With his debut feature THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE, Somali-Austrian screenwriter and director Mo Harawe delivers a powerful story of love, resilience and hope, as well as a rare insight into a country that is hardly ever shown on the big screen. Since the early 2000s, the US has regularly carried out deadly drone attacks on Somalia. This film begins with such an attack. The buzzing and humming of the drones is like an ominous soundtrack following the images of a country whose inhabitants are fighting for survival - especially the people in the village that ironically bears the name “Paradise”. Children here learn at school how to behave in the event of drone attacks, and the adults resign themselves to their fate. This includes Marmargade (Ahmed Ali Farah), who does everything he can to give his son Cigaal (Ahmed Mohamud Saleban) a better life in the city. His relationship with his sister Araweelo (Anab Ahmed Ibrahim) is also full of conflict: she dreams of running her own tailoring business, while Marmargade hopes for her financial support to secure his son's future. Mo Harawe's debut film revolves around the characters, reflecting the fate of Somalia in various ways through the powerful presence of the actors. The film contrasts the geopolitical realities of a crisis-ridden region with a wondrously poetic narrative. The Village Next to Paradise is both a personal and a political film that bears the signature of a mature director in its atmospheric density and narrative subtlety. The film was the first Somali film ever to be shown in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section in Cannes.