Said Salah Ahmed ( so, Saciid Saalax Axmed, ar, سعيد صالح أحمد) is a Somali playwright, poet, educator and filmmaker.

Life

Said Salah was previously a biology teacher in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. In 1984-1985, Ahmed directed his first feature film, '' The Somali Darwish'' (alt. ''The Somalia Dervishes''), with Amar Sneh serving as producer. With a budget of $1.8 million, the 4-hour-and-40-minute epic was devoted to the polity of Darawiish king Diiriye Guure, i.e. the Dervish Movement. In the film dialogue you can hear seven languages: Somali,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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, and three regional dialects. The movie included an actual descendant of Diiriye Guure's emir,

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Sayid Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan ( so, Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan; 1856–1920) was a Somali religious and military leader of the Dervish movement, which led a two-decade long confrontation with various colonial empires including the British, ...

as its star, Sheikh Osman Mohamoud Omar, and featured hundreds of actors and extras. Following the start of the civil war, Ahmed emigrated to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He subsequently wrote the children's book ''The Lion's Share'', which served as the basis for a Somali folklore-based play that he both penned and produced for the SteppingStone Theatre. Some of his poems have been translated into English by the

Poetry Translation Centre The Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) is an organization dedicated to translating poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It was founded by the British poet Sarah Maguire in 2004. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Said Salah Living people Ethnic Somali people Somalian film directors Somalian poets Somalian emigrants to the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)