The final wave goodbye to summer is a joyous time for many across the Middle East, with temperatures dipping to more bearable levels and life beginning to emerge from air-conditioned hibernation. For the region's film industry, the end of summer fires the starting pistol for a frantic few months of activity: festival season.
Both the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Doha Tribeca Film Festival squeeze into the end of October, while Dubai's International Film Festival lands just over a month later. Red carpets are no doubt being cleaned as we speak.
This year's festival season sees the two-year anniversary of one of the most celebrated films to have emerged from the region. City of Life, the first full feature made by an Emirati and filmed entirely in Dubai, was premiered at DIFF 2009 and instantly transformed its young director, Ali Mostafa, into the poster boy for the UAE's emerging cinema industry. The buzz surrounding City of Life, which was an impressive debut, has only just settled down. Emirates Airline screened it as part of its on-board entertainment system and DVDs were given prime slots in shops. Even Colin Firth gave it a shout out at last year's festival in Dubai.
But, almost two years on, a follow-up has yet to emerge. Anyone who has tracked the director's career recently might have noticed that - rather than a filmmaker - Mostafa has made more of a name for himself as a brand ambassador. The publicity from City of Life was enough for him to be named the "face" of the British luxury menswear brand Dunhill last year. Then there was Hublot watches, which made him its local ambassador this May, and the website Mr Porter, which put him on its "style council". More recently, Mostafa has been signed up by Range Rover as a "city shaper" to promote its forthcoming Evoque model.
But while these corporate commitments have obviously helped expand Mostafa's wardrobe and garage, do they not get in the way of his main role as a filmmaker? According to the director, the arrangements and his work have actually synched quite nicely.
"As part of my career, I have to attend film festivals and you're expected to look quite stylish on the red carpet," he says, while speaking from inside his Range Rover Sport (he has to wait till November to get his hands on the Evoque). "My contract with Dunhill was simply to wear their suits at those red carpet events. It was a perfect fit, as are the watches, which is an accessory I'd wear at those events anyway."
Although a Range Rover might be an accessory too far for Mostafa's next red-carpet appearance, he says this new deal actually taps into what he does for a living more than most.
"I'm going to be developing some film projects with them in time for the launch," he says. "Not necessarily feature films, but something that will work with their campaign."
TV commercials are what Mostafa calls his "bread and butter" (he was recently shooting for Qtel, Qatar's main telecoms operator).
"So if brands want to be associated with me as a filmmaker, that's exciting - it puts another layer into what I do." And working with Range Rover, he says, has been a far smoother ride than the usual commercial set-up, where directors often find their creativity stifled by tight storyboards that have been approved by the clients. "With Range Rover, I've been given an amazing amount of freedom."
Thankfully, the future for Mostafa isn't all commercials. He has, indeed, been working on his second feature film, a low-budget indie film that he hopes will go into production in January, with an eye for release next summer.
"Basically, it's a road movie about a group of friends who go on a trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut." With a working title, From A to B, the film is what Mostafa calls a "dramedy".
"In simple terms, I'd say it was a cross between Little Miss Sunshine and a sober, Arabic version of The Hangover."
Mostafa admits that he may have "rushed" the script for City of Life, but with the next film being extremely character-driven it's not something he can do again. "Right now I'm just trying to get the script as strong as I can."
There were other mistakes made with City of Life that Mostafa says he hopes not to repeat. "I'm a lot more knowledgeable now in how the business works and have gained a lot more contacts. This time around, I'm going to work on my distribution deal before I've even finished the film."
Although City of Life broke Emirati records, it recouped just more than US$1 million (Dh3.67m) of its $5 million budget. "And that's quite good, considering the number of cinemas we were in," says Mostafa. "Had we got international distribution, now that's a different story."
From A to B might have a fraction of City of Life's budget, but Mostafa - who would have loved to be involved with the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol project, which was filmed partially in Dubai - isn't intending to keep things that way. "If I could make a $150 million action film with an A-list star in my hometown, that would be great," he says.
While Mostafa may have missed out directing Tom Cruise's Burj Khalifa abseiling antics, he could perhaps look towards the world's most famous fictitious spy, featured in Jeffery Deaver's James Bond novel Carte Blanche, which so happens to be set in Dubai.
"I'd love to do James Bond one day," he admits.
Imaginings of 007 aside, there is a large-scale production Mostafa does have on the horizon. "It's been a dream of mine years before City of Life, but I needed to show a track record," he says. "The City of Life budget is probably the catering budget for this film."
Aside from saying that it's a "historical biopic epic" and "very regionally specific", Mostafa would say little else about the film's subject matter. "I can't really say who it is about, but I'm hoping to get some sort of blessing from a certain individual in the next few months so I can announce it. As soon as I'm done with the second film, I hope to be in production with this."
With interest piqued as to the potential biopic candidates, there's time for one last question. In Mostafa's next film, a road movie, will the characters be driving a Range Rover? The director isn't averse to product placement, having used it successfully to secure 30 per cent of City of Life's budget.
"It's certainly up for discussion," he says. "It did come up in conversation, but we're still a bit too early. They're definitely going to be the first on the list."