Ali F Mostafa's From A to B has been the subject of a huge amount of hype at this year's Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), but it's not the only Mostafa-directed film on show.
The short music film Rise, which is vying for an award in the Emirates Film Competition, is the brainchild of Mostafa's close friend, and City of Life star, the Iraqi/Canadian hip-hop artist The Narcicyst, also known as Narcy (real name Yassin Alsalman).
Narcy wrote and stars in Rise and brought Mostafa on board to direct it after securing support from Ray-Ban's Envision Series, which offers support to help creators bring their dreams to life. The short film is designed to be a companion piece to The Narcicyst's upcoming album – his first full-length solo LP since 2010's Mr Asthmatic – and features three songs from it as the soundtrack.
The film is set in the near future, in a nondescript Arab city run by a faceless corporation called The Medium – the singer’s dad, whom he refers to as “the original Narcicyst” puts in a cameo as a Medium security guard.
Narcy stars as the businessman Jamal El-Nargisee. The story follows a day in his life as he has something of an existential crisis – what Narcy describes as: "Very Pat Batemanish, you know? American Psycho, but Arabian Psycho."
He adds: "Rise was always a dream of mine. As I started working on tracks for my follow-up solo record, I wanted to visually represent the freedom of creation that I have always strived for in my art. Culturally, I wanted to push the limits, but also pay homage to my inspirations.
“Being an independent artist means bracing yourself for a bumpy ride. It has been 10 years of opportunities and obstacles. This stuff is hard work. I’ve had to take risks. Sometimes chasing your dreams can turn out to be a nightmare. And sometimes nightmares can be the inspiration for a dream project. That’s where I’m at right now. Manifesting my vision into my biggest project yet.”
Based on the clips we’ve seen, be prepared for a dreamlike roller-coaster ride of flashy downtown apartments, Ferraris, urban isolation, desert landscapes, Bedouin on horseback and weirdly masked gangs of villains. And of course, a top-notch soundtrack from one of the Arab hip-hop scene’s leading artists.
• Rise screens on October 24 at 6pm and on October 27 at 3.15pm
cnewbould@thenational.ae
