Somewhere in Africa - a film project about Darfur, Östersund and everything in between

When Mubara Abdulhassan fled from Darfur in 2004, he could not imagine that the journey would eventually take him to the northern parts of Sweden. The dangerous route to Europe led him to Istanbul, where he met his destiny in several ways: he came into contact with UNHCR and was resettled to Sweden, he met the future mother of his children, and he met Necati Sonmez, adocumentary filmmaker. Now the story about Mubara is being filmed in the form of  a docudrama with the working title “Somewhere in Africa”. UNHCR Stockholm met Mubara Abdulhassan and Necati Sonmez on a snowy day in early 2010.

When Mubara left Africa by boat, he had planned to go to Italy. However, after his long and wearing 27-day-trip under the deck of a ship found himself in Istanbul, Turkey, instead. He stayed in Turkey for two and a half years. During that time he was, through the assistance of UNHCR, accepted as a quota refugee in Sweden, and subsequently moved to Östersund. Meeting the documentarist Necati Sonmez in Istanbul was a lucky coincidence. Necati, who has Syrian roots in the Turkish Arab minority, was happy to find someone he could practice his Arabic with. He became interested in Mubara’s life story and they begun filming material for the coming film in the African- populated areas in Istanbul in the summer of 2005.

Mubara describes his hometown Jebal Merra in Darfur as the most perfect place in the region of Sudan. In his memories, the town has stayed a paradise that in real life does not exist anymore. Mubara and Necati would like to shoot the last part of their film in Darfur.  “Many people know about Darfur. In the film we want to show the daily life of Darfurian refugees, their problems, how they get their medicine etc. We want to get close to them,” explains Mubara. By ending their film in Darfur, both Mubara and Necati want to draw attention to the present situation in the area. They also have footage from a snowy Östersund.

After having completed the last parts of filming, as well as editing and post-production, “Somewhere in Africa” will have its premiere in Sweden. Necati and Mubara are also searching for suitable film festivals in Turkey and some other countries.  Although the story has a happy ending- Mubara enjoys life in Östersund and has a family with two children there- the main aim of the film is to raise awareness of the on-going human tragedy in Darfur and the increasing number of African refugees and immigrants residing in Istanbul and looking for a chance to enter Europe.

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