Wednesday December 6, 2023
RTÉ will broadcast A Girl From Mogadishu on RTÉ One on Friday Dec 8th at 11:15pm. The film received the Cinema for Peace Women’s Empowerment at the Berlin Film Festival 2020.
RTÉ will broadcast A Girl From Mogadishu, a drama inspired by the life and work of Irish activist Ifrah Ahmed, following her from childhood in a refugee camp in Somalia to Ireland.
Fleeing war-torn Somalia in 2006 Ifrah is trafficked to Dublin where she applies for asylum. A traumatic medical examination reveals the extent of her mutilation as a child. Traumatised by the memory, she channels the experience into a force for change and emerges as a formidable campaigner against Female Genital Mutilation at the highest political echelons in Ireland, Europe and globally.
The film stars Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away with Murder) as Ifrah Ahmed and Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips, Good Time) as her trafficker along with Orla Brady (Picard, Rose Plays Julie) and Maryam Mursal. A Girl From Mogadishu was scored by Nitin Sawhney, and its title track also features Quiet by Milck, the unofficial anthem of the 2017 USA Women’s March. Based on the recorded testimony of activist Ifrah Ahmed, it is written and directed by Mary McGuckian.
As well as being a recipient of the Mill Valley 42nd edition World Cinema Award in the US, A Girl from Mogadishu received a number of awards during its international film festival run. The film was released by Showtime in the US, and virtually in the UK and Ireland by Eclipse Pictures due to COVID in 2020.
“A Girl from Mogadishu is based on my story, but it is also the story of the 200 million women and girls worldwide who have suffered the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation,” said Ifrah Ahmed. “While the movie is intended to focus attention on the barbarity and scale of the practice, its ambition is also to empower all young women and girls to have the courage to stand up and speak out.”
“When we celebrate female heroes in cinema, we not only amplify their voices, we empower audiences to be touched and emboldened by their courage,” added director Mary McGuckian. “I’m delighted that the film will now be released so that more young women and girls can identify with courageous characters such as Ifrah.”
The film's first television broadcast coincides with the United Nations 15 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence between International GBV Day November 25th to International Human Rights day December 10th 2023.