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In their simple and tiny home of cinder blocks and corrugated steel, the couple lives with Mamargade’s sister, Araweelo
The newly formed family navigates the challenges of pursuing individual goals and the complexities of modern life, relying on love, trust and resilience to guide them. Along a deserted beach in the wind and waves, father and son, Mamargade and Cigaal, enjoy a slice of happiness in nature. Such precious moments are few and far between, with multiple jobs, drone strikes that bring death from above, checkpoints and payments for work that take months to materialize, if at all.
Cigaal dreams of light
Araweelo dreams of making and selling her own clothes. As an unmarried woman, she can’t get a loan, so Araweelo devises a plan to circumvent the rules. The risks are enormous.
The Village Next to Paradise has landed in Cannes for the first time
“I’ve been trying to improve things all my life,” Mamargade says, “but I keep making mistakes.” When misfortune overshadows almost every aspect of daily life, “mistakes” are inevitable. Yet the humble and hardworking trio never stop trying and hoping for happiness, a business, time at the beach, money for school and better days. “This is the first film shot on location in Somalia,” said director Mo Harawe, who attended the North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Harawe engaged the Paradise community to make the film and employed non-professional actors
The investment in Somalia paid off in terms of the film’s authenticity. The ambient sounds of radio music, traffic, waves and wind also contributed to the film’s realism. “The wind is a character,” Harawe said, “so the human characters are never alone.” Culture is a character, too, and I enjoyed immersing myself in Somali songs, stories and landscape.
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