‘The Village Next To Paradise’ is the 1st Somalia-shot film to be selected for Cannes Film Festival

 

 

 

Set in a windy Somali desert village, “The Village Next To Paradise” revolves around a newly assembled family that must navigate between their different aspirations and the complex world surrounding them. Love, trust and resilience will power them through their life paths - even amidst the throes of civil war and natural disasters.

 

Written and directed by Harawe as his feature-length directorial debut, the film is a poignant take on Somali life that features a cast of emerging Somali actors, including Ahmed Ali Farah, Ahmed Mohamud Saleban, and Anab Ahmed Ibrahim.

 

 

“The Village Next To Paradise” 

is an international co-production that brings together FreibeuterFilm (Austria), Kazak Productions (France), Niko Film (Germany), and Maanmaal ACC (Somalia), with Totem Films of France handling international sales. French theatrical distribution will be handled by Jour2Fête.  

 

 

“The Village Next To Paradise” is lensed by cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef, who is returning to the Cannes Film Festival this year after his short film I PROMISE YOU PARADISE captivated the French festival’s audiences last year, winning the Valbonne Audience Award and Rail d'Or for Best Short Film and earning him eight Best Cinematography awards throughout its festival run.

 

It is also edited by Joana Scrinzi, who received the Best Film Editing prize from the Austrian Film Awards for her multi-award-winning film GREAT FREEDOM, with Nuur Abdulkadir serving as production designer.

 

Developed at the Torino Film Script Lab, “The Village Next To Paradise”  received a post-production prize from the Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech Film Festival and a Locarno Industry award.