Somaliwood

{{main|Cinema of Somalia}}

{{Quote box|width=220px|align=right|quote="Columbus is like the Hollywood of Somalia now because the biggest production studio is here, and that's us[...] So all the famous Somali actors are here in Columbus."|source=—Abdisalam Aato on Somaliwood and his film company Olol Films}}

File:Abdisalam_Aato.jpg

The earliest forms of public film display in Somalia were Italian newsreels of key events during the colonial period in Italian Somaliland. Growing out of the Somali people's rich storytelling tradition, the first few feature-length Somali films and cinematic festivals emerged in the early 1960s, immediately after independence.[http://www.filmbirth.com/somalia.html History of Cinema in Somalia] Following the creation of the Somali Film Agency (SFA) regulatory body in 1975, the local film scene began to expand rapidly.Abu Bakr, p.25 In the 1970s and early 1980s, popular musicals known as Riwaayado were the main driving force behind the Somali movie industry. Epic and period films as well as international co-productions followed suit, facilitated by the proliferation of video technology and national television networks.

In the 1990s and 2000s, a new wave of more entertainment-oriented movies emerged in the Somali diaspora. Referred to as Somaliwood, this upstart cinematic movement energized the local movie scene, in the process introducing innovative storylines, production techniques and advertising strategies. The latter include cross-media marketing, with tie-in film soundtracks featuring prominent Somali music artists. Popular movies from Somaliwood include the Somali language slasher thriller Xaaskayga Araweelo, the action comedy Rajo, and Warmooge, the first Somali animated film. The young directors Abdisalam Aato of Olol Films, and Abdi Malik Isak are at the forefront of this quiet revolution.{{cite news|url=http://www.hiiraan.com/news2/2007/may/somaliwood_columbus_has_become_a_haven_for_somali_filmmaking.aspx|title=Somaliwood: Columbus Has Become A Haven for Somali Filmmaking|publisher=The Other Paper|date=2007-04-19|access-date=2008-01-25}} In 2010, the Somali director Mo Ali also released Shank, his first feature film set in a futuristic London.{{Cite journal| title = Live East's Tips for the Top: Who's Hot | journal = Live East Magazine | date = 21 May 2010 | issue = Spring 2010 | page=18 | url = http://issuu.com/live-east-mag/docs/live-east-issue-2-web-pdf8-10.pdf | access-date = 5 August 2010}}

• List of Somali films
• Somali Film Agency
• Hollywood-inspired names

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book

| last = Abu Bakr

| first = Yahya

|author2=Saad Labib |author3=Hamdy Kandil

| title = Development of communication in the Arab states: needs and priorities

| publisher = Unesco

| date = 1985

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pERiAAAAMAAJ

| isbn = 92-3-102082-X}}

• {{cite book

| last = Armes

| first = Roy

| title = Dictionary of African filmmakers

| publisher = Indiana University Press

| date = 2008

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=88sTRTl6yKwC

| isbn = 978-92-3-102082-7}}

• {{cite book

| last = Association des trois mondes

| title = Cinémas d'Afrique

| publisher = KARTHALA Editions

| year = 2000

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=61Ol3PLhYhsC

| isbn = 2-84586-060-9}}

• {{cite book

| last = Farīd

| first = Samīr

| title = Arab cinema guide

| publisher = s.n.

| date = 1979

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=14UNAAAAIAAJ

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Kaplan

| first = Irving

| title = Area handbook for Somalia

| publisher = U.S. Govt. Print. Off.

| date = 1977

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok1yAAAAMAAJ

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Legum

| first = Colin

|author2=John Gordon Stewart Drysdale

| title = Africa contemporary record, Volume 8

| publisher = Africana Pub. Co.

| date = 1976

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jDYEAQAAIAAJ

| isbn = 0-86036-030-X}}

• {{cite book

| last = Ministry of Information and National Guidance

| title = Somalia: five years of revolutionary progress

| publisher = Ministry of Information and National Guidance

| date = 1974

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zWsMAQAAIAAJ

}}

• {{cite book

| last = National Endowment for the Humanities

| title = Media log: a guide to film, television, and radio programs supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities

| year = 1987

| publisher = The Endowment

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SWliAAAAMAAJ

}}

• {{cite book

| last = R R Bowker Publishing

| title = Bowker's complete video directory (Volume 2)

| publisher = R.R. Bowker

| year = 1995

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FLJYAAAAMAAJ

| isbn = 0-8352-3588-2}}

• {{cite web

|last = Xodo

|first = Chiara

|title = Catalogo Audiovisivi (con schede didattiche)

|publisher = Centro Interculturale Millevoci, Provincia Autonoma di Trento Dipartimento Istruzione

|date = August 2008

|url = http://www.vivoscuola.it/Intercultu/Archivio/News/COMPLETO-CATALOGO-AUDIOVISIVI.pdf

|access-date = 2009-09-25

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091222075838/http://www.vivoscuola.it/Intercultu/Archivio/News/COMPLETO-CATALOGO-AUDIOVISIVI.pdf

|archive-date = 2009-12-22

}}

• [http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=73016400 Director Abdisalam Aato’s films on Myspace]
• [http://www.ololfilm.com/ Olol Films Website]
• [http://www.filmbirth.com/somalia.html History of Cinema in Somalia]
• [http://jilaa.com/ Jilaa]

{{Arab Cinema}}

{{World cinema}}

Category:Cinema of Somalia

Category:Somali inventions

Category:Somali-language films

Category:Somali-American history