This week on Crossroads, Dr. David Tully and Deema Maghalseh of Middlesex University Dubai are joined by filmmaker and author Adolf El Assal, an Egyptian-Luxembourgish resident of the UAE. He discusses how his projects (including Sawah, which reached the number one spot on Netflix) have attracted large and devoted audiences in countries as diverse as China and Egypt, thanks to the humour inherent in his dramatic explorations of the cross-cultural experience.

On today’s episode, co-hosts Dr. David Tully and Deema Maghalseh are joined by Philip Rachid, an award-winning filmmaker and a pivotal voice for the third-culture generation. We explore his multimedia project The Main Circle, his short-film portraits SHE, and the growing demand for industry spaces that nurture emerging storytellers shaped by life between worlds.

We also reflect on what it means to develop a distinct creative voice in the in-between, when you don’t fully belong here or there.

In conversation with David Tully and Deema Maghalseh is A-list Hollywood producer and Emmy-nominated actor Elijah Long, whose credits include Rambo: Last Blood, Tesla, Black Panther, and the upcoming All-Star Weekend.

Alongside his Hollywood achievements, we explore his latest venture — WOW3 Media, a Dubai-based pop culture and content brand built around the slogan, “Where Eastern Pop Culture Lives.”

This conversation moves beyond film credits to examine a much bigger question: What does it truly take for a city to become a pop culture capital? Can Dubai build the infrastructure, creative ecosystem, and international networks required to export culture in the way Hollywood once did — positioning itself as a global hub for cultural production and distribution?