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Somali Filmmaker Mo Harawe Makes History in Cannes With Intimate Family Drama ‘The Village Next to Paradise’
The feature debut of the Mogadishu-born director, which plays in Un Certain Regard, is the first feature from the African nation to screen in Cannes.
“The Village Next to Paradise” doesn’t shy away from the complexities of Somalia, an impoverished country thrust against the Indian Ocean whose precarious central government has struggled for decades to keep a violent insurgency at bay. The director resists the urge to cast Somalis as helpless victims, though his poised debut certainly exposes the human toll behind euphemisms like “collateral damage.” Harawe is more interested in probing at the intimate bonds of his unconventional but tight-knit family unit, while exploring how individuals assume or evade responsibility for their actions. While the film’s title hints at the thwarted promise of a troubled country where paradise remains tantalizingly out of reach, Harawe insisted Somalis — bound by family ties and an unwavering perseverance — are ultimately masters of their own fate.
Or read this on Variety