Libya is as strange Western viewers as it is to Samia (Ilham Mohamed Osman), literally on the run. While running through the desert, she sees visions of her father Yusuf (Fatah Ghedi), one of her few motivators. Eventually, prison guards catch her, and the film flashes back to Somalia, the country she still calls home. She pursues her dream of being an Olympic level runner as she watches her country practice fundamentalist policies. Schools only exist for students to memorize verses in the Qur’an, and militants separate citizens by their gender. Ali (Elmi Rashid Elmi), her trainer turned militant, gives her money so she can get out of Somalia. But will she survive the arduous journey and make her way back to the Olympic podium for 2012’s games?

This is a retelling of the story of Samia Yusuf Omar, who competed during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And that part of her journey eventually makes it to the screen, but most of the film takes place in Somalia. The film doesn’t bore its viewers with inter titles that show dates but one can make educated guesses. The real Samia was a kid in Mogadishu during the 1990s and a teenager during the early 2000s. I already wrote what happened to Somalia then, which affects Samia’s day to day and personal life. Samia is neutral towards its protagonist’s reaction to her obligations but it has other concerns. These concerns involve what the militants aren’t allowing her to do, which is her training to be a runner.

Somalia in the way Samia depicts it has some nuance to it, thanks to what feels like a collaborative production. Sure, most of the producers are Europeans, and director Yasemin Samdereli a German woman with Kurdish roots. There’s still an air of authenticity to it even if most of the Somalians involved here are actors. Most films with Western production companies depict the global war torn south in absolute states. Sure, this film has its share of intimidating militants policing the streets with iron fists but that’s mostly it. Schools still exists, streets still look like people can walk on them, day to day life still goes on, mostly. It’s just a life less convenient, especially for women who can’t run during the day or sing too loudly.

Some people believe in fate while other believe that human beings can control what happens to them, and Samia at first seems to believe the latter as it depicts the protagonist and Ali as children. Riyan Roble and Zakaria Mohammed play the two characters who have the determination to make Samia’s dreams come true. She has another supporter in Saado (Waris Dirie), from Somalia’s Olympic Committee, sending her to the Beijing Olympics. So I guess it adds a level of tragedy that these two characters meet as young, sad adults. Ali, reluctantly joining Al Shabaab, gives Samia money so she can pay traffickers, leading her to her death. Films like this exist to give hope for the Samias who only want to live out their dreams.

Toronto cinephiles can watch Samia at TIFF.