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‘Wavin’ Flag’ Singer K’naan Warsame Dips Into His Own Life Story for Film Director Debut, ‘Mother Mother’
The Somali Canadian artist draws on a deeply personal story from his past for his directorial debut, which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival.
Looking back more than 30 years later, Warsame remembers it as a sliding-doors moment in his life, an event that marked the destiny of both the Grammy-winning singer and his adopted brother, who stayed behind as Somalia fell victim first to a civil war, then a bloody insurgency fueled by Islamist militants. After emigrating to the U.S., the director and his family spent several months in New York before eventually settling in Toronto, where he would later launch his music career, releasing his acclaimed debut album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher.” As a recording artist, he achieved mainstream popularity before rising to international fame with his massive single “Wavin’ Flag,” which Coca-Cola selected as its official song for the 2010 World Cup, while also becoming a passionate ambassador for his fellow Somalis and refugees from all around the world. In 2016, Warsame wrote and directed the pilot for “ Mogadishu, Minnesota,” a family drama for HBO from executive producer Kathryn Bigelow set among the Somali community of Minneapolis.
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