The Village Next to Paradise

In a remote Somali village on the Indian Ocean, the single Mamargade lives with his son Cigaal. It looks very idyllic, including white sandy beaches and clear blue skies, but the idyll is fragile; because of the war on terror, a deadly drone could emerge from that beautiful blue sky at any moment. But life goes on. Cigaal is a very clever and imaginative little boy who prefers to share his dreams with everyone. And then there is Araweelo, Mamargade's divorced sister. She too has a dream: to open a shop, and to do so she needs a sewing machine.

In this loving but utterly unsentimental feature debut, Somali director Mo Harawe shows how difficult life can be moving between “dream and drone”. This ode to resilience and hope had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Somali film ever to receive that honour.