Love Letters in Somalia

The film provides a close look at how the nomadic inhabitants of Somalia have withstood the ravages of a harsh desert environment and the encroachment of European imperial forces by synthesizing knowledge of the past, Muslim practices, and skillful livestock management in a successful fusion of traditional values with modern techniques.

The Perfect Story offers a riveting, intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the boundaries of journalism and filmmaking, the film questions what stories are told, why, and who gets to tell them.

Journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye talk about the horrendous days in the desert, rail executions and false terror charges. They were arrested before they could report on the violence in the closed state of Ogaden. But the Ethiopian regime failed to silence them. With the help of never-before-seen video material and testimonies smuggled out of the country by a high ranking official, the whole story can finally be told. About Johan and Martin. About the violence in Ogaden. And about the prisoners of dictatorship.

In one of the world's largest and oldest refugee camps, Dadaab, the inhabitans survive by watching films and dreaming. The refugees cannot leave the camp, but they let their minds escape the harsh reality: by going to the simple cinema hall run by Abdikafi Mohamed, the film's protagonist.

Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.

The French researcher Bertrand Monnet visits pirates in Nigeria and Somalia to learn how they make money from oil theft and kidnapping.

What happens to the crew aboard a pirated ship, the MV iceberg 1, hijacked for over 11 months.

Documentary telling the story of the piracy explosion, with unique access to the coastal towns of war-torn Somalia, the boardrooms of the City of London, the operation hubs on board warships in the Gulf of Aden and the heartbreak of a hostage situation gone wrong. (Storyville)

Exposing piracy in Somalia from the inside out, The Pirates Tapes follows Mohamed Ashareh, a young Somali-Canadian, as he travels to Somalia in hopes of joining an active pirate cell. Armed only with a hidden camera, Mohamed works his way into a cell run by a ruthless warlord, Jama Donyal, and is assigned to his first hijacking mission. When things take an unexpected turn, Mohamed finds himself on the run from the law with the danger of execution looming.

Pirating pirates

On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.

The make or break story of a Somali-Australian refugee who went back to where he came from to do battle with ruthless pirates and Islamic militants - and transform his broken homeland into a modern African State.

This documentary reaches to the depth of Somali history, starting from the strong kingdoms that ruled areas far away into Africa, passing by the Portuguese raids and ending with its division into five colonies ruled by different European forces, leaving the people of the same race and language separated by geographical borders. It addresses problems of civil war, chaos, theft, and mass destruction. It also focuses on valuable attempts by national organizations to resist occupation and foster peace.

As the first African team ever to do so, Somalia has just signed up for the Bandy World Championships. The young players don't live in Somalia; they live in Borlänge, Sweden, where xenophobia has taken hold.

Centering on the revolutionary Dervish State and its influential leader, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan (the "Mad Mullah") is an epic on the grandest scale. The film follows Hassan's life from his roots as a humble mullah to a revolutionary anti-colonial leader that fought off the British Empire for more than two decades.

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

After an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime. Hooking up with a local fixer, he attempts to get embedded with the local Somali pirates, only to quickly find himself in over his head.

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

Samia Yusuf Omar is just 9 years old when she discovers her special talent: she is faster than all the other boys and girls. With her friend Ali, who is the same age, she has the goal to earn real money with running and become famous. The children make a pact: Ali becomes Samia's coach. With his help, Samia is to become a real champion. But the ongoing civil war makes life in Mogadishu increasingly difficult...

The inspiring life story of the late photojournalist, artist and activist Dan Eldon, who abandoned a comfortable life in London to document the struggle, heartbreak and hope of a war-torn and famine-ridden region of Africa.