Filmmaker and gamer turn Kuwait into a cyberpunk video game

Mohamed Elroz and Khaled Al Mutairi collaborated to show a different side of Kuwait City

Filmmaker Mohamed Elroz's photography project inspired a comparison showcase with popular game Cyberpunk 2077. Photo: Mohammed Al Roz

Walking across the capital city one late night, Kuwaiti filmmaker Mohamed Elroz was struck by how the deserted streets and fluorescent signage transformed familiar parts of Kuwait City into something straight from a sci-fi film.

“I saw the empty streets with neon lights and thought this could actually work,” he recalls. “I started shooting directly. At home I edited the footage, added visual effects and enhanced the lighting. None of it was planned, but it came out nice.”

That improvised experiment was soon spotted by Nvidia, the global technology company behind the graphics hardware powering some of the world’s most advanced games. The company was preparing a showcase for Cyberpunk 2077, the science fiction title from CD Projekt Red, and saw in Elroz’s work an opportunity to connect a real Middle Eastern city with the fictional world of Night City from the game.

Elroz was then paired with Khaled Al Mutairi, a Kuwaiti content creator best known for his Gamer Snack channel, where he reviews video games, hardware and emerging technology. The project brought the two together for a short film that merged the streets of Kuwait with the dystopian skyline of Cyberpunk 2077.

Merging reality with the digital world

Elroz's footage resembles scenes found in Cyberpunk 2077. Photo: Nvidia

Al Mutairi’s role was to replicate Elroz’s camerawork inside the game. Each shot of Kuwait City was mirrored by an in-game equivalent, matching angles, lighting and movement as closely as possible.

“Mohamed shot the city, then I took his angles into the game world,” Al Mutairi explains. “It was exhausting. I spent hours walking in-game looking for a matching corner or similar building. But I know the game well, so I could remember where things were. My aim was not just to match reality and game footage, but also the directing. If Mohamed filmed me walking, I would find a character in-game with the same jacket and pace so the shot was exactly alike.”

To ensure continuity, Al Mutairi even dressed in a cyberpunk-style jacket, giving Elroz’s live-action footage a futuristic edge that could then be reproduced in digital form.

A showcase for technology

Al Mutairi spent hours finding the right angles to match the footage shot by Elroz. Photo: Nvidia

The project was not only a creative experiment but also a technical demonstration. Nvidia used the short film to highlight DLSS 4, its system for improving frame rates and image quality.

“Without the technology, the footage looks good but still like a game,” says Al Mutairi. “With DLSS 4, you blur the lines so much, people get confused. We saw that before in another project in Egypt, where we compared Assassin’s Creed with shots of the pyramids. Many people thought the game was real.”

For Elroz, the results were surprising. “As a filmmaker, to see footage from a video game that realistic is unbelievable,” he says. “I once saw a clip of Cyberpunk 2077 in daylight on social media and thought it was real footage. Only later did I realise it was gameplay. If games keep looking like this, it will change the whole industry.”

Why Kuwait?

Elroz's photography shows sides of Kuwait rarely seen or experienced. Photo: Mohammed Elroz

Kuwait may not be the first location that comes to mind for a cyberpunk setting, but Elroz saw promise in its contrasts.

“In the daytime you would never think these streets could look cyberpunk,” he says. “But at night, when it is empty and the neon lights are glowing, it transforms. With the right perspective, you can create something unexpected.”

Al Mutairi notes that Kuwait has rarely featured in games outside of historical or military contexts. “There was a Sega title years ago called Desert Storm set here, and I saw an indie project based on the war,” he says. “But generally, it is very difficult for Gulf locations to feature in global games. That is why projects like this are interesting. They show that these places can connect with international audiences in a creative way.”

Expanding the experiment

Elroz, left, and Al Mutairi say they'd like to expand the project into a film. Photo: Mohamed Elroz and Khaled Al Mutairi

Al Mutairi says the experience revived his interest in film direction, a field he had explored briefly a decade ago. “I wanted it to go beyond simple comparisons of reality and game,” he says. “I wanted the directing to match as well. Whether it develops further, I do not know, but why not? The skills and the ideas are there.”

For Elroz, the project is a glimpse of what could be possible on a larger scale. “For me it was never just about showing a game. It was about reimagining the city through a different lens,” he says. “If one day we can build a full cyberpunk-style film in Kuwait, I would be the first to join.”