THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE
Mamargade (Ahmed Ali Farah) lives in Paradise, a windswept desert countryside under the constant threat of drone strikes, where he digs graves and performs other menial tasks to support his young son, Cigaal (Ahmed Mohamud Saleban). His sister Araweelo (Anab Ahmed Ibrahim), recently divorced, dreams of opening a shop where she can make and sell clothes — but her newfound independence proves difficult, as unmarried women cannot get business loans, and she is forced to hatch a new plan to make her aspirations come true. Director Mo Harawe’s sensitive and empathetic work, the first Somali film ever to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, is a timeless tale about love, sacrifice and dedication that provides political context for an underappreciated and often vilified nation. (Note adapted from TIFF.) DIR/SCR Mo Harawe; PROD Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann. Somalia/Austria/France/Germany, 2024, color, 133 min. In Somali with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 133 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Genre: Drama
