Funmurphys: the Blog

Digital Film Projection...In Somalia

August 4, 2006: [...] There are hundreds of impromptu theaters in Somalia, where entrepreneurs use digital projectors, powered by a portable generator, to project DVDs or electronic film files (often taken from pirated collections found on the Internet) onto the inside, or outside, walls of buildings. A small admission is paid, thus providing entertainment for many Somalis. [...]
(see http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20060809.aspx)

It seems to me that this could also be a model for developing world education, and perhaps a model for how to disseminate information after natural disasters (at least those that leave a wall standing). Digital video cameras would allow current events to be easily captured and disseminated--instead of relying on pirated content off the Internet--you would just need some "out of region" file servers and at lest intermittent Internet connectivity.

The entry was part of a larger piece (buried in those ellipses) on how the Islamic Courts (the name of one of the ruling factions) is trying to censor "non-Islamic" content and tax the "theatres" which, being something of a moveable feast, I would suspect are to assess taxes against or censor.

One of the reasons it caught my eye is that I attended a July 27 Churchill Club event on The Future of Movies that was billed as "a digital age cinema executive roundtable." It was a good talk, and the Hollywood execs were extremely intelligent and articulate. One of the key barriers to digital film adoption seems to be that exhibitors bear the expense of new digital film projectors while most of the benefits of moving from film to electrons will accrue to other parts of the industry. This isn't true for the smaller scale Somali "exhibitors" who can probably make do with LCD projectors that are just a few hundred dollars and don't have any existing infrastructure).

It's worth listening to the podcast and adding Scott Kirsner's CinemaTech blog to your list if digital cinema or movie technology is of interest. He did an excellent job preparing the panelists and moderating. Rich Karlgaard also has a good write-up.