6 Best Movies Set in or About Somalia

6 Movies Set in or About Somalia

Foreign-led films whose sustained setting or subject remains centered on Somalia.

1. 

   1. Captain Phillips

   2013

   Based on the 2009 hijacking of a cargo ship, this thriller follows an American merchant captain taken hostage by a small band of desperate Somali pirates, and the tense standoff that follows. Paul Greengrass's gripping, humane drama starring Tom Hanks.

2. 

   2. Black Hawk Down

   2001

   In 1993, a U.S. raid to capture a Somali warlord's lieutenants in Mogadishu goes catastrophically wrong when helicopters are shot down, trapping soldiers in a desperate, hours-long firefight through hostile streets. Ridley Scott's intense, visceral war film.

3. 

   3. A Hijacking

   Kapringen · 2012

   When Somali pirates seize a Danish cargo ship and hold its crew for ransom, the drama plays out on two fronts — the terrified men aboard and the executives negotiating from Copenhagen — as the weeks stretch on. A nerve-shredding thriller.

4. 

   4. Escape from Mogadishu

   모가디슈 · 2021

   When civil war erupts in Somalia and leaves the rival North and South Korean embassy staffs stranded in Mogadishu, the bitter enemies must set aside their differences and band together for a harrowing joint escape. A tense action drama based on true events.

5. 

   5. The Pirates of Somalia

   2017

   Inspired by a chance meeting with his idol, an idealistic rookie journalist moves to Somalia to embed with the pirates preying on the world's shipping lanes and get the story of a lifetime. Based on a true story.

6. 

   6. Men in the Arena

   2015

   This documentary follows players on Somalia's national soccer team who risk their lives to play the game they love amid war and the threat of extremist violence. An inspiring portrait of courage.