The Somali Film Agency (SFA) was a film

regulatory body A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulatin ...

based in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

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 ...

History

Following a bloodless military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in 1969, the production, distribution and importation of films in the country were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

by the new-established Supreme Revolutionary Council. Privately owned movie theaters were subsequently replaced with government-controlled film houses, and about 500 films were projected annually. The Somali Film Agency (SFA) was established in 1975 as an adjunct to the federal Ministry of Information and National Guidance, growing out of the Ministry's visual aids arm. The SFA's duties included overseeing the importation, distribution and censorship of movies in the country. It later also oversaw the production of both long and short films.Farīd, p.43.Legum, p.48 Most of the imported films were brought in from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. To facilitate processing and post-production, the SFA also forged a working partnership with British Films LTD, a British movie company.History of Cinema in Somalia
/ref> Between 1979 and 1983, the Somali filmmaker

Ali Said Hassan Ali Said Hassan ( so, Cali Saciid Xasan, ar, علي سعيد حسن) (born 1950) is a Somali film producer, director, former photojournalist and archive collector. Early life Hassan graduated from the Sapienza University of Rome. He initially wo ...

served as a representative of the Somali Film Agency in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Somali Film Agency also annually organized the Mogadishu Pan-African and Arab Film Symposium (Mogpaafis) in

. The film festival brought together an array of prominent filmmakers and movie experts from across the globe, including other parts of Northeast Africa and the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, as well as

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and

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Notes

References

* * * *{{cite book , last = Ministry of Information and National Guidance , title = Somalia: five years of revolutionary progress , publisher = Ministry of Information and National Guidance , year = 1974 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zWsMAQAAIAAJ Cinema of Somalia

History

See also

Notes

References