Have you noticed film crews out and about across the UAE in the past few weeks? You just might have stumbled across the set of On Borrowed Time.
Filming for the Arab comedy began on September 16, taking in high-profile locations including The Dubai Mall and Atlantis the Palm, and is due to wrap in the next few days.
Following in the footsteps of international breakouts from the region Theeb and Zinzana – and the world premier on October 8 of Emirati director Ali F Mostafa's post-apocalyptic action-thriller The Worthy, studio heads at Image Nation are hoping On Borrowed Time could be the next big-screen success story from the Arab world.
The feel-good comedy is the first feature from writer-director Yasir Al Yasiri, the Iraqi filmmaker who scored big with Murk Light, winner of Best Short Narrative at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2012.
Based on a short story by famous poet and songwriter Kareem Al Iraqi, On Borrowed Time is about four elderly men living in a retirement home, whose lives are turned around when one of them inherits Dh50million.
The international all-star cast includes Kuwaiti actor Saad Al Faraj (Souq Al Maqases, Darb Al Zalag), Syrian star Salloum Hadad (Al Kawasir As Shaqeef); Emirati actors Mansoor Al Feeli (Qalb al Adala, Dishoom) and Marie Al Halyan (Khiyanat Watan, Wadeema Wa Haleema).
They are joined by Kuwaitis Fuad Ali, Laila Abdallah and Abdullah Aljunaibi.
Production expertise comes from producer Rami Yasin (Zinzana, The Worthy) and executive producers Mansour Al Feeli and Majid Al Ansari, whose thriller Zinzana recently became the first major Arab feature film acquired by Netflix.
On Borrowed Time is the first of three projects recently announced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi. Production on the second, Rashid & Rajab, will begin in November, followed by Scales in early 2017.
"The recent success of Arabic films such as Zinzana and Theeb, not just locally but around the world, proved that global audiences have an appetite for regional stories," says Ben Ross, head of narrative film and television at Image Nation.
"On Borrowed Time is an upbeat, family comedy that we believe will resonate both with Arabic and international viewers, and we are proud to be enlisting some of the best talent in the region for this project".
rgarratt@thenational.ae
