Toronto (AX) — A Somali teenager’s encounter with law enforcement sets off a reckoning over identity, belonging and institutional failure in the first trailer for Lifeline, the feature directorial debut from Somali-Canadian filmmaker Ilhan Abdullahi.
The Vancouver-set drama, made with a predominantly Somali cast and featuring dialogue in English and Somali, will launch the Mosquers Film Festival in Edmonton on Sept. 17. It is also scheduled to screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival and later in London as part of the Somali Week Festival.
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Lifeline centres on Hasan, a young Somali basketball player played by Hanad Abdi, who faces accusations over a crime in a suburban neighbourhood. His case is taken on by Ibtisam Farah, a reluctant Somali youth worker portrayed by Muna Abdulahi. As she works to protect his future, Farah must reckon with her own history and her complicated ties to the community.
The trailer shows Hasan’s tense interaction with police and the increasingly difficult relationship between the teenager and Farah. Allegations of racial profiling intensify the case, while Farah’s limited fluency in Somali creates another barrier as she tries to reach Hasan and those around him.
Abdullahi began writing the screenplay in 2014, drawing on years spent working with young people, refugees and Black communities in Vancouver.
“Lifeline not only sheds light on the complexities of Black refugee youth in North America but also celebrates the vibrance of the Somali community and what it means to thrive beyond survival,” Abdullahi told Deadline last year.
The film examines the ties between individuals and communities from which they feel alienated. Its themes include belonging, accountability and the damage caused when institutions fail vulnerable young people.
Alongside those challenges, the story makes room for friendship, humour, family and resilience, avoiding a portrayal of Somali and Black Muslim youth defined solely by hardship.
The daughter of Somali migrants, Abdullahi works across filmmaking, public health and community organizing. She is also a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University, where her research examines Black refugees and health equity.
Her earlier short films include Dreamers in 2021, Not For Us? in 2023 and Unqualified in 2024. In 2024, she won the Mosquers Audience Award and Best Performance Award. She also attended the Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab, where Lifeline was developed.
The cast features Elmi Rashid Elmi, known for The Swimmers, and Saman Hasan, who appeared in Ramadan America.
Mimi Dejene produced the film, with actor and filmmaker Agam Darshi serving as executive producer. Abdullahi, Abdi, Sikandar Atiq and Abdullahi Hassan are also executive producers, and Alex Torres handled cinematography.
Somali rapper Sharma Boy provides original music and songs for the project, bringing another significant Somali cultural presence to the film.
Born Sharmarke Abdinasir Mohamed in Puntland State and raised in Mogadishu, Sharma Boy is among the Somali music industry’s best-known performers. He has built a substantial audience in Somalia and throughout the diaspora.
The film’s festival launch arrives as Somali and Somali-diaspora filmmakers gain broader international recognition.
Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. That same year, Somali-Canadian musician and filmmaker K’naan Warsame premiered his feature directorial debut, Mother Mother, at the Toronto International Film Festival. British-Somali filmmaker Warda Mohamed’s short film Muna has also appeared at international festivals.
After its Edmonton premiere, Lifeline will screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival before embarking on a North American screening tour. The film is also scheduled for a London screening during the Somali Week Festival in October.
The filmmakers are inviting organizations and communities interested in hosting screenings to contact the production team.
