The Village Next to Paradise

Along a deserted beach in the wind and waves a father and son, Mamargade and Cigaal, enjoy a little bit of happiness in nature. Such treasured moments are few and far between the numerous jobs, drone strikes bringing death from above, check points, and job payments that take months to materialize, if they ever materialize. At their simple and tiny cinder block and corrugated steel home the pair lives with Mamargade's sister Araweelo.

Cigaal dreams of light. Araweelo dreams of making and selling her own clothing. Being an unmarried woman she cannot get a loan, so Araweelo hatches a plan to get around the regulation. The risks are immense.

"My whole life I try to make things better," says Mamargade "but I keep making mistakes." When misfortune eclipses virtually every aspect of daily life, it is impossible to avoid the "mistakes." Yet the humble and hard-working trio never stops trying and hoping for luck, her own business, time at the beach, funding for school, and better days.

The Village Next to Paradise first dropped at Cannes. "It is the first film shot on location in Somalia," said director Mo Harawe who attended this North American premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Harawe engaged with the community of Paradise to make the film and employed non-professional actors. The investment in Somalia paid off in terms of the film's authenticity. The ambient sound of music on the radio, traffic, waves, and wind, contributed to the realistic nature as well. "Wind is a character," said Harawe "so the human characters are not ever alone." Culture is a character too, and I enjoyed the immersion in Somali songs, stories, and landscape.