Wednesday September 9, 2026
Toronto (HOL) — Somali-Canadian filmmaker Ilhan Abdullahi has released the first trailer for Lifeline, her feature directorial debut, ahead of the film’s world premiere this month at the Mosquers Film Festival in Edmonton.
The Vancouver-set drama, featuring a predominantly Somali cast and dialogue in both English and Somali, will open the festival on Sept. 17 before screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival and later in London as part of the Somali Week Festival.
Lifeline follows Hasan, a young Somali basketball player portrayed by Hanad Abdi, who is accused of a crime in a suburban neighbourhood. His case is assigned to Ibtisam Farah, a reluctant Somali youth worker played by Muna Abdulahi, who is forced to confront her own past and strained relationship with her community as she fights for his future.
The newly released trailer introduces Hasan’s confrontation with law enforcement and the growing tensions between him and Farah as allegations of racial profiling emerge around the case. Farah’s limited ability to communicate in Somali further complicates her efforts to connect with the teenager and his community.
Abdullahi has said the film draws heavily from her years working with young people, refugees and Black communities in Vancouver. She first began writing the screenplay in 2014.
“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.
At the centre of the film is the relationship between individuals and the communities they may feel disconnected from, with the story exploring belonging, responsibility and the consequences of institutions failing vulnerable young people.
Rather than portraying Somali and Black Muslim youth primarily through hardship, the film also focuses on friendship, humour, family relationships and resilience.
Abdullahi, whose parents migrated from Somalia, has built a career spanning filmmaking, public health and community organizing. She is a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University, where her research focuses on Black refugees and health equity.
Her previous short films include Dreamers in 2021, Not For Us? in 2023 and Unqualified in 2024. She received the Mosquers Audience Award and Best Performance Award in 2024 and is an alumna of the Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab, where Lifeline was developed.
The cast also includes Elmi Rashid Elmi, whose credits include The Swimmers, and Saman Hasan of Ramadan America.
The film is produced by Mimi Dejene, with actor and filmmaker Agam Darshi serving as executive producer. Abdullahi, Abdi, Sikandar Atiq and Abdullahi Hassan are also executive producers, while cinematography is by Alex Torres.
Somali rapper Sharma Boy is contributing original music and songs to the film, adding another prominent Somali cultural voice to the production.
Born Sharmarke Abdinasir Mohamed in Puntland and raised in Mogadishu, Sharma Boy has become one of the Somali music industry’s most recognizable performers, building a large following among Somali audiences at home and across the diaspora.
The film’s festival run comes amid growing international visibility for Somali and Somali-diaspora filmmakers.
Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, while Somali-Canadian musician and filmmaker K’naan Warsame made his feature directing debut with Mother Mother at the Toronto International Film Festival the same year. British-Somali filmmaker Warda Mohamed’s short film Muna has also screened internationally.
Following its Edmonton premiere, Lifeline is scheduled to screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival before continuing on a North American screening tour. It will also screen in London during the Somali Week Festival in October.
The filmmakers are also inviting organizations and communities interested in hosting screenings to contact the production team.
