BOMBAY TIMES (December 29, 2019)

Remember all those Hindi films about ‘Kumbh ke mele mein bichchade huye bhai’ or parents separated from their kids only to be reunited later? Well, something similar happened with a Somalian film director, who had given up hope of finding a print of his debut feature film.

In 1984, Said Salah Ahmed made a film called A Somali Dervish. This was his debut film and, Salah, now 74, had last seen it in 1985 in Abu Dhabi, after which it was considered lost.

So, when he spotted cans of the film reel at the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) in Pune, Salah was speechless! It was an emotional reunion of the film with its director who came all the way from USA to search for it. “I am so emotional that I have no words to express my joy and happiness on finding these film reels. It is like finding your lost child after so many years,” he said, adding, “This was my first film and it is very special because the film is a documentation of the revolutionary Somali Dervish Movement under the leadership of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, who was revered by Somalis as a national hero. There is not a single print of my film available anywhere else in the world and I am truly grateful to the NFAI for having preserved the film.”

The film, 4 hours and 40 minutes long, has dialogues in seven languages including Somali, Arabic, Italian, English and Hindi. The movie included an actual descendant of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan as its star and featured interviews of several participants of the revolution. It was edited and processed in the Bombay Lab in Mumbai in 1983-84.

Speaking about how the film was found, NFAI director Prakash Magdum said, “A few months ago, we received a query from award-winning filmmaker and photographer Mark Brecke who is working on a documentary that focuses on Somali cinema. In turn, Mauli Singh, the field producer of the documentary, Somalia In the Picture, which is tracing the lost film heritage of Somalia destroyed during the war, visited us and a search was undertaken through our database that resulted in this rare find. We are thrilled to discover a Somali film in our collection which is so important in the history of Somalia.” The negatives of the 35mm film were deposited in NFAI several years ago after Bombay Lab closed down.

“I have been working on a film project on Somali cinema and filming the remains of the Somali film industry and cinemas. The project is supported by UNESCO and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Finding this prestigious feature film has been the most incredible story on Somali cinema,” said Brecke.

Like in many Hindi films, this story had a happy ending, especially for Salah.