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BEHIND
THE SCENES
HUFFINGTON
11.24-12.01.13
Why Are There Suddenly So Many
Movies About Somali Pirates?
BY MALLIKA RAO
FTER ARMED MEN off
the Nigerian coast took
two seafarers hostage
last month, CNN declared the Gulf of Guinea the new
A
“piracy hotspot” — second to the
Somali coast, but catching up.
As usual, Hollywood is one step
behind. On the silver screen, it’s
boom time for a brand new genre:
the Somali pirate movie.
There’s the high-profile Captain Phillips, a dramatization of
From left
to right:
Mahat Ali,
Tom Hanks
and Faysal
Ahmed star
in Captain
Phillips.