Mo Harawe is a Somali/Austrian writer and director born in Mogadishu. He has been studying Visual Communication and Film at Kunsthochschule Kassel. The Village Next to Paradise is his debut feature film. His short film Life on the Horn (2022) earned a Special Mention at Locarno International Film Festival, while Will My Parents Come to See Me (2022), also a short, was nominated for the European Film Award and won the Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, German LOLA and Austrian Film Award for Best Short Film in 2023.

Mo Harawe will be presenting The Village Next to Paradise in Auckland and Wellington.