Golden Land (2022) Movie Script
When I was a young child,
my grandfather once told me
"One day you move to
a cold and white country."
"Both the people and the land
will be white."
"You will stay there for a long time
and grow up in that land."
"But one day you will return home
to do great and important things."
Help!
You're not allowed
to throw snowballs. Rule 345.
Come on, answer.
Is the volume turned up?
Daddy?
Daddy!
Are you outside?
I am. How are you?
We're good.
I see Jasmin,
Abdirahim and Intisar.
Hi Ikhlaas!
Who is that?
- Daddy!
One question.
Have you found gold and diamonds?
I know where they are hiding.
But you have to promise
not to tell anyone.
Tell us! We wan't to find gold too.
I want to be so rich
that I become a millionaire.
Are there hedgehogs in Somalia?
Hedgehogs?
- Yes.
Or doves?
There are a lot of doves,
but no hedgehogs.
Quite a few turtles.
And a lot of eagles.
There are big eagles here.
Daddy misses you a lot
and loves you all.
I love you too daddy.
See you soon.
- Okay.
Bloody hell.
Five years ago I got a call
from my uncle in Somaliland.
A Chinese mining company had offered
half a million dollars for land
that has belonged
to our family for centuries.
It turned out the soil was full of
gold, copper and cobalt.
It was a thousand times more valuable
than what the Chinese offered.
My wife and I had to make a decision.
We could sell my ancestors' land
to the Chinese and stay in Finland,
or bring the family
to Africa
and start mining gold.
Moving to Africa would be
a huge change for the kids.
Their homeland is Finland.
Wait.
15 plus kilos.
15.30 kilos, I think.
The battery ran out.
It is messy.
Wrap them inside the clothes.
Here?
- Yes.
Not on top?
- No, wrap them up.
All right.
One more to go.
We'll see how it goes.
These are really good.
I've had them at daycare.
How do you feel about
leaving Finland?
It's sad.
Sad, okay.
- Very bad.
I share your feelings.
You have no idea
how much I'll miss rye bread.
Can we send you mail?
- Absolutely.
Chocolate! And rye bread!
I can send you mail too.
Have you ever tasted camel milk?
No?
Maryam gave me some flowers.
- Isn't that lovely.
My lovely friend!
Hug each other
while you still have the chance.
I will call you every day.
Maryam! Not every day!
Don't go, Jasmin!
It always turns off like this.
Press this button on the side
and you'll see...
Swipe it and it will open.
There you go.
I'm sure you can hear me now.
You can see my face
and hear my voice.
And you look better than last time
when I could see you only partly.
Do you remember what the first
Finnish book I gave you was?
No. I can't believe it!
The Little Prince!
- Oh yeah, that's the one!
And then I asked you...
...if you remembered
what the moral of the story was.
And what you remembered was
that one sees more clearly with
their heart than with their eyes.
That's what you had picked up.
And that's been
true to your life all along.
You see more clearly
with your heart than with your eyes.
That's how it is.
Here come the tears.
- That's right.
It's hard to let go of someone
so important and dear after 20 years.
I can't remember how many times
you'd been to the nurse's office
when one morning you came in,
eyes sparkling, and said:
"I dreamt of grandfather last night."
"He said 'you have finally found a
person you can trust.'"
I immediately said "That's lovely!"
"You need to hold on to that person,
if you found
someone like that in Finland."
You got teary and said
"Don't you realise that it is you!"
Then I got teary as well.
I get all sobby so easily.
After some time you asked me
if I could be your Finnish mum
since your own mum was in Somalia.
Pivi was the school nurse.
I went to her quite often.
I had headaches, nightmares
and trouble sleeping.
There were two battling clans.
It was a power struggle.
Who would get to lead the country
after the dictatorship fell.
The South wanted to stay in power,
while the North wanted to
gain more power.
That's how the war started.
I was six years old.
My cousins and I were woken up
and told to hide under the bed.
I remember my auntie yelling:
"Oh no, there are tanks
outside the doors!"
"If they shoot,
the others will shoot back!"
We climbed over the wall
surrounding the house.
Our uncles carried us,
and we walked out of Hargeisa.
It was my first time on a plane.
Then I saw Finland.
It was February.
My initial thought was
that it was a rich country.
They kept sugar on the ground.
But it wasn't sweet.
It was cold and wet.
We were told it was snow,
frozen water,
but we refused to believe it.
Whenever we tried to walk,
we kept slipping.
We got up and fell again.
In the end we just laughed
and went down the hill on our bums.
In Finland, everything was
new and frightening to us.
I remember being told that when
you wake up in the morning,
you press a button
and breakfast arrives.
Press another button and you will get
to a playground through a tunnel.
These were the images
we had in our head as kids.
I had to learn everything again.
It was both amazing and strange.
The Finnish kids would wonder
at us dark-skinned guys,
and we wondered at the blonde
and very fair-skinned people.
But throughout my childhood
I had this empty feeling in my chest.
I never forgot
my grandfather's words.
"One day you will return home."
"To do great, important things."
You don't need your jackets anymore.
Is everyone hot?
It's not even hot yet.
The heat is only starting.
Put on your caps
so you'll feel less hot.
We'll get some sleep soon.
What's the first thing
you'll do when we get home?
Watch TV and have an ice-cold
shower.
I'm afraid there's no
ice-cold shower available.
And unfortunately there's no TV yet.
Look, Jasmin.
Why is everything
made out of sheet metal?
That one isn't!
It's a very cheap material.
Good to start with.
These people might make
a small kiosk from sheet metal,
and when it starts turning a profit,
they build it from concrete.
Like that one there.
See, they're building a hotel there.
A multi-storey concrete hotel.
Everyone's walking on the stones!
Well, the streets aren't paved.
We'll have to pave them,
isn't that right?
When are we going back to Finland?
- Back to Finland?
We're not going back.
We have moved here.
No!
Does this jacket belong to you
or your father?
Take yours even though
a t-shirt is enough.
Here you go,
not that you'll be
needing it here.
That's right, no more jackets.
Here we are, then.
Hi, Naasir!
Where have you been?
How are you?
So nice to see you, Ikhlaas.
They've grown so much!
Go wash your hands.
We've been on a long journey.
Does it taste good?
- It's really good. Want to taste it?
I can have a taste.
Why are you not eating?
Would you like to eat at the table?
Would that be easier?
Okay, sit down next to Intisar
and eat from the same plate.
This is a different culture.
Here we eat from the same plate.
Using only our hands.
There are no forks, I'm sorry.
So just eat.
You know how to eat with your hands.
So hot!
Is it hot?
-Yes!
Water!
I need water.
How are the kids doing in school?
They are doing just fine.
In Finland,
there are no school uniforms.
It's the same at the university here.
But Jasmin can't believe it.
She says
"Do I have to put this on every day?"
"I don't want to!"
Have you found
a school for the kids?
Mustafe has been looking
at a couple of schools.
So you haven't decided yet?
- Right, we have to try and see.
I think the right school
will determine how they'll adapt.
People in Finland wondered
why we would move to Somaliland.
But the problem is that in Finland
we will always be outsiders.
Even though we work
and pay taxes
just like everyone else,
people might shout to us that
we're beggars living off their money.
"You take our money, you beggars."
Young people like Intisar
suffer from it the most
Intisar sees the country
she was born in as her homeland.
She was born, raised,
and educated there.
She can't believe it when people
call her a foreigner in Finland.
It always upsets her.
- That's terrible.
I want to take the wheel!
- No, I will!
How do you fasten this?
Maybe this will fly.
That would be something.
Let's take to the skies!
Hello, airplanes!
Who knows.
Buckle up, we're heading to Mars!
No, to America!
Is it working?
- No, although we have electricity.
Is there a problem?
- It doesn't seem to power on.
It might be this electrical cord.
We moved the cords a while ago,
so that might be it.
Here we go! Ready?
Drive!
- Pretty great.
I'm gonna faint!
- Let's speed up.
Let's speed up!
Oh my, this goes fast.
Hold on tight!
Are you a sissy?
- Jasmin, hold on tight!
No way!
Don't judge until
you've been through all the rides.
Here we go!
It's hitting against the gate.
It's so slow!
Wait, let him fix the gate.
See, he'll pull it back a little.
There.
All my friends in Finland
are wondering what I'm doing.
"Why do you want to go back?
You'll go crazy in no time."
"You no longer understand
their world. Just come back home."
I know a lot of people who
have come back from Europe.
They realised what it's like here
and went back home.
Look. So beautiful.
There is gold in here for everyone.
- Is that so?
If we get
the mining activity started,
I truly have a chance to improve
the conditions in this country.
It took me over two years
before I found any investors.
When I got the initial mining permit
from the Somaliland government,
I managed to raise 300,000 USD
to get the mining started.
This gold has been mined over there.
These little pebbles
are tough to spot with the naked eye.
The metal detector picks these up.
What's this?
It's a small crusher.
We are about to assemble it.
This is the engine.
It's a stone crushing machine.
It crushes and separates stones.
The rocks are placed there?
- Yes.
The tested stones are placed here.
Then we tumble them.
It crushes ten tonnes a day.
Wow. Ten?
- Yes
This little machine?
- That's right.
Has it ever been switched on?
- Yes, many times.
We just need a new driving belt.
We are missing a peg
for the wheel that turns the tumbler.
But it's easy to turn by hand.
Watch your feet.
Let me show you
how to turn it manually.
We just need to
connect it to the engine.
There are some obstacles ahead.
Anything I can do
to get things running?
Well, we need a lot of things.
Advice, knowledge,
and financial things.
We will get experts, certainly.
We will open an office in Hargeisa.
We exchange opinions
and other advice.
There is no powerful
government to guide us.
We need to prove that everyone
will benefit from these riches.
Our land is rich but the clans
are constantly fighting.
There has been a clan system
in Somalia for thousands of years.
It brings a sense of safety
for the community
but is also quite hierarchical.
I belong to the Habr Yunis clan.
Just as we arrived to Hargeisa,
the rival clan won the election
and a new government was formed.
This means that
in order to do any mining,
I must reapply for the mining permit
from the new government.
Let me tell you
about the way we work.
You need three kinds of permits
for searching minerals.
Then a contract can be made between
the Ministry and your company.
The contract covers many things.
Environmental issues
and how to deal with them,
community development,
local contracts,
and of course
the government's share.
If I have already made
the evaluation,
is there any way to get
the permits straight away?
We consider anyone
who wants to invest,
but there are already
three Chinese companies
digging with the locals in the east.
Where are we going?
- Wait.
I need to give something to Jasmin.
Jasmin, put this on.
Put this on.
- Why?
Just put it on honey.
- No.
This is a hijab. You have to wear it.
Put it on, honey.
- No!
Yes you will!
It's normal here, Jasmin!
Keep the shirt on
and put the hijab on your head.
You're beautiful.
You look pretty.
You will go out like this.
- Like this?
It's hotter in here than outside.
- Really?
Yes!
Can I have the Samsung Galaxy J7?
- No.
Aren't your kids from Somalia?
Sure they are,
just born abroad.
Don't they speak somali?
- Of course they do.
This model is cheaper.
175 dollars.
Do all of them have freezers?
Yes.
- It's so small, Mustafe.
They have larger ones too.
Let's just wait.
You said they'd have everything here.
- They do!
We also have ovens.
Is it an authentic Turkish item?
- Of course.
It isn't Chinese,
so it must be better.
But the quality isn't the same
as in Finland, unfortunately.
Does it have an oven
and a microwave oven?
Do you mean together?
We don't have those.
Let's bring down the price on that.
And then the larger
refrigerator, also.
Two camels were just fighting.
Don't go near them when they fight.
Why?
- They might kick you.
There are small ones over here.
Look, they are carrying each other!
Intisar, come here!
I feel sad.
- You feel sad?
You feel bad for the camel?
You are so sweet.
Let's go back to the cars.
Come on.
I don't like anything in here.
Kids, the area we just passed
is named "The Finnish Place"
Why?
They don't live in Europe.
No, but the area is called "Finland".
Finland has helped this area
a lot in the past,
so out of respect they
decided to call the area Finland.
If they are fans of Finland,
they are also fans of us.
Exactly!
No!
- Yes, because we're from Finland.
That's right.
- Of course.
Dad, are we really Finnish?
We're both Finnish and Somali.
More Somali, though,
because we have brown skin.
We are more Finnish.
Are you more Finnish?
You can have brown skin
and still be Finnish.
There you have it, Intisar!
Jasmin, enough.
It was February 1994.
The winter that year
was very harsh.
Unemployment in Finland
is at its highest since the 1930s.
According to the
Ministry of Employment,
almost 252,000 people
were unemployed last month.
A crisis centre meant for debt advice
is now also handing out food.
We should not accept refugees
in a situation like this.
People used to say
refugees do the work
our pure white race
can't be bothered to do.
Now they have changed their tune.
If Somalis show up in here,
what will you do?
Me? I'll stop paying taxes.
They can go back
to where they came from.
They take all our jobs.
There are no jobs for Finns,
let alone refugees.
I remember it clearly.
By the end of secondary school
I realised I am actually different.
For example, people would
shout at me on the train.
I wondered what they were
shouting at me for.
What does that mean, "nigger"?
Then I realised they meant me.
They were calling me names.
We often read newspapers
on our way to school.
They always said negative things
about immigrants.
It was almost a daily thing for us.
We had to watch out for skinheads
who might attack us.
It was normal to get beaten up
just for walking on the street.
I was constantly trying to prove
that I am a good guy.
I decided to learn Finnish so well
that nobody could tell
I am a foreigner.
That nobody could call me a monkey
or anything like that.
Would you like some ketchup?
Jasmin, do you want ketchup?
Here you go.
Eat with your hand.
Everyone eats with their hands
in Somalia.
I don't want to eat with my hands.
Don't you think the young and
educated should change customs?
We no longer live in the countryside.
- You can't change things.
Their mothers demand
they obey the customs.
If the woman works
and the man looks after the kids,
it's considered slavery.
- What? Slavery?
If they both agree to it,
where's the harm in that?
What if you were pregnant
and didn't have a maid?
Not my husband.
If it's just you two and he changes
the diaper, then so what?
It's shameful!
I would rather do it myself.
We see it as kind
and family-oriented.
We hate that.
Could there be faults in our customs?
No. They are beautiful
the way they are.
These are old customs
familiar to everyone.
I would like to change our customs
and learn from the people
who are moving here.
Men and women should work together
without it being a problem.
That is how understanding is born
and new customs spread.
But men will never change.
That might be true but, God willing,
we will change the customs.
Damn, it's windy.
When I was Jasmin's age,
I lived here in Hargeisa.
There were no
tall buildings back then.
No street lamps either.
- Terrible!
That's the way it was.
We used a small lantern
we filled with petrol.
Petrol?
- That's right.
We closed the lid and lit a string,
and it burned all night.
And we cooked our food
on an open fire.
We had to get wood.
At Jasmin's age I wandered
the mountains fetching wood.
Without a lamp!
- You're so brave!
My grandfather was
an exceptional old man.
He walked and lived in the nature.
Somalia had more trees then.
Actual forests with wild animals
like lions, elephants and giraffes.
He told me to get his drinking bottle
from under a tree.
I walked over there,
and he hid somewhere.
Standing there, I noticed
two animals approaching me.
I didn't recognise them at the time,
but they were cheetahs.
They came closer.
Then I saw my escape route
was blocked by a male lion.
I was trapped between the beasts.
I yelled: "Grandpa, help me!"
But he didn't come.
The animals drew closer and closer.
I wet myself out of fear.
Eventually,
grandpa came out of hiding.
He called the animals,
and they sat under a tree.
I just asked "Isn't that a lion?"
He replied "Yes, it is."
"Don't they eat people?"
"No, you can be friends with them."
Then the animals went
their separate ways.
Good morning.
It's a beautiful morning.
Get up and brush your teeth.
How are you?
- Good.
These were collected
from the worksite.
As you can see,
we found gemstones
and industrial minerals.
Cobalt and lithium,
along with quartz,
gemstones and amber.
That's a valuable stone.
What does that tell you?
Here we go.
Looks good.
This is cobalt.
Is it valuable?
- Yes.
This looks good too.
We'll have no trouble selling these.
- Really?
Without a doubt.
With a good investor we could
produce thousands of tonnes.
We'd make three million in profit.
- Sounds great.
We're on the right path.
- Surely.
I know we can't work
without a permission,
but I know what's under the ground.
It's enough not just for Somaliland
but for all of Africa.
Right.
Understood.
The other clans and the government
are trying to slow us down.
They stopped a project that
cost me 300,000 dollars.
You can start.
I'm halfway through
the Surah Al-Nas.
Halfway through?
Okay, you can start.
First ask Allah
to protect you from Satan.
Stop.
You're pronouncing tabbat wrong.
That's enough. We'll continue from
Surah Al-'Asr some other time.
Repeat and rehearse often.
Intisar, your turn.
Where will you read from?
- From Surah Al-Nas.
Good, you can begin now.
Ask Allah
to protect you from Satan first.
Hi, Maryam! Are you at home?
How are you?
- Fine.
This is my little sister.
Guess what...
What time is it there?
I don't know.
You don't?
- No.
Are you in bed?
- I have to eat.
What?
I have to go and eat.
- Okay.
Bye.
Why don't you like school?
Ouch! That hurts!
The teacher slapped Intisar
on the cheek the other day.
Slapped her?
- Yes.
Only because we didn't have
our books with us.
That was the third time.
And then it happened the fourth time.
Then he hit me too
for the fifth and the sixth time.
It just went on and on.
We told daddy, and he got angry.
He said
"Who dares to hit my daughters!"
Did the teacher say he would stop?
- Yes, but it still goes on.
You're not hit as hard
as the others, right?
What do you mean?
I was hit with a hose.
A hose?
- Yes.
I'm done talking about Hargeisa.
Take us back to Finland.
Hello, Mustafe!
- Hi, mum.
How are you?
The mining has been halted
due to missing permits.
Oh no, that's terrible.
I was so idealistic.
I just wanted to dig the riches
from the ground
and use them to develop this country.
But no, goddamnit!
They wouldn't let me do that.
If I can't mine gold
where my forefathers were born...
...I'm ready to start
a fucking civil war.
I'm well aware I took my children
away from a safe European country...
...to the Horn of Africa.
But I'm trying to keep them safe.
It's a landslide victory
for the True Finns party.
It will be the third largest party
in the parliament.
My dear friends, we hit the jackpot!
Dear Speaker,
Islam is a dangerous ideology,
and it will destroy this nation
if our government acts cowardly.
If we start accepting these refugees,
these goat herders
and camel tamers,
and allow them to come here
and take our jobs,
it will be a disaster.
We can't solve Africa's problems
by bringing them to Europe.
Stop this political,
do-gooder stupidity.
It will sink Europe.
Finland!
Finland led by the True Finns
is patriotic and just!
It was two in the morning.
Abdirahman was six years old.
Nadjah was asleep.
I woke up to a strange noise.
I found Abdirahman in the bathroom.
He was naked,
rubbing skin cream all over himself.
I asked him what was going on.
"I'm putting on so much skin cream
that I'll look like everyone else."
"I want to be white."
Black sand is good for the skin.
Come here, Jasmin!
You can trust daddy, come on!
Good.
Didn't you take swimming lessons
in Finland?
I did, but I was helped.
- I will help you too.
Use your hands. I'll hold you.
Use your feet.
There you go.
You'll go faster this way.
Kick with your feet.
This will cover the grey hair.
My hair goes grey
due to stress.
I brought you all to Hargeisa.
- You had grey hair before.
If you go to war, I will leave.
I'm not ready for that.
Back to Finland?
- Yes.
Remember autumn in Finland?
I miss the cold and the rain.
I'm sick of the constant heat.
I don't like autumn.
Summer and winter are better.
I liked the wind and the rain.
The leaves, too.
My son.
We always fear the unknown.
You need to learn to face the lion,
not run away.
Mustafe, my boy, don't be afraid.
Stand in front of the lion
and learn its ways.
Fuck this Chinese crap.
This is what happens
when everything comes from China.
Tyres get blown
on the very first rock.
At least the car is from Japan.
Hello.
- Can you see us?
No, and I can't find
the longer handle for the jack.
Turn to the right a bit.
I can only hear a car engine.
Please hurry,
I need to get home fast.
Everything looks fine.
Looks like a boy to me.
No, she looks like a girl.
Didn't you already have
three girls and a boy?
That's the heart?
- Yes.
Please God, let it stay the same.
Place another card.
I changed the direction.
Yes!
- Say it, say it!
Uno!
See this? This is the brake.
Push down on it
and switch gears.
Push down on the middle pedal,
then switch gears like this.
Want to try?
- Yes.
Grab that and pull it hard.
Hold the wheel calmly.
Take it easy.
Apply the brake more.
Remember the turn signal.
Nice and slow.
Slow down before that bump.
How old were you
when you first drove?
I was five.
- Oh my God!
The government stopped us.
They didn't understand
the value of our work.
What I wish is that our clans
could work together.
Hello, Haji Muhammad!
How are you?
- Fine.
Are you working?
- We're working hard here.
Good to see you.
How's the work going?
- Very well.
We had some rain
that slowed us down.
The rain caused problems?
- Yes.
We stopped working when
we heard the weather forecast.
I sent everyone home
to be with their families.
Right.
- That's why it's going so slowly.
Stones can fall down on you
when it's raining.
There are two mines,
80 men altogether.
The second mine is on the other side.
40 men in each of them.
The stones are here.
It's important that
the colour is smooth throughout.
This looks good.
Here's blue stone.
It's like this, right?
The whole mine is like that.
- This colour?
We are ready for any order.
We'll negotiate
with anyone who's interested.
We're just waiting
for the right buyer.
Right. I understand.
We should sell this first
and continue after that.
That way we'll avoid
the rainy season.
When the order comes through,
we continue.
That's right.
I already have buyers for the stones.
I'll provide
the necessary information.
It's beautiful here.
- It's the heart of the country.
Sometimes I just
sit here and relax.
I even sleep here now and then.
That's how it is.
Hi, grandma!
So nice to hear from you!
How are you?
We're fine.
Things are more like in Finland
in our new school.
Like back in Phkinrinne School?
- Yeah.
Where is Australia?
Khadija.
Correct. What about Asia?
Abdirahman.
Let's give a round of applause.
Jasmin's up!
One, two, three... Go!
Go, Jasmin!
You were faster in both directions.
That was exhausting.
I have a surprise for you.
Today we'll buy
plane tickets to...
Finland!
When are we going?
- During the summer holidays.
Do my thumb.
Did you do the thumb yet?
No...
Keep still or I'll mess it up.
Look at the forest!
I have missed Finland.
The forest is beautiful.
A bus stop!
I can't give all this up again
when we leave.
A bus stop? That's nothing special.
- Yes, it is!
And traffic lights.
Traffic lights!
It's been so long.
I think these are ducklings.
They must be.
Look at the seagulls on the ground.
What a cutie.
They come so close.
- They must be hungry.
WELCOME BACK, JASMIN!
HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY!
Looks, it's grandma!
- Hi, Intisar!
Abdi, go greet grandpa.
Nice to see you
after such a long time.
Long time no see.
So lovely.
Hi there!
It's so nice to see you.
This is wonderful.
Although the weather is poor,
you bring the sun out
to brighten our day.
Let's raise a toast! Cheers!
Welcome!
- Thank you.
Now it's time to hand out the Crocs.
It's been raining for weeks,
so those shoes are no good.
I went and got everyone Crocs.
Thank you!
- You're welcome.
First we make sure
the damper is open.
This one?
- That's right.
So that's in order.
Then we open the hatch.
The first few logs must be dry.
We pile them in here like this.
Make sure there's air between them.
Crossed like that?
- Yes.
Then we put birch bark here.
You can light the match.
Now hold it.
There you go. No rush.
Take your time.
Now we wait and let it burn in peace.
It's starting. Very nice.
Listen as it tells its story.
This is the best part
of cottage life.
Hurry to the sauna! It's so cold!
The river reflects my face
along its surface I race
I went to school in Finland
and studied to become
a kindergarten teacher.
I wanted to bring that system here.
Just like a boat made of bark
I journey down the river
Following the moods of the wind
The adventure lasts forever
Slowly
So I shall do
And I turn into something new
Driftwood the wind blew
The river reflects my face
Along its surface I race
So in the end
All there is to see
Is if I let go
Will you be there to catch me?
Slowly
So I shall do
And I turn into something new
Driftwood the wind blew
The river reflects my face
Along its surface I race
The stream will carry me
To the vastness of space
The universe guides me
Holds me in an embrace
my grandfather once told me
"One day you move to
a cold and white country."
"Both the people and the land
will be white."
"You will stay there for a long time
and grow up in that land."
"But one day you will return home
to do great and important things."
Help!
You're not allowed
to throw snowballs. Rule 345.
Come on, answer.
Is the volume turned up?
Daddy?
Daddy!
Are you outside?
I am. How are you?
We're good.
I see Jasmin,
Abdirahim and Intisar.
Hi Ikhlaas!
Who is that?
- Daddy!
One question.
Have you found gold and diamonds?
I know where they are hiding.
But you have to promise
not to tell anyone.
Tell us! We wan't to find gold too.
I want to be so rich
that I become a millionaire.
Are there hedgehogs in Somalia?
Hedgehogs?
- Yes.
Or doves?
There are a lot of doves,
but no hedgehogs.
Quite a few turtles.
And a lot of eagles.
There are big eagles here.
Daddy misses you a lot
and loves you all.
I love you too daddy.
See you soon.
- Okay.
Bloody hell.
Five years ago I got a call
from my uncle in Somaliland.
A Chinese mining company had offered
half a million dollars for land
that has belonged
to our family for centuries.
It turned out the soil was full of
gold, copper and cobalt.
It was a thousand times more valuable
than what the Chinese offered.
My wife and I had to make a decision.
We could sell my ancestors' land
to the Chinese and stay in Finland,
or bring the family
to Africa
and start mining gold.
Moving to Africa would be
a huge change for the kids.
Their homeland is Finland.
Wait.
15 plus kilos.
15.30 kilos, I think.
The battery ran out.
It is messy.
Wrap them inside the clothes.
Here?
- Yes.
Not on top?
- No, wrap them up.
All right.
One more to go.
We'll see how it goes.
These are really good.
I've had them at daycare.
How do you feel about
leaving Finland?
It's sad.
Sad, okay.
- Very bad.
I share your feelings.
You have no idea
how much I'll miss rye bread.
Can we send you mail?
- Absolutely.
Chocolate! And rye bread!
I can send you mail too.
Have you ever tasted camel milk?
No?
Maryam gave me some flowers.
- Isn't that lovely.
My lovely friend!
Hug each other
while you still have the chance.
I will call you every day.
Maryam! Not every day!
Don't go, Jasmin!
It always turns off like this.
Press this button on the side
and you'll see...
Swipe it and it will open.
There you go.
I'm sure you can hear me now.
You can see my face
and hear my voice.
And you look better than last time
when I could see you only partly.
Do you remember what the first
Finnish book I gave you was?
No. I can't believe it!
The Little Prince!
- Oh yeah, that's the one!
And then I asked you...
...if you remembered
what the moral of the story was.
And what you remembered was
that one sees more clearly with
their heart than with their eyes.
That's what you had picked up.
And that's been
true to your life all along.
You see more clearly
with your heart than with your eyes.
That's how it is.
Here come the tears.
- That's right.
It's hard to let go of someone
so important and dear after 20 years.
I can't remember how many times
you'd been to the nurse's office
when one morning you came in,
eyes sparkling, and said:
"I dreamt of grandfather last night."
"He said 'you have finally found a
person you can trust.'"
I immediately said "That's lovely!"
"You need to hold on to that person,
if you found
someone like that in Finland."
You got teary and said
"Don't you realise that it is you!"
Then I got teary as well.
I get all sobby so easily.
After some time you asked me
if I could be your Finnish mum
since your own mum was in Somalia.
Pivi was the school nurse.
I went to her quite often.
I had headaches, nightmares
and trouble sleeping.
There were two battling clans.
It was a power struggle.
Who would get to lead the country
after the dictatorship fell.
The South wanted to stay in power,
while the North wanted to
gain more power.
That's how the war started.
I was six years old.
My cousins and I were woken up
and told to hide under the bed.
I remember my auntie yelling:
"Oh no, there are tanks
outside the doors!"
"If they shoot,
the others will shoot back!"
We climbed over the wall
surrounding the house.
Our uncles carried us,
and we walked out of Hargeisa.
It was my first time on a plane.
Then I saw Finland.
It was February.
My initial thought was
that it was a rich country.
They kept sugar on the ground.
But it wasn't sweet.
It was cold and wet.
We were told it was snow,
frozen water,
but we refused to believe it.
Whenever we tried to walk,
we kept slipping.
We got up and fell again.
In the end we just laughed
and went down the hill on our bums.
In Finland, everything was
new and frightening to us.
I remember being told that when
you wake up in the morning,
you press a button
and breakfast arrives.
Press another button and you will get
to a playground through a tunnel.
These were the images
we had in our head as kids.
I had to learn everything again.
It was both amazing and strange.
The Finnish kids would wonder
at us dark-skinned guys,
and we wondered at the blonde
and very fair-skinned people.
But throughout my childhood
I had this empty feeling in my chest.
I never forgot
my grandfather's words.
"One day you will return home."
"To do great, important things."
You don't need your jackets anymore.
Is everyone hot?
It's not even hot yet.
The heat is only starting.
Put on your caps
so you'll feel less hot.
We'll get some sleep soon.
What's the first thing
you'll do when we get home?
Watch TV and have an ice-cold
shower.
I'm afraid there's no
ice-cold shower available.
And unfortunately there's no TV yet.
Look, Jasmin.
Why is everything
made out of sheet metal?
That one isn't!
It's a very cheap material.
Good to start with.
These people might make
a small kiosk from sheet metal,
and when it starts turning a profit,
they build it from concrete.
Like that one there.
See, they're building a hotel there.
A multi-storey concrete hotel.
Everyone's walking on the stones!
Well, the streets aren't paved.
We'll have to pave them,
isn't that right?
When are we going back to Finland?
- Back to Finland?
We're not going back.
We have moved here.
No!
Does this jacket belong to you
or your father?
Take yours even though
a t-shirt is enough.
Here you go,
not that you'll be
needing it here.
That's right, no more jackets.
Here we are, then.
Hi, Naasir!
Where have you been?
How are you?
So nice to see you, Ikhlaas.
They've grown so much!
Go wash your hands.
We've been on a long journey.
Does it taste good?
- It's really good. Want to taste it?
I can have a taste.
Why are you not eating?
Would you like to eat at the table?
Would that be easier?
Okay, sit down next to Intisar
and eat from the same plate.
This is a different culture.
Here we eat from the same plate.
Using only our hands.
There are no forks, I'm sorry.
So just eat.
You know how to eat with your hands.
So hot!
Is it hot?
-Yes!
Water!
I need water.
How are the kids doing in school?
They are doing just fine.
In Finland,
there are no school uniforms.
It's the same at the university here.
But Jasmin can't believe it.
She says
"Do I have to put this on every day?"
"I don't want to!"
Have you found
a school for the kids?
Mustafe has been looking
at a couple of schools.
So you haven't decided yet?
- Right, we have to try and see.
I think the right school
will determine how they'll adapt.
People in Finland wondered
why we would move to Somaliland.
But the problem is that in Finland
we will always be outsiders.
Even though we work
and pay taxes
just like everyone else,
people might shout to us that
we're beggars living off their money.
"You take our money, you beggars."
Young people like Intisar
suffer from it the most
Intisar sees the country
she was born in as her homeland.
She was born, raised,
and educated there.
She can't believe it when people
call her a foreigner in Finland.
It always upsets her.
- That's terrible.
I want to take the wheel!
- No, I will!
How do you fasten this?
Maybe this will fly.
That would be something.
Let's take to the skies!
Hello, airplanes!
Who knows.
Buckle up, we're heading to Mars!
No, to America!
Is it working?
- No, although we have electricity.
Is there a problem?
- It doesn't seem to power on.
It might be this electrical cord.
We moved the cords a while ago,
so that might be it.
Here we go! Ready?
Drive!
- Pretty great.
I'm gonna faint!
- Let's speed up.
Let's speed up!
Oh my, this goes fast.
Hold on tight!
Are you a sissy?
- Jasmin, hold on tight!
No way!
Don't judge until
you've been through all the rides.
Here we go!
It's hitting against the gate.
It's so slow!
Wait, let him fix the gate.
See, he'll pull it back a little.
There.
All my friends in Finland
are wondering what I'm doing.
"Why do you want to go back?
You'll go crazy in no time."
"You no longer understand
their world. Just come back home."
I know a lot of people who
have come back from Europe.
They realised what it's like here
and went back home.
Look. So beautiful.
There is gold in here for everyone.
- Is that so?
If we get
the mining activity started,
I truly have a chance to improve
the conditions in this country.
It took me over two years
before I found any investors.
When I got the initial mining permit
from the Somaliland government,
I managed to raise 300,000 USD
to get the mining started.
This gold has been mined over there.
These little pebbles
are tough to spot with the naked eye.
The metal detector picks these up.
What's this?
It's a small crusher.
We are about to assemble it.
This is the engine.
It's a stone crushing machine.
It crushes and separates stones.
The rocks are placed there?
- Yes.
The tested stones are placed here.
Then we tumble them.
It crushes ten tonnes a day.
Wow. Ten?
- Yes
This little machine?
- That's right.
Has it ever been switched on?
- Yes, many times.
We just need a new driving belt.
We are missing a peg
for the wheel that turns the tumbler.
But it's easy to turn by hand.
Watch your feet.
Let me show you
how to turn it manually.
We just need to
connect it to the engine.
There are some obstacles ahead.
Anything I can do
to get things running?
Well, we need a lot of things.
Advice, knowledge,
and financial things.
We will get experts, certainly.
We will open an office in Hargeisa.
We exchange opinions
and other advice.
There is no powerful
government to guide us.
We need to prove that everyone
will benefit from these riches.
Our land is rich but the clans
are constantly fighting.
There has been a clan system
in Somalia for thousands of years.
It brings a sense of safety
for the community
but is also quite hierarchical.
I belong to the Habr Yunis clan.
Just as we arrived to Hargeisa,
the rival clan won the election
and a new government was formed.
This means that
in order to do any mining,
I must reapply for the mining permit
from the new government.
Let me tell you
about the way we work.
You need three kinds of permits
for searching minerals.
Then a contract can be made between
the Ministry and your company.
The contract covers many things.
Environmental issues
and how to deal with them,
community development,
local contracts,
and of course
the government's share.
If I have already made
the evaluation,
is there any way to get
the permits straight away?
We consider anyone
who wants to invest,
but there are already
three Chinese companies
digging with the locals in the east.
Where are we going?
- Wait.
I need to give something to Jasmin.
Jasmin, put this on.
Put this on.
- Why?
Just put it on honey.
- No.
This is a hijab. You have to wear it.
Put it on, honey.
- No!
Yes you will!
It's normal here, Jasmin!
Keep the shirt on
and put the hijab on your head.
You're beautiful.
You look pretty.
You will go out like this.
- Like this?
It's hotter in here than outside.
- Really?
Yes!
Can I have the Samsung Galaxy J7?
- No.
Aren't your kids from Somalia?
Sure they are,
just born abroad.
Don't they speak somali?
- Of course they do.
This model is cheaper.
175 dollars.
Do all of them have freezers?
Yes.
- It's so small, Mustafe.
They have larger ones too.
Let's just wait.
You said they'd have everything here.
- They do!
We also have ovens.
Is it an authentic Turkish item?
- Of course.
It isn't Chinese,
so it must be better.
But the quality isn't the same
as in Finland, unfortunately.
Does it have an oven
and a microwave oven?
Do you mean together?
We don't have those.
Let's bring down the price on that.
And then the larger
refrigerator, also.
Two camels were just fighting.
Don't go near them when they fight.
Why?
- They might kick you.
There are small ones over here.
Look, they are carrying each other!
Intisar, come here!
I feel sad.
- You feel sad?
You feel bad for the camel?
You are so sweet.
Let's go back to the cars.
Come on.
I don't like anything in here.
Kids, the area we just passed
is named "The Finnish Place"
Why?
They don't live in Europe.
No, but the area is called "Finland".
Finland has helped this area
a lot in the past,
so out of respect they
decided to call the area Finland.
If they are fans of Finland,
they are also fans of us.
Exactly!
No!
- Yes, because we're from Finland.
That's right.
- Of course.
Dad, are we really Finnish?
We're both Finnish and Somali.
More Somali, though,
because we have brown skin.
We are more Finnish.
Are you more Finnish?
You can have brown skin
and still be Finnish.
There you have it, Intisar!
Jasmin, enough.
It was February 1994.
The winter that year
was very harsh.
Unemployment in Finland
is at its highest since the 1930s.
According to the
Ministry of Employment,
almost 252,000 people
were unemployed last month.
A crisis centre meant for debt advice
is now also handing out food.
We should not accept refugees
in a situation like this.
People used to say
refugees do the work
our pure white race
can't be bothered to do.
Now they have changed their tune.
If Somalis show up in here,
what will you do?
Me? I'll stop paying taxes.
They can go back
to where they came from.
They take all our jobs.
There are no jobs for Finns,
let alone refugees.
I remember it clearly.
By the end of secondary school
I realised I am actually different.
For example, people would
shout at me on the train.
I wondered what they were
shouting at me for.
What does that mean, "nigger"?
Then I realised they meant me.
They were calling me names.
We often read newspapers
on our way to school.
They always said negative things
about immigrants.
It was almost a daily thing for us.
We had to watch out for skinheads
who might attack us.
It was normal to get beaten up
just for walking on the street.
I was constantly trying to prove
that I am a good guy.
I decided to learn Finnish so well
that nobody could tell
I am a foreigner.
That nobody could call me a monkey
or anything like that.
Would you like some ketchup?
Jasmin, do you want ketchup?
Here you go.
Eat with your hand.
Everyone eats with their hands
in Somalia.
I don't want to eat with my hands.
Don't you think the young and
educated should change customs?
We no longer live in the countryside.
- You can't change things.
Their mothers demand
they obey the customs.
If the woman works
and the man looks after the kids,
it's considered slavery.
- What? Slavery?
If they both agree to it,
where's the harm in that?
What if you were pregnant
and didn't have a maid?
Not my husband.
If it's just you two and he changes
the diaper, then so what?
It's shameful!
I would rather do it myself.
We see it as kind
and family-oriented.
We hate that.
Could there be faults in our customs?
No. They are beautiful
the way they are.
These are old customs
familiar to everyone.
I would like to change our customs
and learn from the people
who are moving here.
Men and women should work together
without it being a problem.
That is how understanding is born
and new customs spread.
But men will never change.
That might be true but, God willing,
we will change the customs.
Damn, it's windy.
When I was Jasmin's age,
I lived here in Hargeisa.
There were no
tall buildings back then.
No street lamps either.
- Terrible!
That's the way it was.
We used a small lantern
we filled with petrol.
Petrol?
- That's right.
We closed the lid and lit a string,
and it burned all night.
And we cooked our food
on an open fire.
We had to get wood.
At Jasmin's age I wandered
the mountains fetching wood.
Without a lamp!
- You're so brave!
My grandfather was
an exceptional old man.
He walked and lived in the nature.
Somalia had more trees then.
Actual forests with wild animals
like lions, elephants and giraffes.
He told me to get his drinking bottle
from under a tree.
I walked over there,
and he hid somewhere.
Standing there, I noticed
two animals approaching me.
I didn't recognise them at the time,
but they were cheetahs.
They came closer.
Then I saw my escape route
was blocked by a male lion.
I was trapped between the beasts.
I yelled: "Grandpa, help me!"
But he didn't come.
The animals drew closer and closer.
I wet myself out of fear.
Eventually,
grandpa came out of hiding.
He called the animals,
and they sat under a tree.
I just asked "Isn't that a lion?"
He replied "Yes, it is."
"Don't they eat people?"
"No, you can be friends with them."
Then the animals went
their separate ways.
Good morning.
It's a beautiful morning.
Get up and brush your teeth.
How are you?
- Good.
These were collected
from the worksite.
As you can see,
we found gemstones
and industrial minerals.
Cobalt and lithium,
along with quartz,
gemstones and amber.
That's a valuable stone.
What does that tell you?
Here we go.
Looks good.
This is cobalt.
Is it valuable?
- Yes.
This looks good too.
We'll have no trouble selling these.
- Really?
Without a doubt.
With a good investor we could
produce thousands of tonnes.
We'd make three million in profit.
- Sounds great.
We're on the right path.
- Surely.
I know we can't work
without a permission,
but I know what's under the ground.
It's enough not just for Somaliland
but for all of Africa.
Right.
Understood.
The other clans and the government
are trying to slow us down.
They stopped a project that
cost me 300,000 dollars.
You can start.
I'm halfway through
the Surah Al-Nas.
Halfway through?
Okay, you can start.
First ask Allah
to protect you from Satan.
Stop.
You're pronouncing tabbat wrong.
That's enough. We'll continue from
Surah Al-'Asr some other time.
Repeat and rehearse often.
Intisar, your turn.
Where will you read from?
- From Surah Al-Nas.
Good, you can begin now.
Ask Allah
to protect you from Satan first.
Hi, Maryam! Are you at home?
How are you?
- Fine.
This is my little sister.
Guess what...
What time is it there?
I don't know.
You don't?
- No.
Are you in bed?
- I have to eat.
What?
I have to go and eat.
- Okay.
Bye.
Why don't you like school?
Ouch! That hurts!
The teacher slapped Intisar
on the cheek the other day.
Slapped her?
- Yes.
Only because we didn't have
our books with us.
That was the third time.
And then it happened the fourth time.
Then he hit me too
for the fifth and the sixth time.
It just went on and on.
We told daddy, and he got angry.
He said
"Who dares to hit my daughters!"
Did the teacher say he would stop?
- Yes, but it still goes on.
You're not hit as hard
as the others, right?
What do you mean?
I was hit with a hose.
A hose?
- Yes.
I'm done talking about Hargeisa.
Take us back to Finland.
Hello, Mustafe!
- Hi, mum.
How are you?
The mining has been halted
due to missing permits.
Oh no, that's terrible.
I was so idealistic.
I just wanted to dig the riches
from the ground
and use them to develop this country.
But no, goddamnit!
They wouldn't let me do that.
If I can't mine gold
where my forefathers were born...
...I'm ready to start
a fucking civil war.
I'm well aware I took my children
away from a safe European country...
...to the Horn of Africa.
But I'm trying to keep them safe.
It's a landslide victory
for the True Finns party.
It will be the third largest party
in the parliament.
My dear friends, we hit the jackpot!
Dear Speaker,
Islam is a dangerous ideology,
and it will destroy this nation
if our government acts cowardly.
If we start accepting these refugees,
these goat herders
and camel tamers,
and allow them to come here
and take our jobs,
it will be a disaster.
We can't solve Africa's problems
by bringing them to Europe.
Stop this political,
do-gooder stupidity.
It will sink Europe.
Finland!
Finland led by the True Finns
is patriotic and just!
It was two in the morning.
Abdirahman was six years old.
Nadjah was asleep.
I woke up to a strange noise.
I found Abdirahman in the bathroom.
He was naked,
rubbing skin cream all over himself.
I asked him what was going on.
"I'm putting on so much skin cream
that I'll look like everyone else."
"I want to be white."
Black sand is good for the skin.
Come here, Jasmin!
You can trust daddy, come on!
Good.
Didn't you take swimming lessons
in Finland?
I did, but I was helped.
- I will help you too.
Use your hands. I'll hold you.
Use your feet.
There you go.
You'll go faster this way.
Kick with your feet.
This will cover the grey hair.
My hair goes grey
due to stress.
I brought you all to Hargeisa.
- You had grey hair before.
If you go to war, I will leave.
I'm not ready for that.
Back to Finland?
- Yes.
Remember autumn in Finland?
I miss the cold and the rain.
I'm sick of the constant heat.
I don't like autumn.
Summer and winter are better.
I liked the wind and the rain.
The leaves, too.
My son.
We always fear the unknown.
You need to learn to face the lion,
not run away.
Mustafe, my boy, don't be afraid.
Stand in front of the lion
and learn its ways.
Fuck this Chinese crap.
This is what happens
when everything comes from China.
Tyres get blown
on the very first rock.
At least the car is from Japan.
Hello.
- Can you see us?
No, and I can't find
the longer handle for the jack.
Turn to the right a bit.
I can only hear a car engine.
Please hurry,
I need to get home fast.
Everything looks fine.
Looks like a boy to me.
No, she looks like a girl.
Didn't you already have
three girls and a boy?
That's the heart?
- Yes.
Please God, let it stay the same.
Place another card.
I changed the direction.
Yes!
- Say it, say it!
Uno!
See this? This is the brake.
Push down on it
and switch gears.
Push down on the middle pedal,
then switch gears like this.
Want to try?
- Yes.
Grab that and pull it hard.
Hold the wheel calmly.
Take it easy.
Apply the brake more.
Remember the turn signal.
Nice and slow.
Slow down before that bump.
How old were you
when you first drove?
I was five.
- Oh my God!
The government stopped us.
They didn't understand
the value of our work.
What I wish is that our clans
could work together.
Hello, Haji Muhammad!
How are you?
- Fine.
Are you working?
- We're working hard here.
Good to see you.
How's the work going?
- Very well.
We had some rain
that slowed us down.
The rain caused problems?
- Yes.
We stopped working when
we heard the weather forecast.
I sent everyone home
to be with their families.
Right.
- That's why it's going so slowly.
Stones can fall down on you
when it's raining.
There are two mines,
80 men altogether.
The second mine is on the other side.
40 men in each of them.
The stones are here.
It's important that
the colour is smooth throughout.
This looks good.
Here's blue stone.
It's like this, right?
The whole mine is like that.
- This colour?
We are ready for any order.
We'll negotiate
with anyone who's interested.
We're just waiting
for the right buyer.
Right. I understand.
We should sell this first
and continue after that.
That way we'll avoid
the rainy season.
When the order comes through,
we continue.
That's right.
I already have buyers for the stones.
I'll provide
the necessary information.
It's beautiful here.
- It's the heart of the country.
Sometimes I just
sit here and relax.
I even sleep here now and then.
That's how it is.
Hi, grandma!
So nice to hear from you!
How are you?
We're fine.
Things are more like in Finland
in our new school.
Like back in Phkinrinne School?
- Yeah.
Where is Australia?
Khadija.
Correct. What about Asia?
Abdirahman.
Let's give a round of applause.
Jasmin's up!
One, two, three... Go!
Go, Jasmin!
You were faster in both directions.
That was exhausting.
I have a surprise for you.
Today we'll buy
plane tickets to...
Finland!
When are we going?
- During the summer holidays.
Do my thumb.
Did you do the thumb yet?
No...
Keep still or I'll mess it up.
Look at the forest!
I have missed Finland.
The forest is beautiful.
A bus stop!
I can't give all this up again
when we leave.
A bus stop? That's nothing special.
- Yes, it is!
And traffic lights.
Traffic lights!
It's been so long.
I think these are ducklings.
They must be.
Look at the seagulls on the ground.
What a cutie.
They come so close.
- They must be hungry.
WELCOME BACK, JASMIN!
HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY!
Looks, it's grandma!
- Hi, Intisar!
Abdi, go greet grandpa.
Nice to see you
after such a long time.
Long time no see.
So lovely.
Hi there!
It's so nice to see you.
This is wonderful.
Although the weather is poor,
you bring the sun out
to brighten our day.
Let's raise a toast! Cheers!
Welcome!
- Thank you.
Now it's time to hand out the Crocs.
It's been raining for weeks,
so those shoes are no good.
I went and got everyone Crocs.
Thank you!
- You're welcome.
First we make sure
the damper is open.
This one?
- That's right.
So that's in order.
Then we open the hatch.
The first few logs must be dry.
We pile them in here like this.
Make sure there's air between them.
Crossed like that?
- Yes.
Then we put birch bark here.
You can light the match.
Now hold it.
There you go. No rush.
Take your time.
Now we wait and let it burn in peace.
It's starting. Very nice.
Listen as it tells its story.
This is the best part
of cottage life.
Hurry to the sauna! It's so cold!
The river reflects my face
along its surface I race
I went to school in Finland
and studied to become
a kindergarten teacher.
I wanted to bring that system here.
Just like a boat made of bark
I journey down the river
Following the moods of the wind
The adventure lasts forever
Slowly
So I shall do
And I turn into something new
Driftwood the wind blew
The river reflects my face
Along its surface I race
So in the end
All there is to see
Is if I let go
Will you be there to catch me?
Slowly
So I shall do
And I turn into something new
Driftwood the wind blew
The river reflects my face
Along its surface I race
The stream will carry me
To the vastness of space
The universe guides me
Holds me in an embrace