The Film and Moving Image program (Kassel University of Arts), in collaboration with Filmladen Kassel e.V., presents: The Village Next to Paradise.
The film (Somalia, Austria, France, Germany, 2024, 138 minutes) has many surprising aspects, without being a grab-bag. Despite civil war and precarious post-colonial life, the atmosphere is calm, the language simple and the tone laconic. The three members of an involuntary patchwork family in the village of Paradise in Somalia have their own worries. Mamargade’s job as a traditional undertaker is soon to be taken over by machines; his sister Araweelo is going through a divorce and needs to find her feet again; and his foster son Cigaal is sent to boarding school due to a shortage of teachers – something he doesn’t want and for which there is actually no money.
With his debut film, the Somali-Austrian screenwriter and director Mo Harawe offers a rare insight into a country that is hardly ever seen on the big screen.
“Yet despite the numerous personal setbacks, which Harawe almost incidentally embeds within a broader political context, The Village Next to Paradise is no tale of suffering. The visuals and sound work against this: the primary colours glow against the sandy backdrop, and music is used very deliberately in the form of songs from the region. World cinema in the best sense. Harawe offers insights into life in a region that has scarcely been seen before. He achieves this without exploiting exoticism, misery or sentimentality. His characters are almost too resilient for life in a reality where a woman can say things like: ‘There’s no point in having children. They have no future and die young.’ (Valerie Dirk, Der Standard)
A contemporary and surprising story from the far east of Africa, told through strikingly composed images.
Filmmaker Mo Harawe is studying at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (film and moving image). His film The Village Next to Paradise premiered in 2024 in the prestigious ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at Cannes.
Followed by: Mo Harawe in conversation with Jan Peters.
Date:
Tue, 26 May 2026, 6 pm
at Filmladen Kassel