Cinema Africa 24/25: A Conversation with Mo Harawe, director of "The Village next to Paradise"
Abstract
- Abstract
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In this interview, director Mo Harawe discusses his debut feature film "The Village Next to Paradise", presented at the Cinema Africa Festival 2024–2025 in Bayreuth.
In conversation with Prof. Dr. Ute Fendler, organiser and curator of the festival, Harawe reflects on the film’s portrayal of family life in a rural Somali village shaped by economic hardship, environmental pressures and the lingering effects of conflict. He also discusses his approach to storytelling, his use of non-professional actors, and his intention to foreground everyday experiences beyond dominant narratives.
The interview was recorded as part of the 16th edition of the Cinema Africa Festival, organised by the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth.
Origins & context
- Title
- Cinema Africa 24/25: A Conversation with Mo Harawe, director of "The Village next to Paradise"
- Language
- English
- YouTube playlist
- Cinema Africa 2024/25
- Date
- March 29, 2026
Identifiers & sources
Full text
- Transcript
- yeah good afternoon Mr Moi welcome to B I'm very happy and honored as well that you found time to come to bid in between a very busy schedule and very big festivals for the last couple of months um we will screen the film uh Village next to Paradise this evening in in bid so we would be happy to learn more about about about your your career how how did you come about to to make films maybe we could start with that well uh thank you very much and I'm happy also to be here uh and I'm looking forward to the screening in the evening of the film um I think uh how I come to films is uh I would say it it is more it's an accident more than more than more than a plan because I I even when I was a teenager I didn't like I wasn't planning to make films you know um it just happened that I was in Austria and um like I came I was born in Somalia I grew up there until I was almost 18 and then I came to Austria and in hindsight I think uh it's because I um I didn't know the language and I and I had something to say in a way and I wanted to express myself and uh since I watched a lot of films when I was uh or I used to watch film when I was child and young maybe um that Medium was the only one that I could identify and I could maybe tell U tell something um and uh since visual language is a very Universal language uh um I think it's a theory you know so I think maybe because of that that's why I I I I started making films you know so and and the rest was um literally um you know just happened you know there's no moment where I thought like I have to be a filmmaker or I would be a filmaker yeah I mean that it's great if an ex an accient an accident can bring you to such a big success that you had with your feature film that's fantastic congratulations thank you but you had a number of short films before this uh feature film and so maybe you can say a little tell us a little bit more about those short films yeah I've I've done few short films some of them in Austria some of them in in in in in Somalia and um yeah I think the more uh the the ones that have been the ones that travel at festivals are probably my last two short films that I shot in in Somalia one of them is life on the horn film that I show in 2020 in Somalia um and the second one I show it in it's called I show it in 2022 and it's called will my parents come to see me mhm so I think these are the ones that traveled uh the most you know at festivals and unnown and and and this The Village next to bar was my my first future film mhm yeah and as you as you said before that you wanted to I mean to transmit some messages you had something to say could you tell us what you wanted I mean what was were the main messages for the first two short films that traveled well um I think when I said like I I wanted to express myself I didn't mean like specif in like a specific topic or or stories because the like when the when I what I wanted to express myself was like I don't 2013 14 around that time and I did the short films like years later but what I mean that was a gen in general but the last two short films the left on the horn was or it's about um um you know a father um and a son who lives um you know somewhere on a coastline and and there are some toxic West Dums that came to the shore and and they have to leave that place um and the father's already sick and you know and he wants to stay there and and but wants his son to leave the place and his son doesn't want to leave him so it's about that you know it's about the that relationship and in the background is this um chemical toxic Wes that's that's thrown to into the somal shore uh as a as a topic and the second one uh like the the last my last short film is called the one that's called will my parents come to see me is about um a young teenager who is uh you know um who's who's going to be executed uh by the government because he's uh um allegedly he's a he's a terrorist you know and and and it's about the the last day of his life mhm um and and and what happens during that process okay unfortunately I haven't seen the film yet I would love to see it do you know where en chance the film by um what's his name again Alan gumis from Sagal T what also the last day of the life of a person who came back from from the states and then the whole life so I'm very curious to see your film now I hope I can I can get hold of it okay but I saw at least that uh um life what was it again life on on the horn on the Horn uh is in black and white yeah um so I guess you also work a lot on uh the Aesthetics of films yeah but it depends on the on the film uh life on the horn was black and white because um it's about uh this uh environment that's dead you know it's like uh there's no there's no life there because of these toxic Westies um so it was a way to to emphasize that uh visually so that's why I I I sh it in black and white um yeah so whether the film or which color is you know even if it's not black and white how how how warm or how cold or how vibrant the colors are depends on the on the theme or or all the topics of the film yeah and I also read that you went to Art School in Castle I think I went to uh yeah consortial Castle so um um yeah and there you also worked on film or that was on really on other Arts also film but also film yeah and would you say that this this time at the art school this had some impact on also on your film making um of course I would say because um the like I was was making already films but of course because uh the idea was also to to learn something which not which which is not the classical film you know in the sense that you go to um a film school where you learn you know script writing or Direction so I didn't at that moment in my life I didn't want to do that um and that's why I went to that to that school because it's not it's it's more more um open you know and more experimental and and and and you have different kind of uh classes that you can go you know which has nothing to do with with narrative film per se so so my my like my idea was maybe just to to dive into these different things and see what's happening there mhm yeah okay also very interesting because then I'm wondering if um because there lot of things going on I mean in terms of um research on intermediality in the general fields of Arts would you place yourself somewhere in this in this larger field more than film per se um like I mean if I talk about what I what I did so far then I think it would be film just film but um but to come to make films or to come to that point I think you don't have to necessarily be um in one particular uh field you know um you can be doing something completely different can be um you can be you know studing literature and maybe do a film you know so so I I but what defines is maybe the result so I think I made a I made film so far so so yeah could be link to something else next time yeah okay but then maybe we can talk about the uh the the feature film you already mentioned quickly script writing um also making films um black and white so the choice also of the Aesthetics uh so how was the work on on this long on this feature film in terms of script writing also the story so as I said before at the beginning I didn't plan to like really to to to make to become a filmmaker a lot of I worked of course a for it but um a lot of things just happened just like that uh for example this film I it wasn't supposed to be my the first feature film that I I wanted to do because I wrote the script the first draft of the script in 2018 mhm and um I was not thinking at that moment like that I will make the film immediately or something like that and then I I I left the film and uh or I let you know I left it like that and in 20121 uh uh my producers came came you know and and and they wanted to to work with me and that's when I took out the script again so um um and I and I wrote also other scripts you know even before that one so um yeah and then and then I wrote another draft and you know and and and we made the film so we sh the film in 20123 summer 2023 in Somalia with um with uh an African team predominantly somalis um because that was also uh the idea that we we shoot the film with um with locals and if we don't find um people who have the no know how M uh in some key positions then we will get it from the region for example the sound team is from Kenya and Uganda and the camera is from Egypt mhm um and the rest were uh basically somalis uh some of them even for the first time on a film set um yeah and we show it for 3 months the film in on summer 2023 and um finished it in uh um like finished the whole thing like the boss and everything in yeah I think April or or yeah mid April 2024 that was very quick yeah so in terms of shooting the film and and and and and finishing the film it was quick uh and even if you if you if we talk about also the like the moment when we were ready with the script like was 2022 summer 2 turn two and then we started Finance uh you know looking for the finances and everything went fast so in that sense it's it's it it it everything went fast you know which is not normal in in in in film making yeah so we were really really uh lucky with the film you know yeah so you already mentioned that you then also had to find some of the uh Specialists on the team and in other countries in general I guess it must have been quite difficult to to do the film then in Somalia if you don't really have the infrastructure and yeah no it's um I mean yeah you you could say that but but also yeah in in some ways yeah it's difficult but also in other ways it's also it's also there are some things that are easier there okay yeah compareed to shooting the film maybe in in Vienna or in Europe so it's how how how you see it uh but um like for example we we shot the film 64 days you know 64 shooting days that would never happen in Austria or in Europe like you cannot have that like probably it would be like 30 you know days average if not less so that's a plus that you can do that there you know um and also the spontaneity of of of doing some Sometimes some things like you could get for example some locations uh like uh the day that you're shooting you know or in the evening of of the of the day before um and and because people there are a bit flexible you know you could go to a restaurant and ask them if it's possible to shoot the film there tomorrow and then then okay and and the chances that you get are more that would never happen you know in in difficult yeah in in in Europe so so it's it's you know there are of but but of course it's since there is no infrastructure there um you know it's it's um there are some limitations which could also be a freedom like creatively or or which could also make you really think uh creatively and find a solution for that for example we didn't have all the equipments that we wanted like and and since um there was a small plane that was going to that City where we were shooting the film we couldn't take uh it couldn't transport all the equipments that we needed you know because we were not shooting in madish we were shooting northeastern part of of the country so at the end like we ended up only with uh I think four uh Li equipments you know and then we have to then um literally uh shoot the whole film with with uh with that and and that also then as I said like also because you have these restrictions or limitations then you think out of the box and and and and and it it it it it can yeah it helped us I think in this particular film um creatively to to to you know come with ideas you know for example there's a scene in the film where where uh you know all the protagonists are or the actors are on on on the beach and it's night and uh since we couldn't light you know and we didn't want to use um like uh artificial lights that don't have any motivation like C candles or what you know we we we decided to to shoot the whole scene in dark like so you don't see anything like okay you I like we we like we know what's happening before that and we know what's happening after that that so and you know and and and then that's how we show the film and I and I I love the scene is brilliant and it wouldn't have been like that without these limitations MH I see yeah okay I want I mean when when I saw the film for the first time I was um I think that even though you have a reduced number of personalities it's a very complex story I found um because each character has a very very um let's say very comp I mean the seem to be very complicated relationships between the different characters in the same family and more complexity is going to re because I don't want to reveal now everything but it's revealing over the time um so yeah I wanted to because you were saying you mentioned the script writing and and very often people then when they revise that scripts they do it also in a group or with advis advisors in the sense of getting some ideas or getting some feedback so I was wondering also about this complexity I mean on very reduced on the one hand and then very complex on the on the other hand um I mean the when I was writing the story I think I wanted to to show um you know people from different Corners uh in in Somalia or in in a village in Somalia so that's why also the family is unconventional you know because then everyone can have their own goal in a way um which could have been different maybe if um if instead of the sister it it was a wife you know um because then she will have the same goal as the father you know so um and and and in terms of uh uh uh um like even what we have now you know the film had even other characters that we cut it down you know during the editing because it was too long you know um and and you know because I wanted to show you know the daily life you know so and in terms of what what you see when and you know and and and what's in the foreground and what's in the background um you have like in the foreground the characters and their Ambitions you know and their goals and their uh dreams and wishes and and in in in the background you have you know the the the political situation you know the economical what's happening um in the country and it's interl you know all all like their wish and their dreams uh and their daily decisions are affected by what's happening uh um what's happening in the background and that was also for me important to also talk about these issues there you know uh since you don't see it normally um you know from that side M uh so it was uh it was yeah the goal was to put the people in front you know because you don't if you hear about them like in Somalia it's always about numbers and not about the people like like no I mean like even like even the news clip where the film starts with you know it's a it's a real clip you know so so you don't really think about MH what's happening or what's happening there as as like you don't really think about the people it's just an incident something happened so that's what I mean and so that uh that that was the idea like to to put the people like and to give them get close to them yeah that you know okay it's about people at the end of the day it's about and they are human beans and but at the same time then to to show the things that uh you see normally in the media from the other side you know uh whether it's terrorism whether it's uh you know illegal fish fishing know whether it's Pirates or all that stuff you know to to show how how it's perceived from the other side you know um and yeah so in that sense would you say then it's also kind of a response to to the media coverage in in international media about Somalia of course yeah so I mean that's why you said it's a complex story and it's and it's all these things are you in like in within that story and and and and I didn't wanted also to make it easy yeah yeah obviously so yeah but at the same time I had the impression that a characters seem to be lost all of them I mean as you said they have their old goals and they're very individualized but at the same time it's also as if uh the the bondages in families or communities that they are not maybe not not working anymore or not so much anymore so that everybody I mean there comes a certain Freedom with it but it also comes a certain feeling of yeah being being lost at least this was my my impression when I was watching the film I I think I would say I I wouldn't say lost but I would say uh something maybe that's close to that which different I would say they they accept you know the things that are happening and try to find they don't they don't try to you know to in a way to to give up so they they okay it's it's what it is okay let me find a way so so I would say it's the acceptance more than that more than than being uh being lost you know because um every one of them is trying yeah yeah I mean being lost I didn't mean it in the way that they're not trying on the country they're all trying yeah very hard actually but in their mind what I'm saying is like I mean maybe when you see it from outside it looks like as they are lost but in their mind they exactly know where they are you know and and and and um like they are they don't see themselves like neither as victims nor as um you know as uh how would I say as as uh as Heroes maybe they just they they they know the reality and they know and they accept it and they try to find a you know a solution you know for for all for or within within within that okay um which is what normally the you know the common man do you know or does okay but I'm sorry that I insist on that no because then the Lost in the sense of I mean then they are still even if I mean you have to face that you accept and you will find a solution but it's kind of um of the to be thrown back I mean you you you don't really you might not get help or um support necessarily from whatever kind of social structure but you your m is alone and have to face the problems that you that you might encounter yeah um maybe we can talk a little bit about the about the title of course whatever I mentioned oh yeah we will have this this fil you will know what I guess you know what I'm going to say that oh Village next to Paradise that sounds good that sounds what is this about and everybody was kind of expecting you know when you hear paradise and Village it sounds first first impression you is that must be something very idyllic um beautiful and so on I'm not saying the film is not beautiful but I think the expectance was not really about um um village where people have to face uh shortcuts or difficulties um due to the overall political and social um context so the the title was when so when people didn't really know from which context or who made the film and just heard the the title this was the first impression then afterwards and ah okay and um yes so I wondered how how how this title came about um yeah so the title was uh for me was was a um was a a metaphor in a way uh for the country because uh the village represents in a way the country so um I I I I will see Somalia as um you know as uh as a country that that has the potential to be paralyzed mhm if you see where it's located geographically and and uh and uh you know um if you only see the the beach there and everything you know so less population so it's like it could be a paradise but um because because it's not or it has the potential but and and because it's not that's why it's like next to to next to Paradise yeah so um if these problems are solving then it's it's it's Paradise so that was one level uh where the title was important like that and on the other side it's if you think about the village and where it's located it's uh it's on you know on the seaside and in the even in in the film if you see the beach there you know and and and the white sand and and the blue you know water M and you don't really think about uh the the problems in the village then that space or place is a paradise to just certain images yeah so so the so the village next to Paradise in the sense that the sea is the paradise and the beach and the Sands is the paradise so so so that was uh where I was playing with the with with the title and actually it was it was there before I even started writing the scripts yeah okay yeah so you had first the title I mean I had the idea of the script but or the story but um but it was clear it was from the first GetGo it's called like that so talking about the title um so would you say that then the title is also opening up like a some utopian moment in the film or for the imagination of people for the those who will watch the film um I hope so I mean I really didn't think about that uh what people will think it's usually people ask also about how was the reception and what do you what do you want people to I mean what do you expect as a reception very often yeah yeah I know I'm I'm talking about when I was uh even up until now when I was writing the title I I didn't think about uh that because it made a sense for me I had motivation you know there was a reason for it to be there so uh so I didn't really think about what people um might think but uh but I think if you hear about it you will like the fact that it's like next to Paradise it will it will give you a hint okay it could be anything it could be that or it could be this you know it could be like real Paradise or it's maybe it's not so so an invitation to open up imagination yeah it could be anything sorry yeah yeah I mean I just because I was sometimes when you read about African film in general um you read quite often that okay there are very few science fiction as a genre film very very few about the future as such so I was always looking for for films that might not be classified as such but who very often still make proposals or invitations to reflect on where it could open up for some imagination for the future so it might not be in the genre as in other film cultures um but I found that quite a lot of films still have this even if it's not that maybe that outspoken let's let's put it that way um yeah um maybe we can quickly also um address the the the main uh character of the film who is a grave digger yeah so when I saw it I also was thinking of of the other film the gravedigger's wife of 21 and I wondered maybe there's no connection at all maybe you saw it and you thought oh yeah that's a good good idea I mean me as a Critic looking from outside would say okay if there are so many problems everywhere so the main characters more and more often are grave diggers otherwise you cannot survive you are confronted with a lot of death and catastrophes so this can only be like a metaphorical main character to face this kind of um but at the same time you know because you were talking about metaphors and maybe then uh opening up the doors to the future I was also thinking of these metaphors where you have the the the personalized death or Gravedigger but who can he's also the person who might be the one who leads the dead persons to the other side you know in various mythology yeah no I mean I like that these interpretations but I wasn't I like these interpretations but I was I wasn't I wasn't I was just wondering um no I know the other film and I uh I I I also know the director of the film it's a friend uh of mine and uh and I I saw the film um and at at the beginning like before I saw the film I thought like oh okay cuz when it came out out the script was was plan it was it it was where we decided to make the film so the when it came out I was like okay wow you know um okay you know I'm not sure but then I saw the film and it was completely different uh subject and in this film also like the main character is not just you know a gra deer he does also other jobs you know uh and and and the more he the more the film goes you know the story you know progresses the less he does also that job because that job is also taken away you know by companies and all that stuff so um so I was it was okay for me and and and and the reason why it was important for me that he a g deg is also to link his job uh between his job and and you know the Drone okay you know to to find a connection between that you know so that um I mean he could have also another job where there is a link between him and and the drones because he's also he's he's the one who also anticipates uh when there will be a job uh because of the of the drones you know uh which is you know absurd in a way but um um but uh that's uh that's that's uh like any other job uh you know that's that's normal in our our world I think the ones who are um you know producing the machine guns and all that stuff if there's no world there no they will not if there if there are not people who are die in then they will not um make make the money or or the ones that are maybe uh you know making some some medicines so mhm it makes you know maybe within that context it's for the first time it's like um yeah absur and it's like why you know but but but that that's why I wanted to the character to do that that job more than more than um more than anything anything else okay yeah I mean then also we just talked about the title even when I maybe it's also because then I also read paradise and you have the grae digger because I said okay you have these persons uh you know the those the passers the mediators between two world so I thought everything might be might be link to to each other yeah but I mean that was the first motivation but I think uh he he is also one who does his job not only because of the money but because also he believes that he's doing something good you know he's more than a grave digger actually um and that's why he cannot accept that you know machines and and metals are now used to to to dig Graves and all that stuff and there's a there's a scene in the film where he says uh when when he finds out that the hospital gave the contract of the of of the Grave digging to or the burials to a company that he can't believe people really accept that like the the relats of the you know of the the thead people accept that U you know that the company with machines will Parry will do the burials and he's like it's the end of the world he he says that because even if you think about there's a scene in the film where he's sping the daughter of an old lady MH and he is like a almost like a therapist to her you know he he goes to there you know he talks with her so so he sees this job also as um as he seees himself as more than just a a a grave deer you know um you know he accompanies people exactly you know he does a yeah he does he does uh actually a lot um yeah so so maybe yeah may maybe also what you're saying is in a way yeah even me not thinking about or not having that you know consciously in mind is is there you know yeah interpretation different reading that's the best part of movies you know exactly yeah when you finish the film it doesn't belong to you you know it's like you know it belongs to everyone and there objective um as we were talking bit maybe about uh yeah um let's say the film in a larger context uh when I saw the film uh I also was thinking about the I mean the Aesthetics also in terms of photography and so on it was reminded me a little bit of um uh the work of uh the filmmaker from chart um what's his name again M Salah oh my God sorry harun mahmed Salah no I'm always I always mix up all the names Muhammed Salah harun yeah with datat for example but there was also um the other film so I wondered um if if you I mean do you have any kind of not role model but inspiration from other uh filmmakers where you would say and when you were thinking about the film you had some okay this is what you like maybe you would put something like this into the film I mean uh since I I came to films very late I I really didn't have um like in Inspirations in a way I I liked like I I liked I watched films and I liked films and and a lot of times I didn't even know who made the who made the films you know and I can't even remember the names who made the film because my my my goal was not to you know watching the films when I was young was not really to become a filmmaker so it didn't matter you know so um not really but I I I I really love the work of of uh sisako um I was what would have been my next question yeah yeah no I I I I I love his work actually um I I I love his film uh I don't my next question if because I saw some connections there as well yeah I can imagine no I I love his films I love I love really especially that film I loved it you know um it's um yeah it's it's uh I can imagine like but but it's it's a special film I think yeah yeah and I I I luckily I met him in uh like last year end of last year and it was really uh yeah okay I've written about his films but have never met him unfortunately yeah but here in Mak particularly I mean maybe it's not a really an inspiration but you know like as a Critic I would look for connections or themes that that repeat not repeat but who speak to each other and as this film is as the title says also about this about waiting W of Happiness yeah yeah and I had the impression that this moment of also moments of waiting and the pace of the film this brings I mean there I felt you know like a similar uh feeling in Harry makono for for me as a as a spectator um and in your film so not necessarily something very concrete but more in the in the mood yeah yeah yeah let's put it that way yeah yeah no I I it's it's one of my favorite films okay in the world yeah okay um and I guess maybe then to come to an end um I guess the obligatory question in all the interviews is what is your next project um well I I I don't know because up until now I was busy with uh with this film so but uh there will be something there will be something yeah no for sure there will be something okay and then next yeah there will be Fest fbak very soon oh that's that's I hope for you and your film that's um there will be a yeah I will be there no I will be there and the film is already it's know it's there in selection and um I'm looking forward to to fpak also yeah yeah will the first time yeah so thank you very much uh for coming to byid for bringing your film with you and hopefully with another film or another project in the near future thank you very much it was a pleasure thank you