AllMovie

A young man is torn between right and wrong as he tries to make a future for himself in this short drama. Asad (Harun Mohammed) is a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in the poverty and chaos of Somalia. While his homeland has been torn asunder by war, Asad dreams of living a peaceful life and earning a living as a fisherman. However, many of those around Asad have chosen to live outside the law, and are pressuring him to throw in his lot with the pirates who prey on those from other lands. Asad was shot in South Africa, using a cast drawn entirely from Somali refugees who had never acted before; director Bryan Buckley and producer Mino Jaroura were inspired to make the film after interviewing a number of Somali exiles while making the documentary short No Autographs. Asad was honored at several major film festivals, and was nominated for a 2013 Academy Award as Best Live Action Short Subject.