The Trouble with Pirates

Black Hawk Down

1997 · ★ 7.4

The story behind the infamous downing of an American Black Hawk helicopter by Somali gunmen.

Pirating Pirates

2014

The film reveals the plight of Somali pirates, mostly former fishermen, who, as a result of the global fishing industry, can no longer make a living from the sea as they once did and have to join up with pirate cartels in order to feed themselves and their families.

Pirates of Somalia

2011

What happens to the crew aboard a pirated ship, the MV iceberg 1, hijacked for over 11 months.

One Flew Over Dadaab

Dadaab: The largest refugee camps in the world. Situated in Northeastern Kenya, it accommodates approximately 500,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia. A great number of these people have lived there most of their lives, trying to survive in congested and seemingly hopeless conditions. For those who know little more than life inside the camps, the outside word is just an 'abstract thought', far away from daily reality. Both the invisible and the real gates of Dadaab have made hundreds of thousands of people feel like prisoners, losing hope for the future.

Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place

2012 · ★ 10

Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born.

The Pirate Bay : How to kill Hollywood

A biopic documentary about the foundation of The Pirate Bay, the mythic website who tried to kill Hollywood.

Pirates! Scourge the Seven Seas

2011

It explores how the seafaring brigands of early modern Europe invented or honed asymmetric naval warfare and new forms of democracy: how they developed social welfare programs, such as pooled funds from which to compensate wounded pirates for lost eyes and limbs: and even how they faced off against the navies of empires.

Love Letters in Somalia

1982 · ★ 3

In this epistolary film, the traveler gives us his impressions of Africa parallel to the expression of his amorous distress. The images of the present intertwine with the incessant echoes of lost love, combining intimate pain with the misery of a country torn apart by internal struggles and poverty.

The Perfect Story

2022

The Perfect Story offers a riveting, intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the boundaries of journalism and filmmaking, the film questions what stories are told, why, and who gets to tell them.

The Pirate Tapes

2011 · ★ 6

Exposing piracy in Somalia from the inside out, The Pirates Tapes follows Mohamed Ashareh, a young Somali-Canadian, as he travels to Somalia in hopes of joining an active pirate cell. Armed only with a hidden camera, Mohamed works his way into a cell run by a ruthless warlord, Jama Donyal, and is assigned to his first hijacking mission. When things take an unexpected turn, Mohamed finds himself on the run from the law with the danger of execution looming.

Nice People

2015 · ★ 7.6

As the first African team ever to do so, Somalia has just signed up for the Bandy World Championships. The young players don't live in Somalia; they live in Borlänge, Sweden, where xenophobia has taken hold.

The True Story of Black Hawk Down

2003 · ★ 6.5

On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.