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| Mother Mother | |
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| Directed by | K'naan Warsame |
| Written by | K'naan Warsame |
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| Cinematography | César Charlone |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Isobel Waller-Bridge |
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Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
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Mother Mother is a 2024 drama film written and directed by K'naan Warsame, [1] in his directorial debut after being previously best known as a hip hop musician. The film stars Maan Youssouf Ahmed as Qalifo, a widowed mother in Somalia who must go to extraordinary lengths to restore the peace after her son, Asad (Elmi Rashid Elmi), is drawn into a violent confrontation with American tourist Liban (Hassan Najib). [2]
On a lonely farm in rural Somalia, the widowed Qalifo (Maan Youssouf Ahmed) and her college-age son Asad (Elmi Rashid Elmi) raise camels. Asad lives in the shadow of his late father's violent reputation and bristles at Qalifo's strict parenting, escaping to a nearby village whenever he can. And when Asad learns his girlfriend has been seeing another boy, the American visitor Liban (Hassan Najib), a confrontation is inevitable.
The film was partially based on a real incident from Warsame's own life in Somalia prior to his family escaping to Canada as refugees. [3] The lead character is named in memory of his aunt, who died of cancer just as production began on the film. [4]
A co-production of companies from Kenya, Somalia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, the film premiered in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. [5]
Beandra July of IndieWire graded the film a B+, writing that "by the end of 'Mother Mother' it dawned on me that this is precisely the kind of movie I come to TIFF for, a real voice that disabuses me of my assumptions, and my cynicism from the pain of watching so many movies that erase and belittle the Qalifas of the world. A movie that sends me back out into the light of day wondering." [2]
At TIFF, the film won the FIPRESCI Prize. [6]
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