Get the latest gossip
‘The Village Next to Paradise’ Review: A Somali Family Has Humble Dreams in Quietly Powerful Film
A makeshift family finds strength from within in Mo Harawe’s confident debut, 'The Village Next to Paradise,' the first Somali feature to play Cannes.
Harawe’s assured and confident debut, the first Somali feature ever selected for Cannes, draws on a small canvas but manages to wring authentic emotions and tell a complete narrative. First it exists on the margin, as loud noises from afar or a mention of survival training for possible drone strikes at the primary school, but little by little, it moves to the center of the frame and the narrative. In building these characters’ world — the fanciful, the childish and the realistic alike — Harawe makes a film that quietly seeps into the audience’s consciousness and lingers.
Or read this on Variety
