Cinema Bridge Fellowship

A transnational bridge for Somali cinematic futures.

The Cinema Bridge Fellowship is an inaugural initiative of The Qalanjo Project, with support from the African Studies Initiative at the University of Minnesota, designed to cultivate, connect, and celebrate emerging Somali filmmakers across geographic borders. Anchored in Somali storytelling and African cinematic traditions, the fellowship offers space for collective growth, artistic experimentation, and community-rooted practice.

Over the course of one month, fellows engage in virtual workshops, guest lectures with leading African and diaspora filmmakers, peer feedback sessions, and curated film viewings. With participants based in Minnesota and across East Africa, the fellowship builds a creative bridge between local and global Somali film cultures grounded in solidarity, history, and imagination.

This pilot fellowship centers the belief that Somali filmmakers deserve dedicated spaces to grow their craft, deepen their vision, and build across oceans. Through mentorship, dialogue, and access to a canon of Black and African cinema, Cinema Bridge lays the foundation for a future where Somali stories are told on our own terms.

Core Themes

• Somali storytelling as resistance, memory, and vision.

• African cinema as a tool for political, spiritual, and aesthetic expression.

• Building transnational solidarity through image-making.

• Experimental form, archival intervention, and cultural continuity.

Fellowship Components

• Weekly workshops and screenings.

• Visiting artist and academic lectures.

• Feedback circles and works-in-progress discussions.

• Access to a curated library of African and diaspora films.

• Personal project development and presentation.

Cinema Bridge is more than a program; it’s a beginning.

A seed for a cinematic future rooted in who we are, where we come from, and what we’re building together.