Scythia Films, the production banner behind the Oscar-nominated The Apprentice, announced today that Sabrina Elba (Three Thousand Years of Longing) will join the cast of Nuur, the upcoming feature from director Lula Ali Ismaïl (Dhalinyaro).
Adapted from the novel The Youth of God by Hassan Ghedi Santur, who also wrote the script, the film will be produced by Daniel Bekerman (The Apprentice, The Witch), Chris Yurkovich (Slash/Back) and Neil Mathieson (The Apprentice, Matt and Mara) of Arbitrage Pictures.
Jordan Hart (I, Object) will executive produce for Scythia Films with Michael Bronner (The Mauritanian, Captain Phillips) and Bhakti Shringarpure executive producing for Smashing Dandelions. Steve Alexander (The Secret Art of Human Flight) and Idylia Hachi are also executive producers. Telefilm Canada is one of the funding partners of the production. Casting is currently underway.
Nuur, the title character, is a sensitive and academically gifted 17-year-old boy growing up in Toronto’s Somali community in Dixon. Caught between his faith, intellectual ambitions, and fractured family life, Nuur faces a perilous journey that highlights themes of migration, identity, and belonging.
Elba will portray Haawo, the resilient Somali mother to Nuur and his older brother, Ayuub, who is navigating family turmoil and cultural displacement in Toronto. Once filled with promise, Haawo’s life in Mogadishu, Somalia, saw her working as a flight attendant and married to a prominent architect.
When we meet her years later, she is struggling with depression, grappling with a failed marriage, and stuck in a dead-end job at Walmart, clinging to hopes of reuniting with her estranged husband. When Nuur goes missing, her dormant independence and strength resurfaces as she embarks on a journey to bring him home.
Elba joins previously announced cast members Omar Abdi (The Gravedigger’s Wife) and Hamza Fouad (“Riverdale”, “Arrow”).
Sabrina Elba said: “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to play Haawo in Nuur, a role that means so much to me. It’s a privilege to work alongside the talented and inspiring Lula Ali Ismail, whose collaboration has been nothing short of amazing. It’s truly an honour to be part of such a meaningful project.”
Elba is an actress and producer known for her role in Three Thousand Years of Longing as the British Council Lady, The Watcher. Beyond her on-screen work, Elba was appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for IFAD in April 2020 and has since dedicated herself to the challenges faced by rural women and girls.
Elba is represented by The Artists Partnership.
Scythia Films is behind Ali Abassi’s The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, who just received Oscar® nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. The film also received three BAFTA and two Golden Globe nominations.
The company recently attended Sundance with Endless Cookie, an animated feature doc from Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver and The Wedding Banquet, a romantic comedy directed by Andrew Ahn, starring Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Bowen Yang which they executive produced.