page_title: Cinema of Somalia
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Cinema of Somalia / History / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: English: Ruins of Castle, Taleh Khatumo state, Somalia
context_page_description: The cinema of Somalia refers to the film industry in Somalia. The earliest forms of public film display in the country were Italian newsreels of key events during the colonial period. In 1937 the film Sentinels of Bronze was produced in Ogaden Somalia, with nearly all Somali actors. Growing out of the Somali people's rich storytelling tradition, the first few feature-length Somali films and cinematic festivals emerged in the early 1960s, immediately after independence. Following the creation of the Somali Film Agency regulatory body in 1975, the local film scene began to expand rapidly. In the 1970s and early 1980s, popular musicals known as riwaayado were the main driving force behind the Somali movie industry. Epic and period films as well as international co-productions followed suit, facilitated by the proliferation of video technology and national television networks. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new wave of more entertainment-oriented movies emerged. Referred to as Somaliwood, this upstart, youth-based cinematic movement has energized the Somali film industry and in the process introduced innovative storylines, marketing strategies and production techniques.
context_section_description: In the 1970s and early 1980s, popular musicals referred to as riwaayado were the main driving force behind the Somali film industry.
  In 1983, the feature-length film A Somali Dervish was released. Centering on the revolutionary Dervish State and its influential leader, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (the "Mad Mullah"),
  In 1984, the Somali studies scholar Charles Geshekter produced The Parching Winds of Somalia. Shot on location in Somalia, the film examines how the country's nomadic inhabitants managed to withstand the ravages of a harsh desert environment and the encroachment of imperial forces by synthesizing knowledge of the past, Muslim practices, and skillful livestock management in a successful fusion of traditional values with modern techniques.
  In 1984-1985, the Somali playwright and filmmaker Said Salah Ahmed directed his first feature film, The Somali Darwish (alt. The Somalia Dervishes), with Amar Sneh serving as producer. With a budget of $1.8 million, the 4-hour-and-40-minute epic was devoted to the Dervish State. It was made in seven languages, namely Somali, Arabic, Italian, English, and three regional dialects. The movie included an actual descendant of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan as its star, and featured hundreds of actors and extras.
  In 1986, the first local short feature film to be shot on video was released. Titled Ciyaar Mood ("It is not a Joke"), it was directed by the filmmaker Abdurrahman Yusuf Cartan. Several renowned independent theater productions were later transposed to video by Muxiyadiin Qaliif Cabdi and various other young Somali directors.
  In 1987, Somali film director Abdulkadir Ahmed Said released a short film entitled Geedka nolosha or The Tree of Life, which the following year earned the Prize of the City of Torino in the Best Film - International Short Film Competition category at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema.
  That same year, the inaugural Mogadishu Pan-African and Arab Film Symposium (Mogpaafis) was held, bringing together an array of prominent filmmakers and movie experts from across the globe, including other parts of Northeast Africa and the Arab world, as well as Asia and Europe. Held annually in Mogadishu, the film festival was organized by the Somali Film Agency.
  The establishment of national television networks during this period further fueled the growth of independent Somali productions, most shot on video. Having now obtained greater penetration of the domestic market, the focus then shifted from traditional film premieres in movie theaters to private projections. Consequently, fewer foreign films were imported into the country.
caption: The revolutionary Dervish State was a popular subject in Somali films during the 1980s.
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