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The number of young Somali film directors participating in this year’s Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) reflects the growth of the Somali film community in the Twin Cities.
Whether it is looking at the culture of Somalis living in Minnesota or in countries with native Somali populations, these filmmakers are giving audiences a realistic view of the daily lives of their people.
Mohammed Sheikh screened his film “Barni” at the Main Cinema, 115 SE Main in Minneapolis, at 7 p.m. June 30. The event included a reception at 6 p.m. Abdilatif Hassen has been invited to present his film “Runtaa” as well at the MN Made series at the Main.
Mohammed Sheikh
Mohammed Sheikh came to Minnesota when he was 17. Five years later he started his own film company, Ajeel Films.
Sheikh was born to Somali parents in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, and he recalled as a young child using cardboard boxes with his friends. They would open up the bottom of the box, and one child would play an actor in the frame formed by the box.
“I wanted to be an actor, not a director,” he noted. “My mom used to take umbrellas and perform a traditional dance. I was her equipment handler. She also made cassettes for weddings, and she was so creative with her words and had such a beautiful voice.”
Sheikh graduated from Roosevelt High School and studied business management at Gustavus Adolphus, where he took one class in video arts. “I learned about editing,” he said. “But I have mostly been self-taught.”
Sheikh, who lives in St. Paul, said he still has a long way to go. “In art, film-making and life in general, you need a little experience,” he said. “I am still learning.”
He has directed numerous short films and documentaries, but his first feature “Barni” was shown at the MSPIFF festival in April 2026.
“This was my first feature, and the first film I shot out of the country,” Sheikh said. He has previously completed many shorts about Somalis living in the United States. He has also become a Jerome Fellow and has received a grant of $20,000 per year for three years.
“Barni” tells the story of a young Somalian girl who becomes lost after a wedding takes place in her home country, and the three teenagers who set off for the city to search for her. Because of the unstable conditions in Somalia, Sheikh shot the film in Djibouti, which is home to many Somali people.
“Making a film in Djibouti is very different from filming here,” Sheikh said. “A hundred thousand dollars goes a long way in Djibouti compared to Minneapolis.”
He received support from the Djibouti government’s National Agency for the Promotion of Culture and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
Sheikh said this was another reason to shoot in that country.
“Making a film there does come with its challenges,” he acknowledged. “They are not as familiar with film making, and there is a lot of bureaucracy.” He used a local cast and an international crew.
Sheikh said he wants to shoot films that depict Somali people not just as pirates or thieves, which popular culture often does. “I think about back home, and usually a lot of stories come to me,” he said.
Sheikh said that not a lot of Somali films talk about the Somali experience in this country, but he feels some of those experiences are not that different from those of the average American. “We are all living the same life, you know.”
Sheikh started writing his next film last January. “It is already being celebrated by big platforms that provide funding,” he said. “I am excited for this one. It will be more dramatic and more interesting.”
He remarked that completing one feature can direct the path for the next one. He has been invited to show his next film in Switzerland and France. “I haven’t even started shooting yet, but you make one thing and an email comes from the other part of the world,” he said.
“Barni” was recently screened at a film festival in New York and will be showing at a festival in the Middle East. Sheikh said he found himself standing next to Johnny Depp at one of his screenings.
“Imagine if I didn’t get up and write this story, would I be here? The answer is always no.”
Sheikh said that when one is making a film, every day costs money. “You are asking so much of the people working with you. They donate their time and sometimes don’t go to their jobs to be with you. You rely on family and friends.”
He said that as you develop your film making you have to keep that in mind and pay your cast and crew as professionals.
“Don’t worry about not having enough money. Next month I have to take a trip, and somehow I will figure out how to pay for it. It keeps you a little hungry at the beginning, and that’s okay.”
Sheikh said there was never a doubt in his mind that he would become a filmmaker. It was just a matter of time.
“My message to other filmmakers is that it will get better eventually. Just stick to it, and you will get better with time.”
Abdilatif Hassen
Abdilatif Hassen just completed co-writing and directing his first short “Ruunta,” which debuted at MSPIFF in April. He lived in Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia before he came to Minnesota at a young age with his family.
“I always loved film making,” he said. “When I was a junior in high school, I started taking classes.”
He pursued a degree in business at the University of Minnesota, and he currently works in the corporate field during the day. But he has continued to pursue his dream of being a film director.
“I met Ryan Stopera when we took some photography classes together in college,” Hassen said. Stopera is a local filmmaker, photographer, producer and consultant.
“We have worked on projects together over the years, and, in 2024 we co-wrote ‘Ruunta,’ which means truth. We shot it in 2025.”
Hassen said film-making is a collaboration. “There is the sound producer, cinematographer, costume designer, set designer and the cast. All these people have to come together.”
Hassen said the story of the film is familiar to him. “Young people grow up in the city and end up in situations where they must make a choice. Some make the right one, some do not.”
The main character in “Ruunta” finds a stolen purse and needs to decide what to do with it.
“It’s a community-oriented story, with different kinds of characters,” Hassen continued. “There is the mother, who is very loving; the father is an Imam and the sister provides tough love.”
He said a lot of Somali people try to advise the youth in their community, and they have different kinds of advice. “I wanted to show that,” he said.
“If you do a story about Somalis living in Minneapolis, you must include the culture,” Hassen stated. “I wanted to capture the community, regular people living their daily lives.” He said he was fortunate in not having to worry about financing the film, since he and Ryan connected with the Grace Foundation for help with funding resources. The film was produced by funding support provided by the John and Denise Graves Foundation and Lake Street Lift.
“For me as a director, the most challenging part of making the film was bringing all the people connected with the film together. That was about 50 people. Working with all these people and meeting their expectations as a first-time director was not easy. It’s a lot of pressure,” Hassen said. “But we were all able to understand each other.”
The completion of the film was the most rewarding part for Hassen. “Seeing it onscreen and seeing people watching it means a lot,” he said. “Whether the audience is African American, Aromo, Somali or white, the story is for everyone.”
Hassen said the Somali film community in the Twin Cities is growing. “I know so many filmmakers who are very talented. And there are dozens of other newer filmmakers coming up, trying to work on projects. We all inspire each other.”
Hassen said he would like to shoot a film in Somalia or Djibouti if he gets the chance. “It depends on the financial constrictions,” he added. He also said he did not want to restrain himself to making only Somali films. “I want to experiment with anything, any story that I like.”
It is difficult to balance his working corporate life with making films, according to Hassen. “I am trying to do both. I don’t know if I will eventually be just a filmmaker. I am still young, and I am still building. You never know where life takes you. That’s my personality.”
Currently, Hassen is taking “Ruunta” to festivals, and there are plans for numerous screenings in Minnesota. He said he wants to do one more short film and then start to work on a feature-length project.
He said the short film was shot in about six days, but the editing took five months.
“It was fun,” he noted. “I have no complaints.”
He always tells young filmmakers who say they want to make a film but can’t afford it that they can do anything they want if they put their minds to it. “If you have a story to tell, go for it. Figure it out as you go. All the dots will eventually connect.”
Yasmin Yassin
Yasmin Yassin has always been interested in film, although she is trained as a scientist and started out her arts career as a photographer.
She made her first film “Dhanto,” a documentary about an East African dance troupe, in 2023. Her most recent short film “Woman Land,” made its local premiere at MSPIFF in April.
Yassin grew up and attended school in Vancouver before moving to the Twin Cities. She said she liked documentaries but wanted to make a narrative film. “It just feels like there is a restriction in the story I want to tell in a documentary setting,” she explained. “I like the freedom that a narrative provides.”
She worked for two years writing the coming-of-age film about two young Somali sisters living in Minneapolis and the challenges they face in running a match-making service online. The story, told with humor and grace, reflects the cultural traditions and modern-day pressures the young women encounter.
Yassin, who also directed the film, worked with a local cast and crew composed mostly of women.
“I thought about the film for quite awhile, and I used that time to build relationships among everyone, so they felt comfortable with one another. The two main actresses knew each other before working on the film,” Yassin remarked.
Yassin said she was very intentional about picking locations for the film. “I wanted them to be very recognizable to people and for those who grew up here,” she said. “I wanted it to feel very familiar.”
The film is shot in winter, when Minnesota can be harsh but also very beautiful, according to Yassin. “I wanted the film to be a little dreamlike, kind of like a folktale.”
To accomplish this, she tried to contrast the warmth of indoors with the Minnesota outdoors, even in choosing the colors of the wardrobe. “I wanted the film to be lighthearted and interesting,” she added.
“Raising money is always the hardest part of making a film,” Yassin noted. “As a photographer, I can always grab a camera and explore on my own. Film-making is so collaborative, and you need equipment and time. Film-making is not a cheap endeavor.”
She added that a filmmaker needs to know the story he or she wants to tell, and why he or she is the person to tell it right now.
Yassin said she has really enjoyed the privilege of watching the audience react to “Woman Land.”
“It has been fun to see what they take from different parts of the film,” she said.
Yassin said that as a female Somali director, she finds herself in a small group. But she feels the Somali film community is growing.
“There is more access to resources like software,” she noted. She said the film-making industry has also been an important part of the Somalian culture, and especially theater and stage performances. “The film industry may be more formal now and in a more institutionalized form.”
She is seeing “Woman Land” go on to numerous festivals across the country. “It is very exciting. We didn’t think it would go that far,” Yassin stated.
Yassin wants to explore different genres of film, and her next project will be a horror short. “There are so many different ways you can define performance,” she said. “It was interpersonal with ‘Woman Land,’ and it has been exciting to explore that topic in as many ways as possible.”
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