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] His directorial debut film 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]
Keinan Abdi Warsame, better known by his stage name K'naan, is a Somali-Canadian rapper, singer and filmmaker. He rose to prominence with the success of his single "Wavin' Flag", which was chosen as Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Besides hip hop, K'naan's sound is influenced by elements of Somali music and world music. A Grammy Award-winning artist and FIPRESCI Prize-winning director, he is also involved in various philanthropic initiatives.
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Somali literature is the literature used by the ethnic Somalis of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen, Eritrea, Ogadenia, and Kenya.
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Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is a Somali politician who has served as the president of Somalia since May 2022, having previously held the office from 2012 to 2017. He is the founder and current chairman of the Union for Peace and Development Party. He was indirectly elected as President of the Federal Republic of Somalia on 15 May 2022, defeating the incumbent president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. A civil and political rights activist, Hassan was previously a university professor and dean at SIMAD University, which he co-founded.
The Ministry of Finance, abbreviated MOF, is a ministry of the Government of Somalia that is charged with the responsibility for government expenditure and revenue raising. The ministry's role is to develop economic policy and prepare the federal budget. The Ministry of Finance also oversees financial legislation and regulation. Each year in October, the Minister of Finance presents the Somali federal budget to the Parliament.
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Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame is a Somali politician and a constitutional expert. He is currently the leader of the Wadajir Party. He served as a member of the Somali Parliament from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Planning and International relations under President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed between 2009 and 2010. He contested in the 2017 Somali presidential elections against Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. Warsame was one of the most prominent opposition politicians in Somalia, and a fierce critic of the Farmajo administration, in 2017–2022.
The Swimmers is a 2022 biographical sports drama film directed by Sally El Hosaini based on a screenplay co-written by Sally El Hosaini and Jack Thorne. The film stars real-life sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa, Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, Kinda Alloush, James Krishna Floyd, and Elmi Rashid Elmi.
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The Farah Garad or the Garad Farah is a Somali clan which is part of the Dhulbahante clan-family, a sub-division of the larger Harti/Darod clan. The Farah Garad are divided into two sub-clans — Yassin Garad and Abdalla Garad. Abdalla has four clan eponyms, Ahmed Garad, Mohamed Garad (Baharsame), Guled Garad (Barkad) and Ali Garad. They are largely significant in Sool and Togdheer regions of Somaliland, and Dollo Somali region of Ethiopia.
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