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Cinema has returned to Somalia with its first public screening since 1987. The screening took place under heavy security at the National Theatre of Somalia, which was used as a military base during the civil war, when cinema-going ceased.聽 It then re-opened in 2012 only to be blown up immediately by al-Shabaab militants, who considered live entertainment and films to be morally corrupt.聽 Kaif Jama, a 24-year-old Somali scriptwriter and actor who lives outside Somalia, made her first trip to the capital Mogadishu for the screening, and describes the emotion of the crowd inside the cinema, some of whom recalled cinema screenings from earlier times. Photo: Viewers wait for the first screening at The Somali National Theatre in Mogadishu, on September 22, 2021 - the first screening in the country for more than 30 years Credit: Getty Images
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