''The Parching Winds of Somalia'' (1984) is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

produced by Charles Geshekter.

Subject matter

The film provides a close look at how the

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

ic inhabitants of

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 ...

have withstood the ravages of a harsh desert environment and the encroachment of European imperial forces by synthesizing knowledge of the past, Muslim practices, and skillful livestock management in a successful fusion of traditional values with modern techniques.R R Bowker, p.1219National, p.94

Form

''The Parching Winds of Somalia'' features extensive location

footage In filmmaking and video production, footage is raw, unedited material as originally filmed by a movie camera or recorded by a ( often special) video camera, which typically must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or ...

in Somalia, historical photographs,

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

s, and contemporary

Somali music The Music of the Somali people () is music following the musical styles, techniques and sounds of the Somali people. Overview Traditional Somali music Somali people have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali folklore. Soma ...

Other

The film is rated ages 14 and up in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was released on

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

in 1993 by PBS Video VHS.

References

Sources

* * 1984 documentary films 1984 films English-language Somalian films Somalian documentary films 1980s English-language films {{Somalia-film-stub