The Pirate Tapes

Jul 11, 2011

1h 12m

★ 6.0

Overview

Exposing piracy in Somalia from the inside out, The Pirates Tapes follows Mohamed Ashareh, a young Somali-Canadian, as he travels to Somalia in hopes of joining an active pirate cell. Armed only with a hidden camera, Mohamed works his way into a cell run by a ruthless warlord, Jama Donyal, and is assigned to his first hijacking mission. When things take an unexpected turn, Mohamed finds himself on the run from the law with the danger of execution looming.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

HBO

HBO Documentary Films

Telesto

The Pirate Tapes Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self

Mohamed Ashareh

These are strange times indeed. While they continue to command so much attention in the mainstream media, the 'battles' between old and new modes of distribution, between the pirate and the institution of copyright, seem to many of us already lost and won. We know who the victors are. Why then say any more?

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1.0

Love Letters in Somalia

Apr 21, 1982

In this epistolary film, the traveler gives us his impressions of Africa parallel to the expression of his amorous distress. The images of the present intertwine with the incessant echoes of lost love, combining intimate pain with the misery of a country torn apart by internal struggles and poverty.

0.0

Band of Exile

Jul 1, 1994

Here in Toronto, four young Somali refugees are finishing high school. What did they bring with them? What did they find in Canada? Their testimonies, about us and about themselves, interspersed with newsreel footage and sequences of a theatrical creation in which they put all their soul, make them immediately endearing and overturn many prejudices held against refugees. A film that makes you want to get to know them better.

6.5

Golden Land

Feb 11, 2022

When Finnish-Somalian Mustafe discovers his ancestors’ land in the horn of Africa is full of copper and gold, he decides to swap his family’s safe but boring life in the Nordics for Somaliland, a self-declared state in East Africa. As Mustafe struggles to lift the treasures from underground, his children embark on a bumpy journey to uncover where they really belong.

4.0

Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates

Dec 2, 2003

No overview available.

7.9

The True Story of Pirates

Dec 31, 2022

Thanks to new excavations in Mauritius and Madagascar, as well as archival and museum research in France, Spain, England and Canada, a group of international scholars paint a new portrait of the world of piracy in the Indian Ocean.

7.6

Nice People

Jan 28, 2015

As the first African team ever to do so, Somalia has just signed up for the Bandy World Championships. The young players don't live in Somalia; they live in Borlänge, Sweden, where xenophobia has taken hold.

7.2

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay - Away from Keyboard

Feb 8, 2013

TPB AFK is a documentary about three computer addicts who redefined the world of media distribution with their hobby homepage The Pirate Bay. How did Tiamo, a beer crazy hardware fanatic, Brokep a tree hugging eco activist and Anakata – a paranoid hacker libertarian – get the White House to threaten the Swedish government with trade sanctions? TPB AFK explores what Hollywood’s most hated pirates go through on a personal level.

8.6

Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World

Aug 1, 2017

The vessel is Infinity, a 120-foot hand-built sailboat, crewed by a band of miscreants. The journey, an 8,000 mile Pacific crossing from New Zealand to Patagonia, with a stop in Antarctica. Unlike all the other boats heading to the Southern Ocean, Infinity is no ice-reinforced super-yacht crewed by professional sailors; rather, Infinity lives in the moment and sails on a whim. What can be found in abundance on board is blood, sweat, enthusiasm, risk tolerance, disdain for authority, and an ample supply of alcohol – all in all a mad voyage of reckless adventure just for the sheer joy of it. Along the way the crew will battle a hurricane of ice in the Ross Sea, assist the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd in their fight with illegal whalers, and tear every sail they have. At the heart of their journey is a quest for awe and a sense of wonder with the raw power of the natural world.

0.0

Abdul & Hamza

Aug 1, 2015

Abdul & Hamza, two Somali immigrants, are hiding in an abandoned house near Serbo-Romanian border.

6.6

I, Pastafari: A Flying Spaghetti Monster Story

Oct 5, 2019

I, Pastafari is a documentary film about the world's fastest growing religion: The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. R'Amen.

7.2

Black Hawk Down

Dec 1, 1997

The story behind the infamous downing of an American Black Hawk helicopter by Somali gunmen.

8.5

Pirates: Threatening Global Trade

Apr 18, 2016

The French researcher Bertrand Monnet visits pirates in Nigeria and Somalia to learn how they make money from oil theft and kidnapping.

6.0

Cinema Dadaab

Sep 21, 2018

In one of the world's largest and oldest refugee camps, Dadaab, the inhabitans survive by watching films and dreaming. The refugees cannot leave the camp, but they let their minds escape the harsh reality: by going to the simple cinema hall run by Abdikafi Mohamed, the film's protagonist.

6.4

The True Story of Black Hawk Down

Jun 3, 2003

On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.

5.5

Q's Barbershop

Mar 23, 2019

A colourful, upbeat tale from Vollsmose about the resourceful and funky hairdresser Qasim, who instils dignity, inspiration and hope in young people through something we can all relate to – a cool haircut!

6.5

The Pirates of Buban

Jan 1, 1972

By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the control of cruel & armed pirates. Imamura will come to meet those men in order to understand their position.

10.0

Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place

Apr 30, 2012

Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.

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1.0

The Parching Winds of Somalia

Jan 1, 1984

The film provides a close look at how the nomadic inhabitants of Somalia have withstood the ravages of a harsh desert environment and the encroachment of European imperial forces by synthesizing knowledge of the past, Muslim practices, and skillful livestock management in a successful fusion of traditional values with modern techniques.

The Pirate Tapes

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Pirate Tapes Trailers