Award-Winning Somali-Canadian Director Ilhan Abdullahi’s ‘Lifeline’ to Screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2026

In LIFELINE, when a high school basketball star is wrongfully convicted of a crime in a suburban neighborhood, his family’s pursuit of a better life is shattered. Ibtisam Farah, a high achieving Somali youth worker is forced to take on the case, which catapults her into a world of crime and forces her to connect with a community she is estranged from.

The Lifeline cast includes Hanad Abdi (Little America, 1992), Elmi Rashid Elmi (Mother Mother, Samia, The Swimmers), Saman Hasan (Ramadan America, Anxious.) and Muna Abdulahi (The Mole). The music in the film features a collaboration with Somalia’s rising rap icon Sharma Boy. Filming takes place in Vancouver and Surrey, BC as well as Seattle, Washington. 

Ilhan Abdullahi is an award-winning Somali-Canadian filmmaker and community mobilizer whose work spotlights the vibrance and realities of Black and refugee communities. Her short films have screened internationally, most recently at the NewFilmmakers LA festival. She further developed her debut feature screenplay for LIFELINE through the Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab. Most recently, she received an honorable recognition as a Noteworthy Black Figure of Canada for her contributions to Canadian society through her community work and storytelling efforts. 

 

The film is having its BC premiere on October 8th at 7 pm at International Village with VIFF and will have a second screening on October 10th at 4:30 pm at International Village.

           Lifeline Tickets here