Image Nation to Screen ‘The Lights of Rome’ Football Documentary at NYU Abu Dhabi

Press release

Published February 15th, 2018 - 06:20 GMT

The Lights of Rome by Anwar Roma, produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi.

Documentary film The Lights of Rome (Anwar Roma), produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, one of the leading media and entertainment companies in the Arab world, is going to be screened at NYU Abu Dhabi on Thursday, February 15. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film's director Ali Khaled and producer Hana Makki.

The Lights of Rome follows a group of young footballers who defied all odds and made history by qualifying for the World Cup in Italy, 1990. Their average age was 19, their country, the UAE, was also just 19 years old. This documentary explores the historical and emotive journey of the 'golden generation' whom to this date are the only Emirates football team to make it to the World Cup.

The film features rare archive footage from the team's journey and interviews with its members, officials and critics who witnessed this great achievement. With a soundtrack of popular songs and music from the era, the film brings those who lived during the event back to the historic moments in UAE history.

Directed by Ali Khaled and produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, The Lights of Rome is distributed byMAD Solutions i in the Arab world. Filming of The Lights of Rome was kick started through a campaign back in 2014, where a group of Emirati football lovers shared their memories of the legendary finals to the qualification for the 1990 World Cup.

Background Information

MAD Solutions

MAD Solutions is the first Pan-Arab independent studio and fully integrative marketing and creative consultancy for the Arab film and Entertainment Industry. Under the umbrella of MAD Solutions, the studio is supported by five pillars: MAD Marketing, MAD Content, MAD Distribution, MAD Culture and MAD Celebrity, which together are helping to usher in an exciting new generation of Arab filmmakers and entertainment talent.

Company Profile

New York University Abu Dhabi

NYU's agreement with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to create NYU Abu Dhabi is the outcome of a shared understanding of the essential roles and challenges of higher education in the 21st century: a common belief in the value of a liberal arts education, concurrence on the benefits a research university brings to the society that sustains it, a conviction that interaction with new ideas and people who are different is valuable and necessary, and a commitment to educating students who are true citizens of the world.