La Conchiglia
Encyclopedia
La Conchiglia or The Conch, is a short film from Somali
writer and director Abdulkadir Ahmed Said
.
on a deserted beach when she discovers a beautiful conch
. Curious, she puts her ear to it and listens to the echoes and sounds of the ocean waves
. However, she also hears the voice of a little girl, Sophie, who recounts her short and troubled life in her small town, which once stood on a lush shore but has since been destroyed by an ecological catastrophe
. One night, a boat discharged illegal toxic waste
that poisoned the fish and local fisherman, eventually contaminating all the vegetation on the coast and the region's inhabitants. Sophie's story is recounted twelve months after the ecological disaster first struck that strip of land, forever ruining the habitat and claiming many lives, including that of the child herself. The film's last sequence nevertheless leaves a glimmer of hope: a group of children are playing near the sea, and a little girl breaks away from the pack to invite the female protagonist to join their game.
. The original version is titled Aleel and is in Somali
, with Italian
subtitles.
The film was shot in and features the local residents of Gondershe
, a small town on the coast of Somalia
.
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
writer and director Abdulkadir Ahmed Said
Abdulkadir Ahmed Said
Abdulkadir Ahmed Said is a prominent Somali film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor.-Biography:Said was born in 1953 in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In 1970, he began working for the Somali Film Agency as a photographer assigned to international relations and as a...
.
Plot
A female artist is painting a seascapeSeascape
A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. By a backwards development, the word has also come to mean the view of the sea itself, and be applied in planning contexts to geographical locations possessing a good view of...
on a deserted beach when she discovers a beautiful conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
. Curious, she puts her ear to it and listens to the echoes and sounds of the ocean waves
Ocean Waves
Ocean Waves, also known as , is a TV anime movie made by Studio Ghibli. It was directed by Tomomi Mochizuki and was based on the novel of the same title by Saeko Himuro.The story is set in the city of Kōchi, on the Japanese island of Shikoku...
. However, she also hears the voice of a little girl, Sophie, who recounts her short and troubled life in her small town, which once stood on a lush shore but has since been destroyed by an ecological catastrophe
Environmental disaster
An environmental disaster is a disaster to the natural environment due to human activity. It should not be confused with the separate concept of a natural disaster.-History:...
. One night, a boat discharged illegal toxic waste
Toxic waste
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...
that poisoned the fish and local fisherman, eventually contaminating all the vegetation on the coast and the region's inhabitants. Sophie's story is recounted twelve months after the ecological disaster first struck that strip of land, forever ruining the habitat and claiming many lives, including that of the child herself. The film's last sequence nevertheless leaves a glimmer of hope: a group of children are playing near the sea, and a little girl breaks away from the pack to invite the female protagonist to join their game.
Other
La Conchiglia was shot on 35 mm film35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
. The original version is titled Aleel and is in Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
, with Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
subtitles.
The film was shot in and features the local residents of Gondershe
Gondershe
Gondershe is an historical Somali stone city built on an oasis in southern Somalia. The city's ruins consist of typical Somali architecture such as coral stone houses, fortifications, tombs and mosques...
, a small town on the coast of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
.