Land X, 2022

 

Filmed largely from a room at the Oriental Hotel in central Hargeisa, Land X observes the city from a position of distance, enclosure, and uncertainty. After attempts to record interviews came to a halt and the camera itself became a source of suspicion, the hotel window became the film’s main point of view. From there, the camera follows the street, surrounding buildings, and the edges of a military outpost, while radio broadcasts move through the images as voices without visible speakers. The distance between image and voice is never resolved: what can be seen remains partial, and what can be heard is not always fully accessible. Rather than treating the camera as proof of Somaliland’s existence, the film stays with these limits of access: how a place can be present, inhabited, and governed while its recognition is decided elsewhere.

 

 

23 min 41 sec

3-channel video installation

HD video, color, sound

 

Proofreading and Subtitles: Krzysztof Gutfrański

Color and Sound: Sarvenaz Mostofey

Language: English, Somali

Location: Hargeisa