| The Somali Dervish | |
| Director: | Said Salah, Amar Sneh |
| Runtime: | 270 minutes |
| Country: | Somalia India |
| Language: | Italian English Arabic Somali |
The Somali Dervish was an epic film directed by Said Salah and Amar Sneh between 1983 and 1985. It is one of the few full-length feature films to have been produced in Somalia.[1]
With a budget of $1.8 million, the 4-hour-and-40-minute epic followed the life of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, emir of Darawiish sultan Diiriye Guure of the revolutionary Darawiish anti-colonialists. Seven languages were used for film dialogue: Somali, Arabic, Italian, English, and three regional dialects. The movie included an actual descendant of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan as its star, Sheikh Osman Mohamoud Omar, and featured hundreds of actors and extras.[2] Once thought to be lost, the movie was found in the National Film Archive of India in late 2019.[3]