Cannes Film Festival: Mo Harawe: “Maybe I was just lucky”

Mr. Harawe, you are the first person from Somalia whose film made it into the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival. It is also your feature film debut. How do you feel?

I see it from a different perspective: It’s a shame that it only happened in 2024. But better now than in ten years.

How did the story come to you?

I wrote the first draft of the book in 2018. At the time, I had no intention of making a film out of it. I was in a situation where I noticed that there was a gap, a divide between the country of Somalia that I know and what the world I lived in has about Somalia. They are completely different perspectives.

The book was an attempt to get to know myself. But I didn’t necessarily want to tell stories, I wanted to write about things that you can’t explain, that you can perhaps only see and feel. So not just the rational things that happen, but the human and interpersonal things: what people are like, what they look like, how they talk, what they eat, how they show love, how they lie. I didn’t get the book out again until 2022, when a production company wanted to make a film with me.

You left Somalia at the age of 18 and went to Austria. Can I ask why?

It’s a long story, not a special one, but just too long. Maybe one day I can write about it, but I don’t want to talk about it now.

But you are now allowed to film in Somalia without any problems?

Yes, I have been able to travel to Somalia again for five years.

When you think of Somalia from a Eurocentric perspective, you think of the pirates, the civil war, the drones. The film begins with news about drones. And then we see what it’s like for the people who are really affected.

Yes, the goal was definitely to break the Eurocentric view. I wanted to show what’s behind the news images and statistics. Because when what is happening in my homeland is reported, people are often forgotten. This doesn’t just affect Somalia. Just as people in the West talk about refugees, the word eventually loses its actual meaning. It was important for me to show the audience right at the beginning of the film: Here is what I offer you and here is your perspective, wanted or not wanted. What you consume is actually entertainment rather than stark reality.

The scenes at the beginning of the film are real footage. I don’t think anyone thinks about who it is that died in an attack. Then it shows what real life is like. The people of Somalia are like other people anywhere in the world. They have desires, are looking for work, want to live a good life. But their decisions in everyday life are influenced from outside, by the “rest” of the world – be it drones coming over them or illegal fishing or whatever.

Your own story is a success story. To what extent did you receive support, to what extent did you have to overcome difficulties or even hostility to sit here in Cannes today?

I hope that success is tangible. However, I also question what it actually means to be successful. I hope that this is true in the truest sense or continues to work. I think making films is difficult anyway. If you didn’t go to film school, it’s even more difficult. Especially in a country like Austria, where – let me just say – only people who enjoy financial support or can afford it can study film. It’s difficult to dream of being able to make films. It doesn’t seem obvious that every child, even in France and elsewhere, should be allowed to dream of this. You have to grow up in a family that can make it possible. This is the beginning. This is the first door. And even if you can and are allowed to dream and open this door yourself, you have to go to film school to learn this art in order to get into the system. Yes, it wasn’t easy in my case. But somehow it worked in the end. The risk of giving up was greater than the chance of making it. Maybe I was very lucky too.

How did you find your actors?

I looked for it through acquaintances and friends and found it because there is no film infrastructure in Somalia. You cannot start a classic casting call. That’s why we did what we also did with short films: you go to people and ask whether they know anyone who wants to appear in a film and who corresponds to the director’s ideal image of his or her actors. Or you go out on the street and talk to people directly and say: Hey, I have this and that planned, would you be willing to join in? Most of the time people think you’re crazy because people in Somalia aren’t interested in film at all. Film is not such a thing in my home country. For example, I met the main actor in “The Village Next to Paradise,” the father, through a producer. And through him I found the child. The aunt was the only one with whom we did something like a casting. Our casting director invited five women, and she was one of them.

If there is no film infrastructure in Somalia, how were you even able to film there? And how long did filming take?

Three months, 64 days of filming. Our attitude was: We’re going there, we’re trying to prepare something. After we shot a few sequences in the evening, we immediately looked for the location for the next day. So everything was pretty spontaneous. We were supported by the belief that it would work. I think if we had prepared for a long time beforehand, we might have given up on making this film. Because everything actually spoke against it. Sometimes it’s better to jump into the deep end and say: Okay, I’m in and swimming now. Many of those who starred in my film were on a film set for the first time and had never had anything to do with film before. We were looking for actors and actresses who were motivated. And we gave them time to get used to the profession. You have to stay patient and make the best of the situation.

Is a filming permit required in Somalia?

Yes, of course you have to have filming permits. You can’t just quickly close a street to film. But there is no censorship in the sense that you have to submit your script and first study it carefully. Fortunately. We received support, even when filming in prison or hospital. These are invaluable advantages here compared to Europe, where everything takes a long time due to bureaucracy.

Have you experienced racism or xenophobia in Austria?

Of course, you experience that everywhere. But this is not something new and unfortunately it will not disappear all of a sudden.

When did you decide to make films?

There is no specific moment where I said I would become a filmmaker. I seriously considered it at some point. I initially wrote this and that and made videos. And at some point there was no turning back, I was captivated by filmmaking. I myself hadn’t dreamed of becoming a filmmaker.

What did you want to be?

I don’t know, I had no goal.

You said in an interview that there is no cinema in Somalia. What was it like for you the first time you saw a film on the screen in a cinema? Do you remember that?

I can’t remember where or when it was, but I’m sure it was special. I haven’t watched any films for a long time now because I was busy with my film. And then I’m here in Cannes and saw the opening film, but also the Chinese film “Black Dog”. Wow! So this fascination with films doesn’t let me go and I certainly felt it the first time.