VOA标准英语2012--Somali Film Company Launches in Kenya

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Ahmed Shariff, one of the founders¹, hopes to change people’s impressions of Somali society. “What has been dominant² in the mass media outside was an image that represents a people that are violent and extremists, people who are starving to death. With Eastleighwood, what we want to show is the other side of the story," he said. 

Eastleighwood aims to fill in the gaps by depicting³ the everyday lives of Somalis, mainly of those living in the diaspora. 

Hassan Abdul, an Eastleighwood actor, fled his Somali hometown of Kismayo in 2003. Still under the control of al-Shabab militants⁴, residents of Kismayo are forbidden from listening to music or watching movies. Now in Nairobi, Hassan is free to pursue his career as an actor and singer. “We are trying [to] make Somali movies, talking about love, talking about culture, Somali culture, talking about the reality, the reality in Somalia," he said. 

Love is Blind, a film currently in production, tells the story of a blind girl living in Eastleigh who is courted by three different men. It illustrates⁵ key themes in the lives of the diaspora, such as the vital financial remittances⁶ sent from the U.S. and Europe that support many in Eastleigh. 

With limited funding, almost everyone who works on the films is a volunteer. The production sets are often crewmembers’ homes and the actresses double as singers. 

Though Eastleighwood is not turning a profit yet, many see opportunity in Somali-language programming. The audience is global. In Somalia’s two decades of statelessness, millions have fled the country and settled abroad. There are now more Somalis living outside Somalia than within. 

Iman Burran, the chairman of Eastleighwood, knows this well. “My mom lives in LA, my brother also lives in California, my other brother lives in the UK, my younger brother lives in Lahore, Pakistan, so you see we are global, so Eastleighwood is targeting a global Somali community," he said. 

Four films are currently in production. When complete, they will broadcast on two Somali satellite TV stations reaching Somalis from Mogadishu to Minneapolis. 

Somalia is a place that is largely captured by images of war and famine. Eastleighwood hopes to show something markedly different, that there is great diversity in the Somali people and their stories no matter where they are living now. 

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