Somalia on Wednesday hosted its first movie screening in three decades under heavy security, as the conflict-ravaged country hopes for a cultural renewal.
Built by Chinese engineers as a gift from then-Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) in 1967, the National Theatre of Somalia has a history that reflects the tumultuous journey of the east African nation.
The building has been targeted by suicide bombers and used as a base by warlords. It has also never screened a Somalian film until now.
Photo: AFP
“This is going to be a historic night for the Somalian people. It shows how hopes have been revived ... after so many years of challenges,” theater director Abdikadir Abdi Yusuf said before the screening. “It’s a platform that provides an opportunity to ... Somalian songwriters, storytellers, movie directors and actors to present their talent openly.”
The evening’s program comprised two short films by Somalian director Ibrahim CM — Hoos and Date from Hell — with tickets sold for US$10, expensive for many.
The evening passed without a security incident, sources said.
Although Mogadishu was home to many movie houses in its cultural heyday, with the National Theatre also hosting live concerts and plays, the seaside capital fell silent after civil war erupted in 1991.
Warlords used the theater as a military base. It reopened in 2012, but was blown up by al-Shabaab militants two weeks later.
The Islamist group considers entertainment to be evil.
After a painstaking restoration, authorities announced plans to hold the theater’s first screening this week.
For many Somalians, it was a trip down memory lane and a reminder of happier times.
“I used to watch concerts, dramas, pop shows, folk dances and movies in the National Theatre during the good old days,” film buff Osman Yusuf Osman said. “It makes me feel bad when I see Mogadishu lacking the nightlife it once had, but this is a good start.”
The militants were driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago, but attack regularly from swathes of countryside that they control.
Attendees had to pass through several security checkpoints before arriving at the theater. For some, the risks paled in comparison to the anticipation of seeing a film in a cinema after such a long wait.
“I was not lucky to watch live concerts and or movies in the theater [earlier] ... because I was still a child, but I can imagine how beautiful it was,” Abdullahi Adan said. “I want to experience this for the first time and see what it’s like to watch a movie with hundreds of people in a theater.”
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