Cinema
Miyi iyo Magaalo
Hajji Cagakombe · 1968
Synopsis
The title contrasts miyi, the countryside, with magaalo, the city. Neither the plot of this film, nor its characters, nor its performers are known.
Context
The film is regarded as the very first Somali feature film, and as one of the first in sub-Saharan Africa after independence. It was shot as an Italian co-production, at a time when private production and distribution companies, like cinemas, were multiplying in the country after 1960. It is dated sometimes to 1963, sometimes to 1968, the year given by IMDb and Filmweb; Roy Armes calls it popular.
Who it is for
For anyone interested in the very earliest days of Somali cinema, in the wake of independence.
Prizes and reception
Histories of Somali cinema cite it as the film that opens the country's feature-film production.
Sources for this page 2
The pages consulted to check this page.