Nour El Nabawy, Lin Yin and Kayode Akinyemi have been unveiled as key cast of Emirati director Ali F. Mostafa’s long-awaited feature City of Life Continuum as principal photography gets underway at Dubai Studios.
The movie is a sequel to Mostafa’s 2009 first feature City of Life, which made history as the first local production to achieve box success as the United Arab Emirates first began building a domestic film and TV sector some 15 years ago.
It is Mostafa’s fourth feature in a filmography which also includes From A to B, following three estranged friends who reconnect during a road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut, and dystopian drama The Worthy.
Rising Egyptian star El Nabawy, who is represented by Cairo-based MAD Celebrity, is coming off a high profile 2024 as one of the stars of Egypt’s hit coming-of-age soccer drama duopoly Underdogs (El Hareefa) and El Hareefa 2: El Remontada by Raouf El-Sayed which topped the local box office.
Previous credits for El Nabawy, who studied acting and theater at Santa Monica College and California State University, include 2021 Ramadan series The Choice 2 by Peter Mimi, and his breakout role in comedy-mystery drama We’re Coming Back, Love (Rageen Ya Hawa).
Australian actress Yin’s credits include fantasy thrillerThe Portable Door, alongside Christoph Waltz and Sam Neill, and workplace drama Utopia, while London-based, Austria-raised actor Akinyemi is known for Vikings: Valhalla, Exterritorial and I Am Pilate.
Little has been revealed about the plot for City of Life Continuum apart from the fact that the trio play Egyptian, Chinese and Nigerian visitors to Dubai over the New Year period, who experience the teeming Gulf city in different ways.
City of Life Continuum also features Emirati cast from the original film including local star Saoud Al Kaabi (Djinn) and veteran film and TV actor Habib Ghuloom, who also appeared in The Worthy.
The movie will also feature an ensemble of high-profile cast members in smaller supporting roles including Elodie Grace Orkin (Stranger Things), Perry Yung (Three Body Problem), Amir El-Masry (The Crown), Alain Saadeh (Very Big Shot), actor Kubilay Aka (Just Friends), and Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), who was also in the original.
Mostafa co-wrote the film with Faisal Hashmi and Nidal Morra and is also producing the movie under the banner of his Dubai-based company AFM Films.
City of Life Continuum is the first big feature film production to film at Dubai Studios, which mainly hosts drama and publicity shoots. It is being billed as one of the most ambition local productions to be shot in Dubai and wider Emirati region.
“City of Life Continuum is the realization of a dream that started over a decade ago. This film is not just about showcasing Dubai; it’s about uniting global talent to create a universal story that resonates across cultures,” said Mostafa.
“We are combining high-end cinematic techniques with the latest advancements in filmmaking technology, from cutting-edge camera work to innovative visual effects, to bring this story to life in a truly compelling way.”
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