next few films have a
searching for love and companionship ... these individuals all live in
Dubai and their lives are about to collide for better or for worse in a city task in hand — they really have to
where ambition, growth and opportunity are encouraged and dreams capture an audience, people
can still manifest. need to feel comfortable about
The DVD is to be released next month. walking into the theatre to watch
In 2003 Ali Mustafa did his Masters for practical training in film a Khaleeji or Emirati film.”
technique from the London Film School. Over the next two years, he
With his next venture, Ali says
worked on short films and TV commercials in all areas of production,
never losing sight of his ultimate dream of directing a feature film. marketing will receive a lot
Ali’s graduation film Under the Sun has been selected and nominated for more emphasis. For City of Life
best Foreign Film at various international festivals. — which had a huge budget by
regional standards — promotion was primarily
viral, with zero budget for marketing. Though
that worked well, it will not be the model going
forward.
Comedy, remake... DiCaprio? His
next film would be a comedy — “a difficult genre
to handle, so it’s going to challenging” — in
English but based in the Arab world.
His dream project, however, is to remake
Moustapha Akkad’s Mohammed, Messenger of
God (Arrisallah in Arabic and released as The
Message in USA) — “an emotional film” that
inspired him.
His other early influences include George
Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and he says he has
just the right script to cast Leonardo DiCaprio
in the lead — “it’s a big film. And he is a good
actor and would suit the role.”
For now he juggles his feature films with ad
films, because “I can’t make a living with just
feature films, unless I am making them back to
back.”
Back to the cities of his life, London or Dubai?
He says it has to be a 50-50. He sees no
similarities between the two, except that they
are both multicultural.
“But they are not melting pots of culture,
because there is no fire under the pot.” n

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